12 missing people identified this year

Over 1,000 missing persons have been identified so far, the Turkish Cypriot member of the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) said on Tuesday.

Since 2005, a total of 1,494 exhumations have been carried out while the remains of 1,188 missing persons have been identified and the remains of 1,027 missing persons were identified by DNA and handed over to their families, Hakkı Muftuzade told media in the north.

Some 38 exhumations have been carried out by bicommunal groups so far this year and the remains of 12 persons have been found.

Exhumation works are currently ongoing in six places, in the villages of Troulloi, Sida, Petra Digeni, Kodea, Ayios Amvrosios and Templos.

He added that most Turkish Cypriots went missing during the 1963-1964 period, noting that it is possible to locate missing persons by exchanging records and documents with the commission.

The budget for the CMP in 2022 was set at €3.2m, including €2.6m provided by the European Union every year and €600,000 from various countries.

Calling on anyone who can share information on issues related to the missing to do so, Muftuzade said missing persons should not be politically exploited.

Apart from Muftuzade, the CMP members are Greek Cypriot Leonidas Pantelides and UN representative Paul-Henri Arni. The committee was established in April 1981 by agreement between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities under the auspices of the United Nations.