Cyprus to increase its contribution to CMP, president says

The government of Cyprus will increase its financial contribution to the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) and offer allowances for carers to relatives of those who died or are missing as a result of 1974 invasion, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Sunday.

“I have decided, regardless of what the Turkish side will decide to do, that we will increase the financial support to CMP, to help intensify its efforts with more staff and crews working in the excavations,” he said during the inauguration of a monument dedicated to war prisoners taken by Turkey in 1974.

The announcement came on October 29, marked as the day of remembrance for the missing persons in Cyprus.

Commenting on the new allowance, Christodoulides said “it is the least the state can do to the parents of the fallen or missing, the widows of the dead and spouses of the missing.”

He added he was aware members of the association of the fallen from 1974 felt bitter that the state had not been responsive to their requests and stressed he would be inviting them to the presidential palace soon to brief them on the details surrounding the allowance.

Christodoulides said the monument pays tribute to the 2,647 Greek Cypriots who had been captivated in 1974 and were imprisoned in Turkey.

“This is also a monument of peace, it is a promise to our people, to the new generation, that we will do our utmost to avoid such a tragedy in the future.”

The monument is located in Aglandjia, close to the Filoxenia Conference Center, which was the final destination of the buses transferring the war prisoners who were released from Turkey’s prisons and returned to Cyprus. The foundation of the monument was the result of cooperation between Aglandjia municipality and the Association of War Prisoners of 1974.

Meanwhile, head of humanitarian affairs of missing and enclaved persons Anna Aristotelous said in one month there have been more than six identifications as the flow of information has increased.