The Turkish Cypriot leader, Tufan Erhurman, has criticised a decision by the European parliament to fund a monument for those missing during the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus. He called the decision “one of the most painful examples of acting as if Turkish Cypriots do not exist on the island.”

In a Facebook post on Friday, Erhurman said that necessary steps would be taken “without delay” with all parties involved. He added that the decision showed the European parliament is unaware of the work of the committee on missing persons (CMP), which has been investigating the issue for both communities for many years.

Erhurman also highlighted that the two seats in the European parliament intended for Turkish Cypriots are currently held by Greek Cypriots. He said this “prevents the Parliament from knowing the truth about Cyprus.” He stressed that the matter would not end with a simple condemnation.

Separately, the Turkish Cypriot “presidency” issued a statement reaffirming that the missing persons issue from 1963 to 1974 is a humanitarian matter affecting both Greek and Turkish Cypriots. The statement noted that the CMP’s mandate includes locating missing persons from both communities and that its work continues accordingly.

The statement criticised the EU parliament’s plan to allocate funds in its 2026 budget for a monument, calling it a “very wrong stance” because it takes a one-sided approach and distorts the issue of missing persons. It said that effective CMP operations depend on the committee being able to work without politicisation. The statement added that the amendment to fund the monument was adopted for political reasons and undermines this principle.

The Turkish Cypriot leadership called for the decision to be reversed immediately. It said all necessary measures would be taken to prevent the humanitarian issue from being used for political gain.