House president Annita Demetriou said on Monday determining the fate of every missing person from the Turkish invasion of 1974 remains an “unfulfilled debt” to their families and to Cyprus.

Speaking to a delegation from the Greek missing persons committee, Demetriou said efforts to establish the fate of those still unaccounted for must continue until every case is resolved.

She described the annual commemorations as more than memorial events, saying they also served as a reminder of the collective responsibility to support the relatives of those still missing.

She said progress was being made through gradual steps that both highlighted “that a crime was committed that remains unsolved” and brought families closer to receiving the answers they had waited decades for.

“The missing are not just numbers,” Demetriou said, adding that they represented families who continued to wait for the opportunity to honour their loved ones.

She expressed confidence that greater cooperation and political will could help keep the issue high on the public agenda until families received the justice they sought.

Committee president Maria Kalbourtzi thanked Demetriou for what she described as her continued support, saying cooperation with the House of Representatives had produced “small and slow, but substantial” progress.

Kalbourtzi also welcomed Demetriou’s initiative to promote the establishment of a day of remembrance for the missing in the Greek parliament, describing the move as a positive step.

She said greater awareness was needed in Greece regarding the humanitarian issue of missing Greek and Cypriot people, adding that the lack of public knowledge surrounding the issue remained “deeply concerning”.

Kalbourtzi is in Cyprus to attend commemorative events marking the anniversary of the Turkish invasion of 1974.

Earlier on Monday, Demetriou also met Greek MP Giorgos Stylios, chairman of Greek social affairs committee, who is representing the Greek parliament at the commemorations.