Health Minister Neophytos Charalambides said on Sunday that Cyprus “retains an obligation” to preserve the memory of the fallen and missing of 1974.

Speaking at the annual memorial service for the 251st Infantry Battalion in Kyrenia, held at Saint John’s church in Kornos, Charalambides said respect for the fallen and missing required the preservation of historical truth and a refusal to accept the occupation as a permanent situation.

He said the Republic “remained committed” to a “functional and sustainable solution to the Cyprus problem”.

He said the duty to determine the fate of every missing person and continue efforts towards “the liberation of the homeland” remained of paramount importance.

His remarks came days after Presidential Commissioner Marios Hartsiotis confirmed that 760 of the 1,619 people registered as missing from the 1974 Turkish invasion remain unidentified, with 859 cases resolved to date.

He called for access to Turkish army archives, saying information held in Turkey could help identify burial sites linked to cases that have remained open for more than five decades.

Hartsiotis said the Cabinet had approved a building for a permanent state anthropological laboratory, while work continues on an ossuary for the remains of identified and unidentified missing persons and fallen soldiers.

A €1 million allocation approved in April is funding specialised genetic testing on remains previously treated with chemicals that had complicated identification.

Greek Cypriot representative to the Committee on Missing Persons, Leonidas Pantelides, said excavations were under way at seven sites, including Vatyli, Assia, Lapithos, Exo Metochi, Neo Chorio, Livadia and Yerolakkos.