Cyprus Committee on Missing Persons progressing satisfactorily

The work of the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP), charged with concluding the fate of some 1500 Greek Cypriots missing since the 1974 Turkish invasion and a further 500 Turkish Cypriots from the 1963 intercommunal troubles, is progressing in a satisfactory manner, government spokesman Vasilis Palmas calling on the Turkish Cypriot side to reinforce this effort.

Responding to a question about the financing of CMP, the spokesman said the government had already allocated funds to the Committee and that there was funding from other states too.

“What we expect and would like to see is for the Turkish Cypriot community to follow suit, in this clearly humanitarian and sensitive issue”, he told his daily press briefing.

He said that the government considers that “the work of the CMP is progressing in a satisfactory manner and we hope it will continue in the same rhythm so that this aspect of the Cypriot tragedy will end the soonest possible.”

The CMP, a tripartite committee set up in the early 80s, has been engaged in a process of exhumation and identification of remains of missing persons, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, with the help of forensic experts from the island’s both communities.

In the recent spade of exhumations, 38 Greek Cypriots and 19 Turkish Cypriots who were listed as missing, have been identified through the DNA method and the remains returned to their families for a final burial.