Nicosia: A former prisoner of war disclosed to his wife shortly before his death that he had been raped by Turks during his captivity in 1974, according to testimony relayed on Tuesday to the House Refugees Committee by Vasos Christou, President of the 1974 Prisoners of War Association. Social Welfare Deputy Minister Tina Pavlou also referred to plans for a registry of women and men who suffered abuse during the 1974 Turkish invasion.
According to Cyprus News Agency, Christou said the prisoner's wife had told him that her husband had never spoken about what he had endured, despite the couple having spent decades together and raising four children. He disclosed the rape only shortly before his death, while his wife later felt the need to share his story herself, both to unburden herself and, as she put it, so that her husband's soul could rest.
Christou said other former prisoners of war had also been raped but remained silent about their experiences, questioning how many would now come forward to the authorities to disclose what they had endured in captivity.
Pavlou described the issue of establishing a registry of women and men who suffered abuse in 1974 as 'a huge chapter', saying the state had failed over the years to adequately address the mental health needs of people traumatised by the events of 1974.
Pavlou said the Deputy Ministry would seek to support victims and bring them out of isolation, stressing that 'it is never too late' when it comes to mental health. She said male victims of sexual abuse often find it even harder to speak about their trauma and that reaching out to them would require professional handling, discretion and strict confidentiality.
Trauma left untreated for 52 years could become deeply entrenched, she said, also referring to scientific research on the intergenerational transmission of trauma and noting that its impact could extend beyond victims themselves to their families.
Pavlou also said the Cabinet decided in July 2026 to remove income criteria for home-care support for parents and spouses of missing persons. A proposal was also raised to transfer responsibility for groups affected by the events of 1974 to the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare.
Presidential Commissioner Marios Hartsiotis said that, out of the official list of 1,619 missing persons, around 859 have so far been identified, while the fate of 760 remains to be established.
He said 46 sites had been excavated so far in 2026 and the remains of five Greek Cypriot missing persons had been found and were now undergoing identification. Two were found in the Kyra area of Morphou, two at the Ayios Mamas cemetery in Lapithos and one in a well in the Karavas area.
Hartsiotis said around 100 cases remain open and another 300 are under investigation. Excavations have also been carried out at five of ten sites inside military areas in the Turkish-occupied north where the Greek Cypriot side is entitled to excavate, with work now under way at a sixth.
'Nothing will stop our efforts to establish the fate of every last missing person,' Hartsiotis said, adding that the issue is raised by both the President of the Republic and the Greek Cypriot negotiator at every relevant meeting.
On the case of missing persons from Assia, community leader Christoforos Skarparis expressed disappointment that relatives had not been given specific information on what was being discussed with the Turkish Cypriot side. He said they had been waiting for around a year for a decision on when excavation work would be allowed, adding: 'We are losing relatives of the missing day by day, without them getting the answers they have been waiting for.'
Responding, Hartsiotis said the Assia case was a key priority, was raised at every meeting by the President and would soon be brought before European institutions.
Hartsiotis said there was corroborated information that remains of people from Assia, initially buried in the Ornithi area, were later moved to the Dikomo landfill, where an environmental park was built with EU funding. He said the other side was refusing excavations and that, if this continued, the EU should seek repayment of the funds used for the project.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37% of its territory. Since then, the fate of hundreds of people remains unknown.
A Committee on Missing Persons has been established, upon agreement between the leaders of the two communities, with the scope of exhuming, identifying and returning to their relatives the remains of 492 Turkish Cypriots and 1,510 Greek Cypriots, who went missing during the inter-communal fighting of 1963-1964 and in 1974.
According to statistical data published on the CMP website by June 30, 2026 out of 2002 missing persons 1,719 were exhumed and 1,075 were identified. Out of 1,510 Greek Cypriot missing persons 764 were identified and 746 are still missing. Out of 492 Turkish Cypriot missing persons 311 were identified and 181 are still missing.