All parties involved in the missing persons issue in Cyprus need to cooperate and coordinate at the highest level, Dimitris Vitsas, Greece’s Alternate Minister of National Defence has said. Vitsas is visiting Cyprus to receive the remains of five Greek nationals, who died in August 1964 while on board the patrol boat “Phaethon”. The ceremony will take place tomorrow. “Phaethon” was hit by the Turkish air force during the battle of Tylliria in August 1964. Six Greek nationals and a Greek Cypriot were among the casualties. The six Greek nationals were buried in the Nicosia cemetery and their remains were unearthed last April, with the aim of identifying and returning them to Greece. Vitsas on Monday met with Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs Photis Photiou who briefed him on the issue of missing persons. Photiou said that the Cyprus government is paying a duty with a delay of 53 years. He added that there is a decrease in the cases of identification of human remains of missing persons and this puts at risk the whole identification process but also the work of the CMP, the Committee on Missing Persons. According to Photiou, in 2017 only 30 people have been identified. Photiou also said that he briefed the Greek Alternate Minister on the major problems Turkey is creating and mainly the fact that it has failed to cooperate and grant access to its military archives where there is a lot of information on missing persons and on mass graves. According to the Commissioner, actions need to be taken by the EU and the UN to further promote a solution to this issue. Vitsas, in his statements, said that Greece is supporting Cyprus to this end adding that we have a duty not to forget because this is a humanitarian issue and in issue of human rights. He said that we need to work together at the highest level and to all international fora. Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied its northern third. Since then, the fate of hundreds of people remains unknown. A Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) has been established, upon agreement between the leaders of the two communities, with the scope of exhuming, identifying and returning the remains of missing persons to their relatives. Source: Cyprus News Agency