Presidential Commissioner Photis Photiou said Friday that they have information and evidence that might lead to burial sites of missing persons in the occupied areas, adding that the majority of the mass graves are situated around Keryneia.
He wished 2023 to be the year that the first big mass graves will be located.
Photiou said that last year was a disappointing year as regards the discovery of human remains, pointing once again that Turkey is the one responsible for the many hinders in this top humanitarian issue.
The Commissioner said that 48 years after the Turkish invasion we are still looking for the remains of more than 750 people.
He said that this issue is always on the agenda of talks President Anastasiades has with foreign leaders and the EU, which is the main donor of the CMP program.
He called on the international community not to display a double standard approach, pointing out that 48 years is a long time.
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 (CMP) 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 August 1, 2022 out of 2002 missing persons 1,185 were exhumed and 1,027 were identified. Out of 1510 Greek Cypriot missing persons 735 were identified and 775 are still missing. Out of 492 Turkish Cypriot missing persons 292 were identified and 200 are still missing.
Source: Cyprus News Agency