Kyperounta: The Government is actively supporting the countryside through policy-led actions, President Nikos Christodoulides affirmed during the inauguration of the Cultural Activities Building and the House of the Missing Persons in the mountainous village of Kyperounta, located in the Limassol district.
According to Cyprus News Agency, the President, accompanied by former President Nicos Anastasiades, expressed his satisfaction in inaugurating the Cultural Activities Building, a project costing £1.6 million. This initiative is part of a broader effort started by the previous administration to revitalize the old neighborhood of Kyperounta, with the overall project cost expected to exceed £8 million.
The project is funded through the state development budget, with an annual allocation of £500,000 until the project’s completion. The next phase has already started, featuring the construction of a Museum of Folk Art and Natural History and guesthouses. An additional £450,000 has been earmarked for the project by the end of 2024 to connect the road network from the Cultural Activities Building to the central square.
President Christodoulides mentioned that once the accommodation facilities are completed, the site could be used by the Cypriot Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2026. He noted discussions with the Deputy Minister for European Affairs about potential meetings at the venue.
Afterward, President Christodoulides inaugurated the House of the Missing Persons, created on Androulla Aristodemou’s initiative to honor the struggle of the mothers of the missing. Cyprus has faced division since 1974, with Turkish troops occupying 37% of its territory, leaving hundreds unaccounted for.
A Committee on Missing Persons was established through an agreement between the two communities’ leaders, tasked with exhuming, identifying, and returning the remains of 492 Turkish Cypriots and 1,510 Greek Cypriots who went missing during the inter-communal conflicts of 1963-1964 and in 1974.
As per statistical data published on the CMP website, by February 28, 2025, out of 2,002 missing persons, 1,704 were exhumed, and 1,052 were identified. Among 1,510 Greek Cypriot missing persons, 756 were identified, with 754 still missing. Out of 492 Turkish Cypriot missing persons, 296 were identified, and 196 remain missing.