Presidential Commissioner, Photis Photiou, had on Thursday a meeting in Nicosia with the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa. Photiou and Pizzabala discussed issues concerning the Latin community in Cyprus and underlined the strong ties and the long-standing friendship which unites the people of Cyprus with the Latins, according to a press release.
Photiou noted that the Latins are a fundamental element of the Cypriot society, and have their own schools, cultural centres and churches so that young people can get to know their history, customs and traditions. He assured of the continuous and steadfast support of himself and the government to the community.
Moreover, Photiou briefed the Patriarch about the humanitarian issue of missing persons, an issue which President Nicos Anastasiades discussed with Pope Francis during his recent Vatican visit. The Commissioner asked for the help of the Patriarch and the Holy See to solve this problem, which causes for 48 years now pain to hundreds of bereaved families, underlining that the current stagnation affects in a negative way the achievement of progress and efforts to solve it.
The Commissioner also referred to issue related to the destruction of religious and cultural heritage in the occupied areas of Cyprus and to issues regarding the enclaved.
Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa thanked the Commissioner and the government for their support and assured that he will support in every way he can efforts to bring peace both to Cyprus and the broader Mediterranean region.
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.
Source: Cyprus News Agency