The intransigence and negativity on the part of Turkey will not diminish our will to settle the issue of missing persons and to find a just and mutually acceptable solution to the Cyprus problem, Presidential Commissioner Photis Photiou said on Monday evening, adding that Ankara’s Neo-Ottoman approach and its aims targeting countries of this region will never prevail over international law and will not be accepted.
He also stressed that Turkey has huge responsibilities and must at last give answers for all the cases of missing persons.
Speaking during an event in Mazotos community, Photiou said that there are still citizens of this country who continue to be on the list of missing persons, assuring that efforts are going on to curb the Turkish intransigence.
“We expect and look forward that the UN, the EU and the international community will show in our case the same sensitivity and determination that they show in other war zones,” he added.
He went on to say that unfortunately double standards are being applied, which “are not compatible with the values and principles of human rights and international law.”
“We are working so that the time comes when the anxiety and the pain of the families of the missing persons will be over,” he added.
Moreover, he said that Turkey’s revisionist stance and Neo-Ottoman approach, as regards the Cyprus problem, and its aims against Greece and other countries of the region, will never prevail over international law and will not be accepted.
Photiou noted that Hellenism stands in solidarity promoting efforts to address the Turkish offensive policy.
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 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