Turkey has a huge responsibility for resolving the humanitarian issue of the missing persons, Presidential Commissioner Photis Photiou said on Wednesday, addressing an event on Human Rights Day at a high school in Nicosia.
Photiou said that despite the efforts by the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) and all the actions on international level, no solution was found and the relatives of the missing cannot find closure.
The Commissioner said that all our efforts run counter to the uncompromising and inhuman attitude of Turkey, whose responsibilities are enormous. He referred to all the obstacles put forward by Ankara whose unaccommodating stance hinders the issue. Photiou particularly referred to the lack of cooperation in cases of mass graves, transfers of remains and the refusal to open the military archives which contain valuable information.
He also said that Turkey`s behavior and stance was repeatedly condemned by the UN Security Council, the UN General Assembly and the UN Commission on Human Rights, as well as the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the European Court of Human Rights etc.
The Commissioner referred to the work done so far by the CMP adding that our side with good will and sincerity accommodates these efforts for the fate of each and every one of our missing persons, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.
He also referred to the other violations of human rights by Turkey as a result of the 1974 invasion.
Since the Turkish invasion, 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 missing persons.
Source: Cyprus News Agency