The House of Representatives has called on Turkey to finally contribute in a substantive manner to resolving the humanitarian issue of the missing persons of Cyprus, President of the House, Annita Demetriou has said.
Referring on Thursday during the plenary session of the Parliament to the Day of the Missing Persons for Cyprus, which has been established by the House of Representatives on October 29, Demetriou said that the issue of the missing persons constitutes one of the most tragic aspects of the Cyprus problem.
“Unfortunately, 51 years later, despite the persistent efforts of the Republic of Cyprus and the Committee on Missing Persons the fate of hundreds of our compatriots still remains unknown,” she said.
The House of Representatives, Demetriou added, reiterates its firm commitment to the full determination of the fate of every missing person and expresses its unwavering solidarity and support to the families of the missing persons.
“We call on Turkey to finally contribute in a substantive manner to the solution of this primarily humanitarian issue, by providing all available information to the CMP and fully respect the relevant UN resolutions, the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, as well as its commitments within the framework of the Council of Europe and other international organisations” Demetriou stressed.
She said that the fate of the missing persons remains an open wound for the country and noted “we will not stop demanding truth and justice for the missing persons of the Cyprus tragedy, as well as for their families”.
It is noted that on October 28, 1974, was the last time when Greek Cypriot prisoners held captive by the Turkish invaders were released.
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 September 30, 2025 out of 2002 missing persons 1,707 were exhumed and 1,057 were identified. Out of 1,510 Greek Cypriot missing persons 761 were identified and 749 are still missing. Out of 492 Turkish Cypriot missing persons 296 were identified and 196 are still missing.