Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides has said that he hopes the missing persons issue and excavations to find their remains in so called military areas of the Turkish army will be discussed in a meeting he will have with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman in late July.
He also announced that the Defence Ministries of Greece and Cyprus are set to sign a Memorandum of Understanding on the issue of missing persons.
President Christodoulides was addressing an event in Kornos, Larnaca district commemorating the missing persons of Cyprus, Cypriots and Greeks, from 1974 on Sunday evening.
Nine Maronite, Armenian, Latin monuments in Turkish-occupied areas have been preserved so far, Technical Committee co-chair tells CNAphase of which started on July 20, he said that daybreak will be difficult for everyone. ‘It is a day when the sound of sirens will feel like a stabbing, more so for you,’ he noted, adding that ‘I am well aware that whatever the state, any government may do, it will not be able to make up for your loss, no one will be able to feel the pain you are feeling.’
The President asked forgiveness for the state’s oversights since 1974 and he also congratulated the two committees of relatives of the missing in Cyprus and Greece for the work they do daily.
Addressing the head of the Greek Committee Maria Kalbourtzi, he recalled she had asked him to work on a memorandum between the two Ministries of Defence on missing persons some years back which did not seem to be moving forward.
‘I would like to inform you that after many efforts the Memorandum is finally drafted and the two Defence Ministers will immediately proceed to sign it so that we can move forward with evidence on this particular matter,’ he said.
Referring to the data about missing persons, President Christodoulides said that until now from the 1619 Greek Cypriot missing persons only 764 have been identified, that is to say only 51% while the fate of the other 746 is still to be found.
‘Out of the total 81 Greek missing persons, who were in Cyprus to defend the Republic of Cyprus, only 19 have been identified by the Committee on Missing persons.’ In their large majority, he added, Greek missing persons were men serving in the Hellenic Force in Cyprus (ELDYK).
This period, President Christodoulides said, because our actions on all levels are intensive, our goal is to intensify excavations. Right now, he noted, ‘there are ongoing excavations in Agia, Ashia, Gerolakkos, Lapithos, Exo Metohi, Livadia,’ adding that another 120 areas are included in a list for excavations , but some of them are to be found in so called military zones according to the Turkish occupation army.
He assured that in all his meetings with the Turkish Cypriot leader, he has put forward requests if they truly want Confidence Building Measures, that the simplest of all things would be to allow excavations in all the areas for which there is information.
‘I hope that it is a matter which will be discussed in the joint meeting with the UN Secretary General and there will be a positive response,’ he added.
The President said that ‘with every opportunity -and if there isn’t an opportunity then we create one – we raise the matter of the missing persons.’ He added that ‘we have right now another opportunity to demand even more, and I am referring to the EU and the Commission President’s recent decision to appoint the Commissions Executive Vice President as its representative for the Cyprus issue.’
He urged the organisations of relatives of missing persons to seek to have a meeting with Raffaele Fitto ‘so that the EU, specifically the EU, a union of principles and values, can play a more important role.’
The President referred to the missing of Ashia village and said that he cannot bear to hear excuses from the Turkish Cypriot side about the high cost of excavations in an area in Mia Milia where a water treatment plant has been built with EU funds, adding that ‘these are unacceptable answers’ and pointing out that excavations should go ahead.
President Christodoulides also assured all those present that ascertaining the fate of all missing persons, has and will continue to be the government’s top priority.
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 June 30, 2026 out of 2002 missing persons 1,719 were exhumed and 1,075 were identified. Out of 1,510 Greek Cypriot missing persons 764 were identified and 746 are still missing. Out of 492 Turkish Cypriot missing persons 311 were identified and 181 are still missing.