The Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus thanked the Government of Austria for making its first financial contribution with a donation of pound 20,000.
In a statement issued on Monday, CMP said that the funds that were received on 12 June 2026 will contribute to the Committee’s goal of identifying and returning the remains of missing individuals in 2026, bringing to an end the uncertainty which has affected the families for so many years.
The Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus was established in April 1981 under the auspices of the United Nations by an agreement between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities, following a call to establish a mechanism made in two UN General Assembly resolutions.
The CMP Project on the Exhumation, Identification and Return of Remains of Missing Persons in Cyprus became operational in 2006 and the European Union continues to be the project’s main financial contributor.
So far, 1,069 missing persons from both Cypriot communities have been identified and returned to their families for dignified burials.
CMP relies on donor support to implement its bi-communal project.
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 February 28, 2026 out of 2002 missing persons 1,714 were exhumed and 1,065 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 301 were identified and 191 are still missing.