Commissioner Photiou in videoconference on missing persons organized by AHI, CNA - CYPRUS/Nicosia 09/07/2020
Presidential Commissioner Photis Photiou and his advisor Xenofon Kallis participated in a videoconference on missing persons in Cyprus organized by the American Hellenic Institute (AHI). Members of the diaspora and postgraduate students attended the videoconference.
An announcement by the Cyprus Presidency says that Photiou briefed the participants on the issue of the missing persons and Turkey`s stance, adding that the lack of cooperation causes pain and ordeal to the families of the missing who are waiting for almost a century now to hear about the fate of their beloved persons. He called on the international community to exert pressure on Ankara to cooperate on this humanitarian issue.
No results and no progress is possible, the Commissioner said, if Turkey does not cooperate.
He also praised the role of the diaspora on the issue and thanked the Cyprus and Greek communities in the US for their support.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied its northern third. 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 the remains of missing persons to their relatives.
Turkey continues to evade her responsibilities for the investigation of the fate of the missing persons and for providing all the relevant information on the steps taken to remedy the violations for which the European Court of Human Rights held Turkey responsible, which means to pursue the necessary investigations to establish the fate of the Greek Cypriots who went missing as a result of the 1974 Turkish invasion.
CNA/KCH/EPH/2020
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