Commissioner Photiou says ordeal of missing persons` relatives must end
CNA - CYPRUS/Nicosia 24/10/2021
Presidential Commissioner Photis Photiou said that for 47 years we are living in pain because of the missing persons` issue adding that the pain and the ordeal of their beloved ones must end.
He said that Turkey must finally give answers to what happened to all the missing persons and called on the UN and the EU to exert pressure on Ankara. Photiou also said that the President of the Republic and our side carry on the struggle based on principles and the rule of law.
The Commissioner delivered a speech at the funeral of Andreas Panagiotou who was killed during the Turkish invasion. Hs remains were located during excavations in Keryneia, between October 2017 and May 2018.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops invaded and occupied the island`s northern third. Numerous rounds of talks under the UN aegis to reunite the island under a federal roof failed to yield results.
Since the Turkish invasion 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 missing persons.
CNA/KCH/AGK/2021
ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY
