President Nikos Christodoulides, the Greek Cypriot leader, and his Turkish Cypriot counterpart Ersin Tatar visited the CMP’s anthropological lab in Nicosia in a move to build trust and confidence at a time of deadlocked peace talks for the divided island that have been in limbo for six years.

“Both leaders called upon persons who have information about possible burial sites to share this information with the CMP,” said a UN statement after the visit.

“They reminded witnesses they can request confidentiality for any information shared, as credible information can accelerate the whole process of location, exhumation and identification of remains of missing persons,” it added.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkish forces occupied the island’s northern part in response to a military coup sponsored by the junta in power in Greece.

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Since 1974, the fate of hundreds of people remains unknown; only around half of those declared missing have received a proper burial.

“The two leaders reaffirmed their mutual understanding that CMP’s responsibility lies first and foremost with the families of missing persons, as it brings closure to the affected families through the return of the remains of their loved ones for proper burial,” the UN said.

The CMP was established, under an accord between the two communities, with the aim of exhuming, identifying and returning to their relatives the remains of 492 Turkish Cypriots and 1,510 Greek Cypriots who went missing in 1974 and during inter-communal fighting of 1963-1964.

According to the CMP, 741 Greek Cypriots missing have been identified, and the whereabouts of 769 are still unknown.

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Of the Turkish Cypriots, 200 remain missing.

“We very much want to do our best so the pain of the families is reduced,” said Tatar. “We will continue to encourage people to come forward… before they die, because there are a lot of people who know.”

Christodoulides said missing persons “is one of the best confidence-building measures… as further cooperation in this area will also help in the effort to break the deadlock and resume talks.”

The European Commission welcomed the joint visit to the lab in the Nicosia buffer zone, saying it “comes at a time of much-anticipated progress towards the solution of the Cyprus issue”.

Source: France 24

The post Leaders of Divided Cyprus Appeal for Information Sharing on Missing People appeared first on Ankara Haftalik.

The Turkish Cypriot president on Friday slammed statements by US Sen. Bob Menendez that said the Turkish side has been occupying the Island of Cyprus, reports Anadolu Agency.

The admission of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) as an observer member of the Organisation of Turkic States (TDT) and the visit of Gambian Vice President Badara Joof drew great attention across the world, the presidency stressed in a statement.

That is why the Greek-Greek Cypriot duo made various attempts to block the TRNC’s progress toward recognition. The EU, the US and some other forces also took action, it said.

Turkish Cypriot President Ersin Tatar underscored that the chairperson of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, under the guidance of the Greek-Greek Cypriot lobby, made a claim of “Turkish occupation in Cyprus” with a pro-Greek attitude.

“First of all, the chairperson of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the whole world should know very well that the occupier who exists in Cyprus is the Greek-Greek Cypriot duo who turned the Republic of Cyprus, in which the Turkish Cypriot people are equal founding partners, into a Greek state by force of arms, and this occupation still continues,” Tatar said.

He noted that supporters of the duo, who could not digest the steps to recognise the TRNC, continued their attacks, expressing satisfaction that Menendez lifted the arms embargo imposed by the US on the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus and expressed that his support for armament could not be accepted.

Menendez touched on the Cyprus issue during an online event organized for the 39th anniversary of the unilateral declaration of the independence of the Turkish Cypriots, organized by the Coordinating Committee of the Cyprus Struggle (PSEKA).

Source : MiddleEastMonitor

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