Cyprus president praises work on identity of missing persons

Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos said Monday that the issue of missing persons is not merely a question of exhumations and identification of remains, but a matter of respect of the dignity of those missing and their next of kin.

In all, 15 Greek Cypriots listed as missing since the Turkish invasion in 1974, whose remains have been exhumed and recently identified were buried at various cemeteries in different areas of the island over the past week.

The Committee for Missing Persons (CMP) has so far notified the families of 28 people, 15 Greek Cypriots and 13 Turkish Cypriots, listed as missing, whose remains have been exhumed recently in Cyprus.

Of the 1619 Greek Cypriots initially reported as missing, almost 300 persons have been exhumed so far, while 60 of the estimated 500 Turkish Cypriots missing since 1974 and 1963, have been identified and returned to their families.

The President was full of praise for those who are working to exhume and identify remains and paid special tribute to Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots who work in harmony on such an emotional issue.

This, he pointed out, sends the message that the island’s two communities can build a common future in a reunited Cyprus.

The President pledged that the government will spare no effort or expense to help conclude the process of exhumation and identification of remains, unearthed in the Turkish occupied areas in the north as well as the government-controlled areas.

Papadopoulos visited the Anthropological Laboratory of the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP), in the UN controlled area of the deserted Nicosia airport, where he was briefed about the work carried out by forensic experts.

He expressed regret that the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community Mehmet Ali Talat did not accept his invitation to visit the laboratory together and meet with the three members of the CMP.

A press release issued after the visit said that Papadopoulos was given a tour of the laboratory and scientists explained the procedure they follow leading to the identification of remains through the DNA process, stressing that identification is decided at joint meetings between geneticists and anthropologists, who examine in a painstaking process thoroughly and scrupulously all available data.

Papadopoulos also visited the place where families are invited to see the remains of their missing relatives and are provided with information about the scientific procedure forensic experts apply.

The Laboratory operates under the guidance of scientists from the Argentine Team of Forensic Anthropologists and Archaeologists.

Papadopoulos, who was accompanied by the Director of his Diplomatic Office Ambassador Tasos Tzionis, was met at the Laboratory by the third member of the CMP Christophe Girod, in the presence of the Greek Cypriot representative Elias Georgiades.

Present at the meeting were Georgiades’ assistants Xenofon Kallis and Popi Chrysostomou and Girod’s adviser Jennifer Wright.