Missing persons a trauma ‘of an unspeakable tragedy’

The government continues its efforts to determine the fate of people that went missing due to the Turkish invasion 50 years ago, head of humanitarian affairs for missing persons and the enclaved Anna Aristotelous said on Sunday.

In her eulogy for the funeral of Hatzoula Michail whose remains were identified earlier this year, Aristotelous said “the wounds of the Turkish invasion are still open. Entire generations are growing up suffering from the devastation of the Turkish invasion and the traumas of this unspeakable tragedy.”

Michail funeral took place at Apostle Varnavas Church, in Zygi. She went missing during the Turkish invasion of 1974 and her remains were found in a well in Gypsou between late 2022 and early 2023.

She was identified on June 25, 2024.

“The story and the tragic end of Hatzoula Michail, highlights another aspect of the Turkish invasion and the ongoing occupation.”

Aristotelous pledged that the state will continue to work until the day when the fate of all missing persons is determined.

Our great ally in this effort, she noted “is our will to clarify the fate of our missing persons” stressing that the main obstacle remains the Turkish intransigence which, “with the same inhuman attitudes as then, continues to turn a blind eye to a purely humanitarian issue.”

She stressed that the President Nikos Christodoulides has placed the issue of missing persons as one of his top priorities.

“We work tirelessly, systematically and responsibly to ascertain the fate of our missing persons, gathering additional information that will allow more important steps forward in this direction.”

A Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) 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 August 1, 2022 out of 2002 missing persons 1,185 were exhumed and 1,027 were identified. Out of 1510 Greek Cypriot missing persons 735 were identified and 775 are still missing. Out of 492 Turkish Cypriot missing persons 292 were identified and 200 are still missing.

Around 20,000 Greek-Cypriots and Maronites chose not to leave their homes after the Turkish invasion despite the Turkish occupation. Most of those who remained, mainly on the Karpasia Peninsula, were gradually forced to abandon the area. The number of Greek-Cypriots and Maronites currently living in the area has plummeted to 300 people, according to the foreign ministry.