The European Commission has signed an agreement of pound 2.6 million with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to assist the work of the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus (CMP).
A EC press release said this is the 15th agreement with UNDP demonstrating the strong commitment of the European Commission to peacebuilding and reconciliation efforts in Cyprus.
Through the EU’s Aid Programme for the Turkish Cypriot community, the new financial assistance will contribute to CMP’s efforts to recover, identify and return the missing persons to their families, it added.
It further noted that the European Commission supports the work of bi-communal Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot scientific teams involved in all stages of the work of CMP. These activities contribute to achieving a better understanding of mutual concerns and foster cooperation between the Cypriot communities, while providing relief to the families of missing persons as a crucial aspect of the overall efforts for reconciliation in the
island.
Since 2006, the European Commission has been the largest provider of financial assistance to CMP, which amounts to almost 38.5 million, contributing to the identification of 1044 persons out of the 2022 missing.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey 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 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 December 31, 2023 out of 2002 missing persons 1,228 were exhumed and 1,044 were identified. Out of 1510 Greek Cypriot missing persons 751 were identified and 759 are still missing. Out of 492 Turkish Cypriot missing persons 293 were identified and 199 are still mi
ssing.
Source: Cyprus News Agency