The issue of the state archives of the Republic of Cyprus, which were lost during the Turkish invasion of 1974 and continue to be in the occupied territories, must be opened "in the context of the efforts for a solution to the Cyprus problem", State Archivist, Christos Kyriakides, said on Tuesday in his presentation at the third Scientific Conference of the State Archives, on "The Turkish invasion through archival sources". Minister of Justice and Public Order, Marios Hartsiotis, in his welcoming address, underlined the importance of the State Archive and stated that the priority was to serve researchers. Kyriakides explained that many records were lost and destroyed during the coup and invasion in 1974, noting that this creates difficulties for researchers of that period. He also noted that, apart from the arrangements made through the United Nations after the departure of the Turkish Cypriots from the public service, so that there is access to records of the land registry, there is no arrangement for the records of the Republic that the regime of the occupied areas has in its possession. The conference was held on the occasion of the International Archives Week and was part of the activities highlighting the 50th anniversary of the Turkish invasion. Kyriakides said that the aim of this conference was not to record the history of this period, but primarily to present the records related to the period, as well as the possible research problems that arise. The State Archivist pointed out that, despite understaffing, they have managed to save more than 19,000-metre-long shelves with files. Nevertheless, he said, a significant number of records were lost or destroyed due to the coup and invasion in the summer of 1974. This, he said, highlighted the problems created from the delay in the creation of the State Archive, for the establishment of which legislation was passed in 1972, while its operation only began in 1978. "This resulted in the loss of important administrative records, both after 1964 and the withdr awal of the Turkish Cypriots from the public service, as well as after the Turkish invasion", he noted. For records that remained in the areas controlled by the Turkish Cypriots after their withdrawal and especially for cadastral records, Kyriakides said that arrangements were made through the United Nations to serve immediate administrative needs. Nevertheless, he added, the records that remained in the occupied territories after 1974, which include, among other things, registry books and court records, have been lost. As a result of this loss, he said, the state is unable in some cases to serve its citizens, while families search for their history without success. "As far as we know, the occupying regime has created a state-of-the-art building for its archives, in which the archives of the Republic of Cyprus that remained in the occupied territories are kept, and, at some point we must also open this debate in the context of the efforts for a solution to the Cyprus issue", he noted. Cyprus has been divid ed since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres appointed last January María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar of Colombia as his personal envoy for Cyprus, to assume a Good Offices role on his behalf and search for common ground on the way forward in the Cyprus issue. Source: Cyprus News Agency
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