It is necessary to respect and apply international conventions that enshrine human rights, and among the countries that ought to do so is Turkey, President of the House of Representatives, Annita Demetriou, said on Saturday in her greeting at a conference on human rights and the effects of their non-application on the humanitarian issue of the missing persons, held at Neapolis University Pafos.
The greeting was read on Demetrious’ behalf, by the President of the House Committee on Refugees-Imprisoned-Missing-Persons, Nikos Kettiros.
Demetriou also referred to the State’s own obligations. She said that the House of Representatives had the issue high on its priorities and supports in every way, both the efforts of the families of the missing persons, as well as the valuable work of the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP), which is tasked with the recovery, identification and return of the remains of persons missing since the bi-communal conflicts of 1963-1964 and the Turkish invasion of 1974.
In her greeting, the House President states that the issue of missing persons was purely humanitarian, noting that the war in Ukraine but also the crisis in the Middle East ‘brought on by Hamas’ unprovoked attack on Israel, whereby civilians have been kidnapped and whose fate continues to remain unknown, remind us that the issue of missing persons knows no nationality nor religion and that human suffering is expressed the same way in every language,’ she adds.
Demetriou also notes that the case of the missing persons in Cyprus has been examined by international organisations, the Commission and the European Court of Human Rights, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, but also the European Parliament, ‘which have found ongoing violations of the right to life, the right to liberty and security of person, while for the relatives of the missing themselves, the prolonged uncertainty about the fate of their own people has been characterised as inhumane treatment. ‘Turkey is called upon to cooperate, by taking effective measures for the resolution of the problem of the missing persons’, Demetriou said in her greeting, noting that, despite all this, Ankara still refuses to provide information that could shed light on their fate, or pay compensation, ‘avoiding its responsibilities, contrary to what its international obligations and European principles and values dictate’.
Demetriou notes that human rights should not remain a dead letter. ‘It is necessary to observe and implement the international conventions that enshrine them’, she said, adding that Turkey was among the countries that ought to do so.
Cyprus has been divided 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.
Since 1974, 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 October 31, 2023 out of 2002 missing persons 1,215 were exhumed and 1,036 were identified. Of the 1510 Greek Cypriot missing persons 743 were identified and 767 were still missing. Of the 492 Turkish Cypriot missing persons 293 were identified and 199 were still missing.
Source: Cyprus News Agency