Representatives of the Committees on Missing Persons of Cyprus sharply criticized the government’s approach to solving the cases of persons missing during the conflicts of 1963-64 and 1974, calling official statements “empty words”.

At a parliamentary committee meeting on Wednesday, relatives of the missing accused the government of failing to back up the rhetoric with action. They stressed that the State’s annual contribution of 300,000 euros to the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) is insufficient, especially when Cyprus calls for increased donations from other countries.

Yannakis Kolios, representing the Committee of Relatives of Missing Persons in 1974, stated that the information about the mass grave in Kitrei provided by the representative of the Turkish Cypriot CMP was not taken into account by the Greek Cypriots.

Haris Simeonides, speaking on behalf of the relatives of the missing in 1963-64, described the contribution of the Republic of Cyprus as “insignificant”. He noted that despite the commitment to organize ten excavation groups, only six are currently active.

Kolios added that about 789 people remain missing, calling into question the pace of excavation and identification.

These criticisms followed a briefing by the Commissioner of the President, Anna Aristotelus, to the Parliamentary Committee on Refugees.

A source:  kiprinform.com

https://russiancyprus.news/news/society/komitety-po-propavshim-bez-vesti-licam/