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Turkey to open military zones in Cyprus for missing persons search

Xinhua, November 6, 2015 Adjust font size:

Turkey has notified a team working under the auspices of the United Nations that it will allow it access to military areas in the occupied part of Cyprus to dig in search of missing persons.

The Committee for Missing Persons (CMP) comprised of a Greek Cypriot, a Turkish Cypriot and a representative of the International Red Cross, said on Thursday that access to military zones would be allowed for three years, starting as of Jan. 1, 2016.

The move is considered a major breakthrough in four decades as it may lead to the exhumation of hundreds of persons who disappeared during the 1974 Turkish occupation of part of Cyprus.

Turkish Cypriots occupied over one third of the Cypriot territory in the north, while the Greek Cypriots occupied the southern part since 1974.

The Turkish army, numbering about 40,000, keeps extensive military facilities in the northern part of the eastern Mediterranean island, where a breakaway state recognized only by Turkey has been set up.

More than 2,000 people, of them about 1,508 Greek Cypriots, disappeared in the 1974 fighting.

According to the latest CMP data, 458 missing Greek Cypriots and 145 missing Turkish Cypriots have been identified, leaving 1,050 Greek Cypriots and 348 Turkish Cypriots missing.

The decision by Turkey to open its military zones in the occupied part of Cyprus was relayed by Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci in a letter to CMP.

His election to the leadership of the Turkish Cypriot community in April has led to a considerable thaw in relations between the two communities.

Akinci is currently engaged in reunification talks with the Greek Cypriot President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades, who represents the internationally-recognized government of Cyprus.

CMP, which has been carrying out exhumations since 2006, welcomed the Turkish move, saying that it had repeatedly stressed that time was running out to obtain critical witness information regarding burial sites of people killed during and after the fighting. Endit