An audit report has identified serious weaknesses in the management of benefits paid to people recognised as prisoners of war during Turkey’s 1974 invasion. A special report published by the Audit Office on 29 October 2026 identified eight cases in which the available evidence did not appear to justify the benefits paid.
The audit also found incorrect entries, incomplete military records and prisoner-of-war registrations made decades after the invasion. The Audit Office warned that the number of questionable cases could be higher because the review was based on a sample rather than an exhaustive examination.
In 2025, a total of 852 people received at least one of the benefits covered by the report.
Six people had no evidence confirming prisoner-of-war status
The audit examined 832 people receiving benefits as conscripted prisoners of war through the Social Insurance Services. It identified 15 people who were absent from both the Defence Ministry’s Register of Prisoners of War and the Cyprus Red Cross records.
Further checks confirmed that six had been prisoners of war but were missing from the relevant register. Another three had been detained as hostages and were eligible for a related benefit, but not as conscripted prisoners of war.
For the remaining six, auditors found no supporting evidence that they had been prisoners of war. In two of these cases, there was also no indication that the individuals had served in the National Guard during the 1974 invasion.
Man declared a deserter later registered as a prisoner of war
One case concerned a man who joined the National Guard in January 1974 and was declared a deserter on 12 April 1975.
According to the report, Turkish occupation forces detained him on 28 April 1975 while he was still classified as a deserter. He was released on 20 May that year but was subsequently included in the 1974 Register of Prisoners of War.
The Audit Office said a monthly honorary allowance linked to additional military service appeared to be justified. However, the evidence did not support payment of the six-monthly allowance intended for prisoners of war from the 1974 invasion.
Incorrect military records led to questions over payments
In another case, a person’s military service record mistakenly included information belonging to someone else, including references to captivity.
Although the incorrect entries had been cancelled in 1983, they were later taken into account when the Defence Ministry prepared its Register of Prisoners of War.
The individual had also applied in 2019 for recognition of reserve service but had not mentioned captivity. The National Guard General Staff’s History Directorate found no evidence confirming reserve service during the invasion.
As a result, auditors questioned both the six-monthly benefit and the monthly honorary allowance paid in this case.
Prisoner-of-war entries added decades after the invasion
The report also highlighted late amendments to military records. In one case, an entry dated 31 October 2001 – 27 years after the invasion – stated that a person was exempt from National Guard service because he had been a prisoner of war.
The original 1974 records referred only to the person’s enlistment and discharge, with no mention of captivity. Similar late entries were identified in 1980 and 1981.
Officials told auditors that these amendments were based on supporting documents that had since been destroyed, making it impossible to verify their validity.
Missing information in more than half of the records examined
The audit reviewed 77 cases at the Nicosia, Kyrenia and Morphou military recruitment offices. In 39 cases, essential information was missing, including the military unit in which the person had served or the dates on which captivity began and ended.
Some military records were also in particularly poor condition because of their age and deterioration.
The Audit Office acknowledged the difficulties caused by the invasion, the loss of military archives and the circumstances in which events were recorded in 1974. However, it said these challenges could not justify allowing the weaknesses to persist.
€8.93 million paid in benefits during 2025
The total payments for the categories of benefits examined by the report amounted to approximately €8.93 million in 2025.
The benefits include a monthly honorary allowance, a special pension increase, a six-monthly payment of €1,000 and, under certain conditions, a care allowance.
The report makes clear that the €8.93 million figure represents the total payments for the benefit categories examined. It is not the amount identified as having been wrongly paid.
Audit Office calls for a full review of beneficiaries
The Audit Office concluded that Cyprus does not currently have a single, complete and verifiable database for recognising prisoners of war and administering the related benefits.
It recommended cross-checking all beneficiary lists against the updated Register of Prisoners of War, individually reviewing cases that cannot be confirmed and correcting inaccurate records.
It also called for a reliable certification process and procedures that would allow every payment to be audited retrospectively.
A separate review found that the evidence was complete in the cases examined by the Welfare Benefits Management Service. All 65 prisoners of war who received a care allowance in 2025 had their status documented through Cyprus Red Cross certificates.
The report states that administrative measures should be taken in cases where eligibility cannot be substantiated after all available reliable evidence has been examined.
Also read: Holguin in Cyprus: Meeting with Christodoulides and Erhürman in focus
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