So far this year, 12 individuals from the official list of missing persons of the CMP have been identified, while remains believed to belong to 20 individuals have been found in eight excavations, Leonidas Pantelidis, the Greek Cypriot representative on the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP), told CNA on Tuesday.
He also stressed the importance of the flow of information to the CMP, noting that every detail helps in forming a complete picture regarding burial sites.
Responding to a CNA question on how many identifications were carried out this year, Mr Pantelidis said that “12 individuals from the official CMP list of missing persons have been identified”, adding that further identifications are pending but will be completed in 2026.
Asked whether the figures are similar to those of previous years, he said that they are roughly at the same steady levels, “reduced, but stable”. He noted that everything depends on the findings. “This year, for example, we had 20 findings which have not yet been identified,” he said, explaining that the identification process takes time.
According to Mr Pantelidis, the 12 identifications relate to findings from 2024, and possibly some from earlier years that involved difficult cases and were identified only now. He added that once identification is completed, families are informed immediately.
Mr Pantelidis further stated that this year the CMP found, in eight excavations, bones believed to correspond to 20 individuals, a fact that will be confirmed through identification, which, as he noted, takes several months. Asked about the areas where the remains were found, he said he would prefer not to specify until identification is completed, in order to avoid causing distress to families who might think the remains belong to their loved ones, only for that not to be the case.
He also said that of the nearly 130 excavations carried out this year, eight have yielded findings. He noted that excavations were conducted at around 20% more sites this year compared with last year. Last year, excavations were carried out at approximately 105–106 sites, while this year they are approaching 130 by the end of the week.
Asked about the adequacy of excavation teams, Mr Pantelidis said that at present there is sufficient capacity for nine teams, though this does not mean that nine excavations are carried out simultaneously.
“At the moment we are working on eight,” he said, adding that if an excavation is urgent, two teams may work simultaneously at the same site. “However, we usually work with eight teams and often nine. If we assign two or three archaeologists to a separate team, we can carry out another excavation, creating a ninth team,” he explained.
Regarding the flow of information, Mr Pantelidis said that there is information coming in, “but we would like more”.
“We always ask the public, if they know something that could help us,” he said. He noted that they sometimes receive new information, but most of the information relates to cases already known to them, without providing a complete picture, “because we have an accuracy problem”.
He stressed that they trust witnesses to be telling the truth, but after so many years, they may not remember the exact location. “You understand, therefore, that a small detail from someone else could complete the chain,” he added.
Referring to the fact that the first missing persons date back to December 1963, he said that after 62 years it is not easy to locate them. “Every detail can help us. That is why we always call on the public—if they know something, even a small detail may help us clarify something else,” he added.
Mr Pantelidis also noted that restrictions in military areas in the occupied territories remain in place and that the situation in this regard has not changed.
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Source: CNA
