Turkey under CoE supervision on property rights of missing persons

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The effort to keep the supervision on Turkey open at the Council of Europe, concerning the execution of the Court judgement following the 4th interstate case “Cyprus v. Turkey” and the aspects relating to the property rights of displaced persons and to missing persons is ongoing, Cyprus Foreign Minister, Constantinos Kombos, told the Parliamentary Committee on Refugees-Enclaved-Missing-Adversely Affected Persons, on Tuesday, during a discussion on current developments about missing persons.

The Foreign Minister told Committee members that efforts were being made on the part of Turkey to end the process that monitors its compliance with the European Court of Human Rights judgement, in relation to property rights of displaced persons and the missing persons.

He noted that a debate on the aspect of missing persons was held last March and it will continue in March 2025, explaining that in the last debate 26 Council of Europe member states intervened in support of the Republic of Cyprus’ positions. He also said that a plan has already been formulated and is in force. “Our approach in terms of the Strasbourg debate is to maintain and amplify, if possible, the voices that are in favour of the positions of the Republic and this is a constant effort with the right policies,” he said.

He added that Turkey’s approach in Strasbourg is that it is trying to “instrumentalise any argument we put forward in the debate.”

Kombos also said that the Republic of Cyprus’ contribution to the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) has been increased to €300,000 from €175,000.

He also added that in relation to the new European Parliament rapporteur on the issue of missing persons, François-Xavier Bellamy (EPP), “we are already in contact at an official level and some contacts have been scheduled.”

Speaking later to journalists, Kombos stressed that the issue of missing persons is above all a humanitarian one, noting that “it is the most tragic aspect that we have as a consequence of the Turkish invasion” which took place on the summer of 1974, in Cyprus. 

He noted that the discussion that takes place on a yearly basis both concerning the aspect of missing persons, as well as the property rights of displaced persons, is a “constant effort and struggle on our part to keep the supervision open at the level of the Council of Europe and the competent Commission.” The effort, he continued, continues in a systematic and coordinated manner despite the difficulties that exist.

“We are at a stage of working intensively, as we did in previous years, for the best possible result in cooperation with the relatives of the missing persons, but also with the House and the European Parliament,” he pointed out.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37% of its territory. Since then, 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. 

The European Court of Human Rights sentenced Turkey in numerous cases, brought forward by Greek Cypriots, concerning the violation of their fundamental human rights, following the 1974 invasion, with regards to their property and the issue of missing persons.

Also read: Institutional Changes for Resolving Missing Persons Cases Highlighted by President

Source: CNA/ZSO/AGK

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