Authorities aim to fully investigate information from the Red Cross archives as part of efforts to establish the fate of missing persons in Cyprus.

Commissioner for Humanitarian Issues Photis Photiou said on Tuesday there is information in Red Cross archives relating in particular to the most terrible battles that took place and the collection of bodies from the battlefields, where most of the individuals still missing seem to have gone missing,” he noted, adding that these are battlefields around Kyrenia, on the northern coast.

The whole issue was discussed during a meeting Photiou had on Tuesday with the Head of the mission of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Europe Michel Masson, who is visiting Cyprus. During the meeting, Photiou updated Masson on developments regarding the missing persons issue and certain problems which enclaved people face.

In statements after the meeting, Photiou said the Red Cross archives are important and extensive since the organisation was present during the Turkish invasion of 1974 when the battles were raging, adding that “we have discussed the possibility to get more information from the Red Cross archives of that period.”

Photiou said this is pivotal for the efforts to collect information both from the archives and from people who are willing to give information, with a view to contributing to the work of the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus (CMP).

“I think that now is to time to fully investigate it. It seems that there is information on battles and the collection of bodies from the battlefields, where most of the individuals have gone missing,” he added, noting that these battlefields lie around Kyrenia.

Photiou moreover said that the remains of approximately 140 missing persons are expected to be discovered in the Turkish military zones in Cyprus` occupied areas for which CMP was given access to excavate.

This means, he added, a big number of cases concerning missing persons will still remain pending. Furthermore, he referred to the efforts being made to receive information from people who know about these cases, adding that many Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots “have contacted us or other services in the recent past to give information.”

The Commissioner said they discussed the issue of missing people who were arrested in Assia and then went missing, and whose remains are believed to have been relocated in the early 1990s.

Photiou stressed that the Republic of Cyprus does not consider that a case is closed when only a few or just one bone of a missing person is discovered and identified, adding that the Red Cross operates along the same lines, “because they told me today that relatives have the right to receive complete skeletal remains to proceed with the funerals, according to our religious traditions.”

Photiou also said that the Red Cross believes that 42 years after the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, the situation should not be as it is today, as the fate of approximately two-thirds of missing persons has not yet been established.

The Commissioner described cooperation with the Red Cross as very positive, noting that it yields positive results.

Earlier, Photiou had a meeting with the President and a delegation of Assia’s community council, with whom he discussed information given to “Politis” daily by a Turkish Cypriot concerning the relocation of the remains of dozens of Greek Cypriot missing persons to a specific site in the region of Assia.

In statements to the press after the meeting, Photiou said the next days are pivotal as regards the confirmation of this information and assured that all required procedures with regard to this issue will be followed immediately.

He said that “we have asked our representative to the CMP to raise this issue immediately, if possible during the next meeting of the Committee.”