President Christodoulides: Truth Committee Proposal on Missing Persons Rejected by Turkey

President Nikos Christodoulides revealed on Saturday evening that a proposal submitted to the Turkish Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan, for the creation of a fact-finding committee on missing persons was met with a negative response.

Speaking at a memorial event for the missing in Kornos, the President stated that the initiative — aimed at forming a truth commission to clarify the fate of missing individuals from both communities — had previously also been presented to the Turkish Cypriot leader. “This is a humanitarian issue. There are also Turkish Cypriot missing persons,” he said, underlining the need for cooperation beyond politics.

Addressing the families of the missing, he added: “You have the right, and we have the obligation not only to return remains but to tell you what happened.”

The President emphasized the government’s ongoing appeals to the United Nations and the European Union — which he said has the tools and influence — to urge Turkey to open the archives of its occupying army, a move seen as vital for uncovering the truth.

He noted that his administration has introduced institutional reforms aimed at improving the effectiveness of investigations, especially in gathering and evaluating even the smallest piece of information, following the abolition of outdated investigative methods.

Christodoulides also praised the contribution of relatives of the missing from both Cyprus and Greece, describing their support as essential and guiding.

He reaffirmed that the Cyprus issue cannot be resolved without first determining the fate of all missing persons and warned that Turkey’s European aspirations cannot be fulfilled until this humanitarian issue is addressed in full.

Also addressing the event, House President Annita Demetriou described the continued absence of answers for families of the missing as a deepening national wound.

“For over half a century, our people have carried a trauma that only worsens,” she said. “Fifty-one years on, many still do not know what happened to their loved ones.”

She said it is the state’s minimum duty to be present every year in honour of the missing and to support the families still waiting for answers.

“It is inhumane and inconceivable that, in the Europe of 2025, hundreds of our compatriots remain missing,” Demetriou stressed, accusing Turkey of ignoring UN and Council of Europe resolutions as well as judgments by the European Court of Human Rights.

Demetriou referred to a recent meeting with a Greek parliamentary delegation in Nicosia and announced that a follow-up meeting would take place in Athens on October 29 with the full body of the Hellenic Parliament.

“Greece has always been our strongest supporter in this shared struggle, and it must continue to be,” she said. “On the day established by the Hellenic Parliament in honour of our missing, this message must be loudly and clearly conveyed.”

She reiterated that a solution to the Cyprus problem cannot be achieved without resolving the issue of missing persons — “this is our duty to our homeland.”

In his remarks, Archbishop Georgios of Cyprus made an emotional plea for decisive action on the missing persons issue.

He called on all parties involved to take the necessary and obvious steps, urging the occupying power to finally cooperate meaningfully and sincerely on what he called a “purely humanitarian issue.”

He criticized the international community — particularly the world’s most powerful nations — for years of indifference toward this ongoing human tragedy.

“There can be no resolution to the Cyprus issue without resolving the question of our missing persons, whom we do not unconditionally consider to be dead,” he declared.

“How can trust be built between Greek and Turkish Cypriots if the fate of the missing is left unresolved?” he asked.

The event, held at the Missing Persons Memorial in Kornos, also featured speeches by Nikos Sergides, President of the Pan-Cyprian Organisation of Relatives of Undeclared Prisoners and Missing Persons, Maria Kalmpourtzi, President of the Panhellenic Committee of Parents and Relatives of Undeclared Prisoners and Missing Persons of the Cypriot Tragedy, Greek Ambassador to Cyprus Ioannis Papameletiou, and head of the Hellenic Parliament’s interparliamentary delegation, Anastasios Bartzokas.