Nicosia is demanding unhindered access to military sites in the occupied territories for searches to locate missing persons, while saying that the problems of the Missing Persons' Committee (MMP) access to possible or known burial sites are not limited to these areas, as demonstrated by a recent incident in occupied Lapithos in January 2022.
On Tuesday, the three-day meeting of the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers began in Strasbourg, during which the missing persons aspect is also expected to be examined, on the basis of the decision in the 4th inter-state application "Cyprus v. Turkey" and the decision in the case "Varnavas and Others v. Turkey". The Turkish side, in a memorandum to Strasbourg, calls for the closure of both decisions.
For its part, Nicosia, in its own recent memorandum to the Committee of Ministers, notes the problems faced by the ICTY in military and non-military areas, calling for immediate and unhindered access. According to this, between December 2019 and March 2021, excavations were carried out in a total of 7 sites, out of 30 additional "military sites" that are potential burial sites in the occupied territories. From March 2021 to March 2022, 7 more areas were excavated, it added.
But access problems are not limited to the military areas, Nicosia continues. It notes that at the previous meeting of the Committee of Ministers on the issue in March 2021, "the Republic of Cyprus drew the attention of the Committee to four cases where denial of access to the sites at Mia Milia, Exo Metohi and Lapitho (2 cases) was reported".
"More recently, in January 2022, access was not and still is not granted to a possible burial site in Lapitho," adds the Nicosia memo, which says that "there has been no progress whatsoever on this issue in terms of establishing the mechanisms to allow unhindered access to civilian sites" in the occupied territories.
Nicosia is asking the CoE's Committee of Ministers to call on the Turkish authorities to pay the damages awarded by the European Court of Justice in related cases, together with interest, and to adopt an interim resolution on damages relating to the "Varnava and Others" group of cases.
In addition to unhindered access to military areas in the occupied territories, the request is reiterated that Turkey provide information contained in its reports and military records on possible burial sites and the movement of remains, and take measures to prevent future movements of remains from burial sites.
Source: KYPE
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