The intention of the Republic of Cyprus to disburse €1.2 million.[/B] for the identification of 2,500 small bones, announced Presidency Commissioner Fotis Fotiou, after the end of the debate in the Parliamentary Committee on Refugees, Internally Displaced Persons and Victims.
As Fotiou said, the identification process for these bones, which mainly concern Assiotes cases, should go ahead, even with the Republic of Cyprus covering the costs, in case it exceeds the capacities of the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP). "We have an obligation towards these people to do everything possible, regardless of whether in the end we manage to find one, two or three missing persons through this process."
According to the Commissioner for the Presidency, "about 750 of our missing persons cases, about 50 per cent of the cases filed, remain unresolved." Fotis Fotiou pointed to Turkey's hard-line stance, which continues to deny access to Turkish military records, the only ones that can safely indicate the locations of mass graves and the transfer of remains, as a major obstacle to the CMP's work.
He referred to the case of Assia, with murders of women and children and elderly people, from where removals were made to Strogilos, Kontemenos, Kornokipos, Lapithos, Agastina and Agios Hilarion.
"The majority of the bones we are looking for at the moment are the result of movements," the Commissioner said, adding that the CMP should proceed with the excavation and exhumation at Dikomo, where information has been given by the Turkish Cypriot side about the transfer of bones to the area.
The Commissioner described as an "open wound" the problem of identification of the sprayed bones, which he said number 50-60 boxes in the CMP laboratory. He said that samples had been sent to Spain for examination, but expressed the view that the results would not be encouraging.BR\]
There are still 900 people left to be identified
Leonidas Pantelidis, the Greek Cypriot Representative to the ICJ, informed that during the past year, 37 identifications were made, of which 29 concerned missing persons and 6 concerned martyrs of the Turkish invasion.
There are still 900 people left to be identified
Leonidas Pantelidis, the Greek Cypriot Representative to the ICJ, informed that during the past year 37 identifications were made, of which 29 concerned missing persons and 6 concerned martyrs of the Turkish invasion.
According to Pantelidis, in the previous period there was a downward trend in the findings, but there are hopes that in the next period this picture will be reversed.
He said that at the moment the CMP has bones at its disposal, from the examination of which it is expected that up to 100 more persons can be identified, while there are still 900 persons remaining on the lists available to the CMP.
With regard to the 2,500 small bones that have not yet been identified, he said that the proposal made on behalf of the Commissioner for the Presidency would be discussed in order to move the process forward. As Leonidas Pantelidis explained, DNA testing is needed on each of the small pieces, as it is not easy to put them together and clarify to which person they belong.
Leonidas Pantelidis said that the Commission is exploring the application of new technologies to identify bones, such as ultrasound radar and drones equipped with special cameras to detect variations in the ground and vegetation that are not visible to the human eye.
The Portuguese expert is expected by August 2021
Still pending is the hiring of the Portuguese expert, who is expected to guide the excavation in a concrete field where bones appear to have been transported.
The expert will be in Cyprus for four months, with a team of four people, to prepare a manual for the handling of this case by CMP staff. His arrival was expected in August, but the preparation of his contract has been delayed because the amount of his fee requires special approval.
"The executive has committed to release €1.2 million. for the identification of bones."
The chairman of the relevant parliamentary committee and AKEL MP, Nikos Ketteros, said it was the state's obligation to release the €1.2 million to proceed with the identification of thousands of small bones.
Nikos Ketteros said that "we have reached the point of giving relatives of the deceased a tooth or bones from a palm for funerals, while there are 2,500 bones that have not been identified because of the cost."
He then referred to the €70 million in compensation. which have been awarded by the European Court of Human Rights and have to be paid by Turkey to relatives of stranded and missing persons.
As Nikos Kettiros said, for 8 years now, legislation for the administration of this amount has been awaited. According to the information he received, the legislation is at the Ministry of Finance, but before it reaches the Parliament it will have to go through a legislative and technical control. "We cannot ask Turkey to pay the compensation when we need 8 years to set up a mechanism," he concluded.
DISY MP George Karoullas said that despite the adversity and especially Turkey's steadfast refusal to provide information on burial sites, work is being done in the direction of identifying bones, but with delays. He stressed that it was the state's obligation to disburse the €1.2 million, since it takes €500 to identify a bone. He also spoke of actions at the level of parliamentary diplomacy to put pressure on Turkey to open new areas for research by the CMP.
DIKO MP Christos Seneces described as an insult to the state the fact that 2,500 bones remain unidentified. He spoke of disappointing progress in the identification and identification process and stressed that the main cause of this situation is Turkey's harsh attitude.
DPA MP Michalis Yiakoumi said the government should continue to exert pressure to curb Turkey's callous attitude.
Source: CNA
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs Cyprus Times
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or Cyprus Times
Source
