It is with feelings of awe and deep emotion that we are present in this sacred place, addressing to the Most High our warm request for the finding of the last missing person of the Cyprus tragedy.
Forty-eight years after the infamous coup d'état and the brutal Turkish invasion that brought destruction to our island, the fate of most of our missing persons, those whose names were included in the original list and even those of our compatriots who were presumed dead or disappeared and continue to be missing from 1963 onwards, remains unfortunately unclear.
We neither underestimate nor belittle the work that has been accomplished within the framework of the mission of the Commission of Inquiry on Missing Persons. Far from it. We support the Commission of Inquiry and its humanitarian mission in every way we can.
But we cannot overlook the significant problems that exist and are an obstacle to efforts to make progress. By way of illustration, I would like to mention the dramatic decline in recent years in the identification of remains in the occupied territories. There has not been any progress on the issue of access to the Turkish army's archives, nor in resolving the problems and obstacles posed by the Turkish army to searches and exhumations in the arbitrarily so-called military zones. The major double crime of the destruction of mass graves and the deliberate movement of the remains to hitherto unknown sites still persists. At the same time, the occupying power refuses to indicate the mass burial sites created by the Turkish army from the collections of the dead from the battlefields.
Unfortunately, without the sincere cooperation of the occupying power, no substantial progress can and cannot be expected. It is for this reason that the international community, especially the United Nations and the European Union, should take humanitarian initiatives, even after so many years, to curb Turkish intransigence and the refusal of the occupying power to cooperate.
I would like to stress once again that for the President of the Republic and the Government it is a top priority to determine the fate of all our missing persons, without exception, in order to put an end to the agony and suffering of their families that they have been experiencing every day for so many decades. It is not for us a complete clarification of the fate of our missing persons to hand over a few or individual remains for burial.
It is our firm position that every family of a missing person is entitled to be informed about the fate of their loved one with convincing and demonstrable evidence.
We have reached, and perhaps passed, the point in time when most of the relatives, parents, spouses and even children, complete their own life cycle and leave with unanswered questions about the fate of their loved ones.
Dear relatives of the missing, friends and partners of the Pancyprian Committee of Relatives of Missing Persons and Captured Prisoners of War and supporters of the Pancyprian Missing Persons' Love Marathon Fund,
Along with the efforts to achieve a just and workable solution to our national issue, we continue our tireless efforts to finally resolve the humanitarian aspect of the problem of our missing persons. The motto of this year's event "Discerning the fate of all the missing persons of Cyprus - Help the work of the Committee of Inquiry" of course expresses us all perfectly.
From this place of heavy historical memory, and next to the venerable figure of the Monument of Cyprus and the Greek Mother of the Missing, we assure you once again of our full support and solidarity.
Together we will continue to fight until the end to put an end to the pain and agony of the relatives of the missing persons and the martyrdom they have been experiencing daily for so many decades. This for us is not a figure of speech but a commitment and obligation towards our heroes and their families.
(PM/MB/IC)
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