The Commissioner for the Presidency, Mr Fotis Fotiou, met today with the Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives of Ireland in the framework of their official visit to Cyprus, on issues related to his responsibilities.
During the meeting, Mr. Fotiou informed the President and Members about the difficult situation that has arisen, especially in recent years, in the efforts to solve the problem of the missing persons. This, he said, is entirely due to the refusal of the occupying power to cooperate honestly and provide information from the Turkish army's records on the movement of remains and new burial sites.
Turkey's refusal to implement and enforce the 2001 and 2014 judgments of the European Court of Human Rights is indicative of its unacceptable policy.
The issue of the missing persons is an entirely humanitarian issue, not a political one, and the families of our missing persons have the right to get the answers they have been waiting for so many years.
The international community, the Commissioner for the Presidency continued, is in a position and can take humanitarian initiatives and press Turkey to comply with the rules of international legitimacy for the benefit of the suffering families.
The Commissioner expressed the Government's and his own thanks for Ireland's financial support so far to the ICRC and its assistance in efforts to resolve the humanitarian aspect of the problem, as well as within the Permanent Representatives Committee of the Council of Europe, and looked forward to its continued deepening.
Finally, the Commissioner for the Presidency briefed the President and Members of Parliament on the steps being taken by the two countries to cooperate on Diaspora issues, with a view to signing a Memorandum of Understanding.
The President of the Irish Parliament reiterated Ireland's firm position in supporting their country's efforts to resolve the humanitarian issue of the Missing Persons on the basis of United Nations Security Council resolutions. In addition to financial support, the President of Parliament also mentioned the provision of training by the Police Service of Ireland to the ICRC on the issue of missing persons.
(PM/MB/EXP)
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