President hopes for developments towards resumption of Cyprus talks in September
President hopes for developments towards resumption of Cyprus talks in September
29/8/2023 11:00

President, Nikos Christodoulides, has expressed the hope that within September, on the occasion of the UN General Assembly in New York, there will be developments in the direction of resuming Cyprus reunification talks from where they were interrupted in Crans Montana.

Addressing an anti-occupation event in Nicosia on Monday evening, President Christodoulides reiterated that on Monday he had a very constructive meeting with the UN Assistant Secretary-General, Miroslav Jenča, indicating that the commitment of the Secretary-General to work for the resumption of talks is, as set out in the specific terms of the mandate of the Security Council is important. He also expressed the hope that within September, on the occasion of the UN General Assembly in New York, there will be developments in the direction of resuming the talks from where they were interrupted in Crans Montana.

In particular, referring to the missing persons of Assia, President Christodoulides noted that it is indeed an issue that is a priority for the Republic of Cyprus and emphasised that "we must proceed with the actions that must be taken in the Dikomo village landfill".

It is believed that the remains of 70 missing persons from the village of Assia are buried in a landfill in the Turkish occupied village of Dikomo. The missing persons were killed in the area of Ornithi and then it is believed that their remains were transferred and buried in the landfill in the 1990’s. 

President Christodoulides pointed out that the government has proposed a specific way through the EU financial regulation, to use resources for this purpose, adding that "of course the Republic of Cyprus is here to assist financially in order to go ahead with this action."

He further emphasised that "under no circumstances will we come to terms with the occupation, we will not come to terms with the justified sadness and the faits-accomplis of the occupation" and that "on the contrary, with tenacity, determination, persistence, assertive realism, without defeatism and introversion between us, we are working every day so that we can be the generation that will reunite our country."

We are working ceaselessly, said President Christodoulides, for a solution based on the United Nations resolutions, compatible with the principles and values of the EU and the European acquis. "The Republic of Cyprus is a member state of the EU and will continue to be even after an eventual solution of the Cyprus problem, a functional and sustainable solution for a state with one sovereignty, one international personality and one citizenship, without occupying armies and guarantees," he said.

On his part, President of the "ASSIA" Cultural Association, Dimitris Pantopolis, said that "unity is needed more than ever" and added that "the time has come to move forward with actions and not with words", calling at the same time on President of the Republic to declare "national reconciliation, forgiveness and at the same time the recognition of mistakes, after consultation with all political and/or religious forces and the drawing up of a nationwide policy".

Addressing the event, the President of the Assia Community Council, Giorgos Ioannou, raised the issue of the missing persons of Assia. He also stated that "according to official testimonies from the Turkish Cypriot side that have been submitted to the CMP, the remains of our loved ones were removed" from the original burial site and transported to Dikomo landfill.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.

A Committee on Missing Persons has been established, upon agreement between the leaders of the two communities, with the scope of exhuming, identifying and returning to their relatives the remains of 492 Turkish Cypriots and 1,510 Greek Cypriots, who went missing during the inter-communal fighting of 1963-1964 and in 1974.

According to statistical data published on the CMP website by December 31, 2021 out of 2002 missing persons 1,183 were exhumed and 1,023 were identified. Out of 1510 Greek Cypriot missing persons 732 were identified and 778 are still missing. Out of 492 Turkish Cypriot missing persons 291 were identified and 201 are still missing.

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