Cyprus President Christodoulides urges Turkish cooperation on missing‑persons excavations

President Nikos Christodoulides told a memorial ceremony in Kornos that he will again press Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman to allow excavations at suspected burial sites in Turkish‑controlled areas. He said the request had been submitted in writing and framed the excavations as a simple confidence‑building measure. Ongoing digs at sites such as Agia, Assia, Yerolakkos, Lapithos, Exometochi and Livadia were highlighted, while 120 additional locations remain on the investigation list.

Christodoulides also announced a memorandum of cooperation between the defence ministries of Cyprus and Greece to strengthen missing‑persons work, and confirmed the allocation of a permanent building for a new anthropological laboratory to support families receiving identified remains.

In parallel, Greek Parliament Speaker Annita Demetriou, speaking with representatives of the Pan‑Hellenic Committee for Parents and Relatives of Missing Persons of the Cyprus Tragedy, called the unresolved fate of the missing an “unfulfilled debt” to families and the nation, urging intensified efforts and the institutionalisation of a day of remembrance. Several Cypriot ministers, at memorial services marking 52 years since the 1974 Turkish invasion, reaffirmed the government’s commitment to a UN‑led solution, the search for missing persons, and the restoration of human rights, citing growing EU and UN support.