Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis held a teleconference today with the Panhellenic Committee of Parents & Relatives of Undeclared Prisoners & Missing Persons of the Cyprus Tragedy.
“The missing persons of the Cyprus tragedy are a wound that has not healed,” stressed Mr. Varvitsiotis, underscoring that “the Greek state firmly supports the efforts of the relatives seeking vindication.” “Greece is always at your side, honouring the sacrifice of our Missing Persons, from both Greece and Cyprus,” he noted. He called it unacceptable that, 47 years after the invasion, the issue of the Missing Persons has not been definitively resolved, also noting Turkey's provocative refusal to contribute substantially to the provision of information.
The Panhellenic Committee was represented by its president, Maria Kalmpourtzi, its secretary general Chara Topalidi, and its BoD member Pavlos Zois. They proposed a Joint Conference of the Ministries of Defence and Foreign Affairs of Greece and Cyprus, an International campaign on the issue of the Missing Persons ahead of the five-party talks on the Cyprus issue, settlement of pending issues concerning the list of relatives of Missing Persons (genetic sampling, return of misidentified remains), return of archival material, and discussion of the issue in international organizations, such as NATO.
March 9, 2021