The Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers' Deputies called on Turkey to provide unhindered access to all areas where the remains of missing persons may be located, as well as all information necessary for the work of the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP).
The decision was adopted on Wednesday during a meeting which examined Turkey's compliance with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) judgment in the Fourth Inter-State Case of Cyprus v. Turkey (on the aspect of missing persons) and the group of cases ‘Varnava and Others’.
According to the Cyprus Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), the Committee of Ministers' Deputies noted Turkey's recent announcement on easing restrictions imposed on the CMP in military areas.
"As the Republic of Cyprus, we expect to see the implementation of this announcement, as well as the complete lifting of the restrictions requested by the Committee," said the MFA.
According to the ministry, the Council of Europe Committee called on Turkey to provide information on any new developments, including additional investigations into the remaining missing persons in the Varnava case, while adopting an interim resolution condemning Turkey's refusal to pay fair compensation, stressing that this is an unconditional treaty obligation.
The CMP was 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 the Turkish invasion of 1974.
According to statistical data published on the CMP website by January 31, 2026, out of 2002 missing persons 1,714 were exhumed and 1,063 were identified. Out of 1,510 Greek Cypriot missing persons 764 were identified and 746 are still missing. Out of 492 Turkish Cypriot missing persons 299 were identified and 193 are still missing.
Source: CNA