Top UN official welcomes identification of missing persons in Cyprus

The top United Nations official in Cyprus has welcomed the announcement by the Committee on Missing Persons concerning the positive identification of the bodies of 28 missing persons and its plans to start returning the remains to the families concerned.

Michael Møller, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Representative for Cyprus, urged everyone to exercise due restraint during this “sensitive and emotional time” and respect the privacy of the affected families.

Mr. Møller extended the sympathy of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), which has been deployed on the island for the past 43 years, to the families concerned, and voiced hope that they would find “relief and solace after so many years of uncertainty about the fate of their relatives.”

According to UN data, over 1,400 Greek Cypriots and 500 Turkish Cypriots are listed as missing. Some 270 remains have been unearthed on both sides of the ceasefire line following an agreement last year.