Turkey Donates Excavator to Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus

The Republic of Turkey has donated an excavator and a car transporter worth €126,500 to the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) in Cyprus.

According to the Turkish Cypriot members of the CMP, Turkey has provided financial support totaling €1,454,225 since 2006. The donation aims to support the Committee’s vital mission of identifying the remains of missing persons and returning them to their families. The primary goal is to bring closure to families who have endured decades of painful uncertainty.

So far, the remains of 1,054 missing individuals—both Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots—have been identified and returned to their families with proper burial ceremonies. It was previously reported that the CMP has located the remains of around 1,700 people since 2006.

The CMP was established in 1981 as a bi-communal initiative under the auspices of the United Nations, following an agreement between the leaders of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities. The exhumation, identification, and return of remains officially began in 2006 and is co-funded by the European Union.