Cyprus Missing Persons Committee Identifies 11 Individuals

In 2024, the Cyprus Missing Persons Committee successfully identified a total of 11 individuals. Of these, nine were Turkish Cypriots and two were Greek Cypriots.

According to Leonidas Pantelidis, the representative of the Greek Cypriot member of the committee, seven of the identified individuals were officially listed as missing persons, while the remaining four were not.

All of the identified individuals were discovered during recent excavations, which indicates that no previous efforts had been made to search the areas where their remains were found.

This year, excavations were conducted at 102 sites across the island. Remains were found at five different locations: the villages of Bellapais, Karavas, and Lapithos, as well as in Trachonas in Nicosia and Alaoa in the Famagusta area.

Excavations are currently being carried out by seven teams in the following areas: Ayia Marina-Skellouras (between Nicosia and Morphou), Assia (in the Famagusta region), Louroudjina (between Nicosia and Larnaca), Lapithos, Konia (in the Paphos area), Omorfita (in Nicosia), and Sisklipos (in the Kyrenia region).

To date, 2,002 individuals are officially listed as missing, of whom 1,051 have been identified. Additionally, 216 individuals have been identified even though they were not included in the official missing persons list.

A joint investigation into about 100 cases has already been completed. Meanwhile, around 300 cases are still under investigation by the office of the Greek Cypriot administration's representative.