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<p>We share the concerns of both the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities
over the missing persons following the events of 1974. The Foreign and Commonwealth
Office has not had any recent discussions with the Turkish government about this,
but we take very seriously the issue of missing persons in Cyprus. We supported UN
Security Council Resolution 2197 renewing the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in
Cyprus (UNFICYP), which called upon all parties to provide more expeditious, full
access to all areas. The UK also contributes to the work of the Committee of Ministers
of the Council of Europe, which supervises the implementation of the European Court
of Human Rights judgement in Cyprus v Turkey of 2001 on missing persons. We strongly
support the humanitarian work of the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) in Cyprus,
in which bi-communal teams undertake painstaking and sensitive work. So far, the remains
of 568 individuals have been identified and returned to their families. We have supported
the work of the CMP financially, donating US$220,133 bilaterally, while EU funding
of the CMP, to which the UK contributes, totalled US$16,289,719 from 2006-14. In addition
to this financial support, the UK facilitates the CMP by enabling it to work from
a British-owned site in the Buffer Zone, thus easing its administration costs. The
British High Commission in Nicosia remains in regular contact with the CMP to establish
how the UK may further support its work.</p>
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