Cyprus News Agency: News in English, 09-08-11

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From: The Cyprus News Agency at <http://www.cyna.org.cy>

CONTENTS

[01] GAROYIAN SIOUFAS MISSING PERSONS

[02] COMMONWEALTH FINANCE MINISTERS CYPRUS

[03] EU CMP - CONTIBUTION

[01] GAROYIAN SIOUFAS MISSING PERSONS

According to an official announcement of the House of Representatives, Garoyian and Sioufas had today a telephone conversation on the missing persons issue on the occasion of the recent disclosures and evidence of Greek Cypriot hostages being murdered during the Turkish invasion of 1974.

It is noted that Garoyian and Sioufas agreed the Parliaments of Cyprus and Greece to initiate common action for promoting the issue to the Parliaments of EU member states and to the Parliaments of the Inter-Parliamentray Union (IPU) member states.

Moreover, the two Presidents decided that the Cypriot and Greek Parliaments request a more active mobilization of the international community in order to ascertain the fate of every missing person of the Turkish invasion.

They also agreed that the efforts would be based on the relevant decisions of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

Garoyian and Sioufas decided to communicate during the upcoming days for better planning and organizing the whole process.

Cyprus an EU member state since 2004 has been divided when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37% of its territory in 1974. A significant number of Greek Cypriots were reported missing during the Turkish invasion.

Turkey has so far refused to provide information about the fate of Greek Cypriot missing persons, who were last seen alive in the hands of the Turkish military during the 1974 Turkish invasion.

According to a judgment of the ECHR (Cyprus v Turkey 10 May 2001) Turkey is obliged to ensure effective investigation aimed at clarifying the whereabouts and fate of Greek Cypriot missing persons, who disappeared in life-threatening circumstances.

[02] COMMONWEALTH FINANCE MINISTERS CYPRUS

According to a press release issued by the Commonwealth Secretariat, at the Commonwealth Finance Ministers Meeting (CFMM), Ministers will review country experiences, seek to distil good practices, explore mutual support, and identify how the Commonwealth Secretariat can best assist.

The meeting to be held at the Grand Resort Hotel, Limassol will run from 1 to 2 October 2009.

The opening ceremony, to which media are invited, will be held on the evening of 30 September at the Grand Resort, Limassol at 18:30 hours.

This will be preceded earlier in the day on 30 September 2009 by separate meetings of Commonwealth central bank governors, members of the Commonwealth Ministerial Debt Sustainability Forum, and Commonwealth senior finance officials, the press release adds.

It notes that the CFMM will take place immediately prior to the Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund being held this year in Istanbul, Turkey.

[03] EU CMP - CONTIBUTION

According to an official announcement, the contribution follows the specific request of the European Parliament, adding that the agreement was concluded on 4th August between the European Commission and the United Nations Development Program.

The announcement notes that this is the second contribution the European Union grants to support CMP mandate. It is reminded that the European Union had already contributed 1.5 million euros to the Committee on Missing Persons in 2007.

The Committee on Missing Persons project, as it is mentioned, aims at closing a painful chapter in the history of the island and at contributing to the process of reconciliation between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities.

Through this support to the CMP mandate, the remains of at least 500 missing persons are expected to be exhumed, analyzed and identifies and finally returned to their relatives, it concludes.

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