LOBBY OUTSIDE THE HOUSE. On Tuesday 6th July 10, as every year, we demonstrated in Parliament Square. Our picket was attended by MPs Theresa Villiers, David Burrowes, Andy Love as well as members from our community and officials from various political parties and organisations. Leaflets were distributed.
After the picketing we moved into the
house where newly elected and re-elected MPs spoke and
promised to work even harder for a solution to the
issue of the Missing.
RALLY FOR
CYPRUS. On Sunday
18th
July we participated,
like every year, in the rally from Belgravia Square to
Trafalgar Square. We walked behind our banner carrying
photos of our Missing and demanding an end to this
inhuman treatment by Turkey.
(Photo
above from the rally walking through Central
London).
On
14th July 09, from
5.30pm members and friends of our Organisation attended
the picketing outside the Houses of Parliament for our
Missing. Many MPs came out to meet us and listened and
talked to family members of our Missing.
At 6.30pm the picketing ended and we moved to the
meeting room inside the Houses where MPs spoke about
the issue and stressed the importance of ascertaining
the fate of all our Missing. They all agreed that
Turkey must give all the information it has on the
Missing and that our Government must apply pressure on
Turkey to do so. Our members felt a lot happier of what
was said at this meeting than any of the previous ones.
Let us hope that something will be done soon!
From
our stand at the Wine Festival 27-28th June 09 (below).
June 2009
A letter sent to Caroline Flint, Minister for Europe following her blanket response to several MPs' letters:
“Dear Minister,
Many MPs received an identical letter from you after writing to the Foreign Secretary or to the Foreign Office regarding the problem of Missing Persons of Cyprus. We felt the need to respond to your letter because we believe that some of the statements made are inaccurate while others require further clarification...” Read in full here...we are awaiting a reply.
May 2009
The letter below was sent to many of our MPs at the end of February 2009:
"...Following the recent admission by a Turkish ex-soldier, that he was involved in the execution of ten prisoners of war during the invasion of Cyprus in 1974, and considering that many similar stories appeared in the past, we, the relatives of our missing loved ones, find ourselves again in turmoil..."
Read in full here
The reply was the same to all of them from C. Flint, Minister for Europe.
"Thank you for your letter of 3 March on behalf of your constituents at the Lobby for Cyprus and the Organisation of Relatives of Missing Cypriots about missing persons in Cyprus..."
Read in full here
Other
correspondence is noted here:
"Dear Minister,
...We hope you would agree, that while the two leaders are very likely to find common ground in many areas, some issues they cannot tackle by themselves, such as the removal of the Turkish troops from Cyprus and the solution to the Missing Persons problem..."
Read full letter here
(AWAITING REPLY)
And our second letter, dated 28th March 2009
Dear Minister,
It was a pleasure to see you last Thursday afternoon at the Cypriot Community Centre in Wood Green and having the opportunity to listen to you and the other quests present.
I put a question to you for which your reply did not leave me completely satisfied and hence the present letter to you. My question was “Is our Government prepared to use practical measures to persuade or even force Turkey to abide by the ECHR judgement against her regarding the issue of our Missing”?
Read full letter here
(AWAITING REPLY)
"Your Excellency,
We have heard that you would be visiting Cyprus in the next few days and that you and the EU support the efforts of the two leaders to find a solution for the Cypriots. We hope you would agree, that while the two leaders are very likely to find common ground in many areas, some issues they cannot tackle by themselves, such as the removal of the Turkish troops from Cyprus and the solution to the Missing Persons problem...."
Read full letter here
And his reply received in February 2009
"...Concerning the specific case you are mentioning, the facts now need to be established. The Commission continues to support fully the work of the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) in Cyprus..."
The meeting was held at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia and was attended by representatives of the four Committees of the Missing, namely Cyprus 1963-4, Cyprus 1974, Greece and UK, as well as representatives of the CMP (Committee on Missing Persons), the Cyprus Genetic Centre and others. The President confirmed that the identifications will be speeded up and more staff will be employed.
It is estimated that by the end of the year another 300 or so remains will be identified. The CMP representative confirmed that exhumations are continuing on both sides. There are three units working in the north and one in the south.