Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus (CMP)

The Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus (CMP) is a bi-communal body established in 1981 by the leaders of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities with the participation of the United Nations. CMP’s primary objective is to recover, identify, and return to their families, the remains of Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots who went missing during the inter-communal fighting of 1963 to 1964 and the events of 1974. CMP has three Members, two appointed respectively by the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities and a third Member selected by the International Committee of the Red Cross and appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General. All the work of CMP is carried out by bi-communal teams and it is outlined in the following five Phases: (1) Investigation, (2) Excavation, (3) Anthropological, (4) Genetic Testing and Matching, and (5) Identification and Return of Remains. Many Cypriot families have been either directly or indirectly affected by a missing person. The healing of old wounds may in turn also contribute to the overall process of reconciliation between the two communities.