The Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus (CMP) is set to launch annual briefings to inform the public about its progress, starting January 2027.

“This initiative is in line with the steadfast commitment of President of the Republic Nikos Christodoulides and the government to continue and intensify efforts until the fate of the very last missing person has been ascertained,” presidential commissioner Marios Hartsiotis’ office said on Wednesday

The presentations are scheduled to take place annually in the second half of January and are aimed at relatives of missing persons, their organisations, authorities, the media and anyone with an interest in the matter.

According to Hartsiotis’ office, the briefing will be structured into three parts consisting of a general presentation of the actions and initiatives undertaken in the year under review, the results achieved and an update on the excavations and investigations carried out, including their findings and plans for the upcoming period.

It will also include a presentation by the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics on progress and results relating to identification procedures.

“The aim is to establish a consistent and meaningful process of transparency and communication, through which relatives and the wider community will have a comprehensive overview of the progress of the research, the results of the previous year, the outstanding issues and the plans for the coming period,” the office concluded.

By the end of July, the CMP had exhumed 1,719 bodies and identified the remains of 1,081 people from the official list, as well as 217 others. The 1,081 identified have been returned to their families for dignified burials.

Of those identified, 317 were Turkish Cypriots and 764 were Greek Cypriots. So far this year, the remains of 18 people, all Turkish Cypriots, have been identified.

The CMP was established in April 1981 under the auspices of the UN by an agreement between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities, following a call to establish a mechanism made in two UN General Assembly resolutions.

The exhumation, identification and return of remains project became operational in 2006 and the European Union continues to be the project’s main financial contributor.

The CMP relies on donor support to implement its bi-communal project.