The Office of the Turkish Cypriot Member of the Missing Persons Committee in Cyprus (CMP) has issued a statement responding to reports in the Greek Cypriot media.

The CMP noted that the content of the news that a Portuguese expert has submitted a preliminary report on the possible burial site of 70 missing Greek Cypriots from the area around Paşaköy at the Dikmen garbage dump was misleading and false.

It pointed out that 68 of the 70 missing persons from the Paşaköy area had already been found and identified by the committee.

The statement added that the Portuguese expert and his team, who worked on the Dikmen Dumpster Rehabilitation Project are on the island to carry out a study to determine whether or not excavation work can be carried out at the dump site due to the danger posed by possible pockets of methane gas.

“He is on the island to carry out exploration work following a decision taken by the Missing Persons Committee. This work continues under the knowledge and approval of our authorities and under the supervision of the experts,” the statement read.