President Ersin Tatar has said that the Greek Cypriot side was preventing exhumation works at the Atlılar mass grave.

He demanded that the work be allowed to resume immediately.

Issuing a statement on Wednesday, President Ersin Tatar said that following two weeks of unsuccessful attempts to start exhumation of remains of Turkish Cypriots lying at the Atlılar mass grave, he had called the Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides to tell him that such a humanitarian issue should not be politicized.

Criticizing the Greek Cypriot leader regarding his latest statement on the issue, Tatar said that it had become essential to issue a statement in order to prevent the misguidance of both the public and the Greek Cypriot people.

He pointed out that the Greek Cypriot member of the Committee on Missing Persons was preventing the start of exhumations at the Atlılar mass grave, which was agreed upon in January, hindering the process.

An agreement had been reached to exhume the bodies and remains at the mass grave, identifying them and reburying each individual in separate gaves.

President Tatar stated that officials from both the Greek Cypriot side and the UN have been working intensively for the last two weeks to ensure the implementation of this agreement.

“In response to the continued resistance of the Greek Cypriot authorities against our efforts, I intervened and called the Greek Cypriot leader yesterday. I conveyed to him that this excavation, which has already been decided upon, should start immediately and that it is imperative not to mix such an important humanitarian issue with political considerations, but more importantly, I conveyed that the families of the missing have been waiting for the start of this work for years. I also reiterated to the Greek Cypriot leader that I am ready to visit the Committee on Missing Persons together and conduct an on-site inspection, followed by a joint statement expressing support for these activities that are of great humanitarian importance,” he said.

President Tatar stated that they had conveyed the draft of the statement that could be made after the aforementioned visit to the Greek Cypriot side through the UN about two weeks ago and emphasized that it is unacceptable to backtrack on the common agreement on Atlılar due to political motives.

“My call to the Greek Cypriot leader is to immediately reverse these wrong decisions, start the excavations at the Atlılar mass grave as agreed upon, and be ready to make a joint statement by visiting the relevant committee together,” said the president, also noting that this situation applies to the negotiations on the Cyprus issue.

President Tatar said, “Our position is clear. Due to our equality, I would like to reiterate that negotiations can start immediately with the affirmation of our sovereign equality and equal international status.”