Press Releases

First of all, I would like to extent my warmest congratulations to Toula Liasi for her art project: “Where Have You Been?”, dedicated to all the missing persons in Cyprus.

Ι am confident  that Toula has once again devised ways to bring to the fore through the power of her art all the dimensions of the most dramatic aspect of the recent history of Cyprus: the tragedy of the missing Cypriots that has been plaguing the island and its inhabitants since the coup and the Turkish invasion in 1974.

More than 2000 Greek and Turkish Cypriots have been reported as missing. Approximately two thousand cases have been presented to the Committee of Missing Persons of Cyprus which operates under the auspices of the United Nations. Thus, far the remains, in many cases fragments of the remains of approximately 900 missing persons have been found, identified through DNA analysis and returned to their families. The fate of the other missing persons still remains unknown.

Despite the strenuous efforts of the Cypriot government for more than four decades and the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, Turkey is still not cooperating to the extent necessary in order to put an end to the tragedy of the thousands of relatives of the missing persons. After forty-four years, many of them pass away without knowing what has happened to their beloved ones.

Toula’s personal history is one of the most characteristic of the Cyprus problem. Her father, Savvas Liasi, is an emblematic personality still living in the occupied northern part, together with a few hundred other Greek Cypriots, who insist on remaining in their homes despite all the problems and hardships that they encounter in their everyday life because of the Turkish occupation. Toulas’ mother, Maroulla, died in peace soon after she buried the remains of her son Yiannakis, who had been missing for forty years. He was found in a mass grave and identified through DNA analysis.

Loaded with such a heavy burden, Toula feels the need to react. As an artist and art teacher, she uses her art to attract attention to long forgotten situations in her homeland. Although she has been living and working in The Netherlands for almost forty years, she still gets her inspiration from her village in the occupied northern part of Cyprus. Approaching different issues through artistic perspectives, the artist gives new emphasis to the situation. Three of her major art projects have already been dedicated to the enclaved compatriots people, who have been her inspiration throughout the years.

With her latest art project: “Where Have You Been?”, which is dedicated to the missing persons in Cyprus, and is presented in The Hague, the seat of the International Court of Justice, Toula manages not only to promote Cyprus, but also to contribute to raising awareness on this vital humanitarian issue.

I wish Toula every success for this unique art project as well as for all her future artistic endeavours.

Thank you.

____________

Note: Presidential Commissioner's address was delivered by the Ambassador of the Republic of Cyprus in The Hague, Mr Elpidoforos Economou.

(RM/ML/SCH)