For her work writing about the fate of people missing on Cyprus since an unlawful 1974 Turkish invasion, Turkish-Cypriot investigative journalist Sevgul Uludag was nominated for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize.

Anna Agathangelou, a political sciences professor at Canada’s York University, made the nomination, the Cyprus News Agency said, with the reporter having spent more than 18 years trying to discover the fate of the missing.

The Committee on Missing Persons on Cyprus (CMP) said that 1,510 Greek-Cypriots and 492 Turkish-Cypriots from 1974 and a 1963-64 conflict still haven’t been accounted for with the legitimate Cypriot government saying Turkey hasn’t co-operated.

In a joint statement, Cenk Mutluyakali, chief editor of the Turkish-Cypriot newspaper Yeni Duzen and Cenk Mutluyakali, Editor of the Greek-language Politis welcomed the nomination of  Uludag — who writes for both.

They also praised her work as a journalist to help build mutual understanding between the two communities on this issue. “This candidacy also honours her work and efforts for peace and conciliation in Cyprus,” they said.

Born in Nicosia in 1958, Uludag has taken her work beyond writing to, trying to find possible burial locations, and researching and writing about their painful and tragic stories.

She has also set up a hot line so that readers from both communities can provide any information they may have on the issue anonymously.

The journalist has also brought relatives of missing from the two communities together, helping to establish a bicommunal association of relatives of the missing and victims of war called Together We Can, in-Cyprus said.

The CMP said 681 Greek-Cypriot missing and 246 Turkish-Cypriots have been identified but that of 1,254 sites excavated looking for remains, 1200 had none, showing the task.