Tributes pour in for Sevgül Uludağ, journalist who devoted her life to Cyprus’s missing

Local Cyprus problemmediamissing personsTop News Tributes pour in for Sevgül Uludağ, journalist who devoted her life to Cyprus’s missing Sevgül Uludağ Relevant News Tributes pour in for Sevgül Uludağ, journalist who devoted her life to Cyprus’s missing 29 June 2026 Pakistan forces kill 29 militants in border operation, Kabul says dozens of civilians dead 29 June 2026 One killed, one critical in shooting at California World Cup fan zone 29 June 2026 newsroom 29 June 2026 FacebookXWhatsAppEmailPrintViber Tributes poured in across Cyprus on Monday for Sevgül Uludağ, the Turkish Cypriot journalist, activist and writer who spent decades investigating the fate of the island’s missing persons and died on Sunday at Nicosia General Hospital after a short battle with cancer. She was 67. President Nikos Christodoulides led the tributes. “We bid farewell to our compatriot with feelings of deep respect,” he said, describing Uludağ as someone who had brought sensitivity and dedication to the humanitarian tragedy of Cyprus’s missing persons and had worked consistently for the peaceful coexistence of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots in a homeland free of occupation forces. The POGO Women’s Movement mourned the loss of a brave Turkish Cypriot journalist, activist and human rights defender who had fought for decades for women’s rights in Cyprus. The movement recalled that Uludağ had faced attacks and threats from extremists on both sides of the divide but had never abandoned her pursuit of historical truth, peaceful coexistence and reunification. POGO had honoured her with its 3rd “Kleio Christodoulidou and Katina Nikolaou” Women’s Contribution Award in 2019. The Union of Cyprus Journalists (UCJ), of which Uludağ had been a member since 2003, said her memory would remain indelible in the conscience of the country’s entire journalistic community. It added that Uludağ had used her columns in the newspapers Yeni Düzen and Politis as platforms to investigate the fate of missing persons across the island and to bring the two communities closer together. The UCJ nominated her for the UNESCO World Press Freedom Prize in 2005, and in May 2019 secured the European Federation of Journalists’ backing — passed unanimously at the EFJ’s annual session in Tallinn, Estonia — for her nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. OPEK said its board was proud that Uludağ had accepted its “Giannos Kranidiotis” Pioneering Creation Award in 2019. The organisation placed her among a handful of Cypriot citizens who had remained committed throughout their lives to easing the pain of others rather than inflicting it — those who, in OPEK’s words, dedicate their strength to alleviating suffering on both sides of the divide. The Cyprus Peace Council described her loss as a heavy blow not only to her family but to Cypriot society as a whole. For Uludağ, the council said, there were no Greek Cypriot or Turkish Cypriot missing persons and no distinction between ours and theirs — only families who deserved to know the truth. It recalled that in 2023 it had awarded its Peace Prize to “Together We Can,” an organisation Uludağ co-founded to support families of missing persons. Who was Sevgül Uludağ? Uludağ was born in Nicosia on October 15, 1958. She worked first in a bank and later as a proofreader before becoming a journalist in 1980. It was in 2002 that she turned her attention to what would become the defining work of her life — the fate of the thousands of Cypriots who disappeared during the intercommunal violence of the 1960s and the 1974 Turkish invasion. She published her phone number, inviting families and witnesses to contact her directly, and received hundreds of calls from people searching for missing relatives or willing to share information on unsolved cases. The work came at a personal cost. According to published reports, Turkish military vehicles parked outside her home in 1982–83 because she was writing about reunification. In 1996, a leader of the Grey Wolves, a Turkish extremist paramilitary group, issued a death threat against her. Her courage earned international recognition. She won the 2008 Courage in Journalism Award — the first Cypriot to receive the honour — and the European Parliament awarded her its European Citizenship Prize for her work on missing persons. Beyond journalism, Uludağ co-founded two NGOs — Hands Across the Divide in 2001 together with women from both sides of the island, and “Together We Can,” which supports families of missing persons and received the Pancyprian Peace Council’s 2023 Peace Prize. Read more: Turkish Cypriot journalist nominated for Nobel Peace prize Subscribe to our Newsletter Latest News Pakistan forces kill 29 militants in border operation, Kabul says dozens of civilians dead One killed, one critical in shooting at California World Cup fan zone Nicosia’s Pedieos Linear Park gets €30m overhaul with new footbridges, smart crossings On this day: Kurdish guerrilla Abdullah Ocalan was sentenced by a Turkish court to hang in 1999 IMF warns Cyprus of pension spending surge as reform talks advance Drunk driver crashes into five vehicles on Limassol coastal road (videos) Greek lawyer with international standing frontrunner for Mafia State criminal probe Follow en.philenews on Google News and be the first to know all the news about Cyprus and the world.