The national award ceremony for the European Citizen`s Prize 2018, during which the bicommunal Famagusta Initiative as well as Turkish Cypriot `Afrika` newspaper publisher, Sener Levent , were honoured, took place on Friday in Nicosia, .
The ceremony took place in the Goethe Institute in Nicosia in the presence, among others, of Cypriot members of the European Parliament, foreign diplomats and members of non governmental organisations.
On behalf of the bicommunal Famagusta Initiative, Turkish Cypriot Okan Dagli said that “we have been countering the division of our town and our island through our contribution to views that unite and participation in actions promoting unity. We have been working on and developing proposals on how to turn Famagusta – a divided and partly evacuated town – into the reunified, multi-cultural space of our dreams.”
Taking the floor, on behalf of the bicommunal Famagusta Initiative, Greek Cypriot Andreas Matsis said that “we would like to bring this spirit of cooperation between the two communities to the new generations which must show greater interest for the future of their country and to act as responsible citizens of the EU, where cooperation between the different nationalities is a precondition for the success of the European integration”.
On his part, Levent critized Europe for not making enough efforts to free the northern part (Turkish occupied areas of Cyprus) from the hegemony of Turkey and apply the European acquis.
“MEPs can not even enter Varosha (fenced off area of Turkish occupied Famagusta town) which is held by the Turkish army,” he said.
Head of the European Parliament`s Office in Cyprus, Andreas Kettis, said that this year`s winners from Cyprus will travel to Brussels where they will be honored during an award ceremony, together with all the winners coming from all EU member states.
Each year, the European Parliament awards «The European Citizen’s Prize». This prize is intended to be an award for exceptional achievements in the following areas: Activities or actions by citizens, groups, associations or organisations having displayed an outstanding commitment to promoting better mutual understanding and closer integration between citizens of the Member States; or to facilitating cross-border or transnational cooperation within the European Union. This could also include activities or actions by citizens engaged in long-term, cross-border or transnational cultural cooperation contributing to the strengthening of a European spirit. Preference is given to projects linked to the current European Year.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied 37% of its territory.
Varosha, the fenced – off part of the once thriving holiday resort, on the eastern coast of Cyprus, has been sealed off since the 1974 Turkish invasion and according to the UN the Turkish military is responsible for it. Repeated attempts to hand the area to UN administration and its Greek Cypriot lawful inhabitants have so far failed due to the stance of the Turkish army.
UNSC resolution 550 (1984) ‘considers attempts to settle any part of Varosha by people other than its inhabitants as inadmissible and calls for the transfer of this area to the administration of the United Nations’.
On July 20, 1974, claiming to act under article 4 of the Treaty of Guarantee, the Turkish armed forces staged a full scale invasion against Cyprus, during which thousands of Greek Cypriots were killed or maimed. Till today the fate of hundreds of persons is not known and they are still missing. Over 36% of the Republic of Cyprus territory, representing 70% of the economic potential came under the occupation of the Turkish military. One third of the Greek Cypriots became refugees in their own country and are to this day prevented from returning to their homes by the Turkish occupation authorities.
Numerous UN-backed talks, aiming at reunifying the island under a federal roof, have failed to yield any results. The latest round of peace talks that took place at the Swiss resort of Crans Montana ended inconclusively in July 2017.