Two initiatives by the Deputy Ministry of Culture to preserve the cultural heritage and collective memory of the north were presented on Monday by Deputy Minister of Culture Klea Hatzistefanou Papaellina.
She spoke at a press conference organised by the Association of Occupied Municipalities and Communities in Nicosia, ahead of the “Memories of Occupied Land” events, which will take place in Paphos on 12 and 13 November.
The first initiative is the new NOSTOS grant scheme, with a total budget of €100,000. It funds projects to record oral and historical testimonies, preserve archives, and highlight traditions and customs. The scheme places particular emphasis, the Deputy Minister said, on preserving the lived memories of people who lived in occupied towns and villages before 1974.
The second initiative is the Support Programme for Periodical Publications of Occupied Municipalities and Communities. Through it, the Deputy Ministry provides grants for local print media and periodicals, which preserve photographs, personal experiences and historical records for younger generations.
Institutional responsibility
Ms Papaellina described the preservation of memory as an ongoing institutional responsibility of the state. Fifty-two years after the Turkish invasion, she said, the occupation remains an open wound. She added that protecting cultural heritage is not simply an expression of nostalgia, but an act of resistance to forgetting, linked to the struggle to end the occupation, safeguard the right of return and reunite Cyprus.
The Deputy Minister called on the public, and schools in particular, to visit the exhibition accompanying the event.
Simоs Ioannou, president of the Committee of Occupied Municipalities, said that 52 years after the invasion and displacement, occupied municipalities and communities continue their efforts to keep memories alive and ensure that young people and children learn about the land of their parents and grandparents. Young people must know and remember, he said, so they can take up the torch and continue the struggle until the return to their ancestral homes.
Mr Ioannou said that 56 primary, secondary and technical schools, with about 1,600 children from Paphos district, would visit the exhibition. “Only through memory and knowledge can we preserve our national identity and keep the desire to return alive,” he added.
He noted that the events are being held in Paphos for the first time and invited the public to attend in large numbers, thanking the local authorities for providing the venues.
George Antoniou, chairing the Committee of Occupied Communities, said there are 137 occupied communities: 39 in Nicosia district, 36 in Kyrenia district and 62 in Famagusta district.
Mr Antoniou said 52 years of displacement had passed, memories were fading, and the first and second generations of refugees had died. “We too left our villages as young people, and now we are elderly,” he said. He added that there was an obligation to give young people every possible means to keep memories alive and make the goals of reunification and return to their ancestral land achievable.
Asked about the postponed meeting with the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy, Mr Ioannou said it was expected to take place on Tuesday, although no time had been set. He thought the timing would depend on the outcome of Monday’s meeting. If it went ahead, he said, he would deliver a letter from the Committee of Occupied Municipalities requesting a meeting between the committee and Ms Holguin.
Events programme
The Committee of Occupied Municipalities and the Committee of Occupied Communities are organising the “Memories of Occupied Land” events to condemn the declaration of the pseudo-state, on Thursday 12 and Friday 13 November.
Themed pavilions will be open from 8:00 to 13:30 at the Old Electricity venue in Paphos, which will also be visited by schools. The Deputy Minister of Culture will inaugurate the exhibition at 9:00 on Thursday morning.
The concluding event will take place at 19:00 that day at the Markideio Theatre in Paphos, with Deputy Government Spokesperson Yiannis Antoniou as the speaker. The Paphos Music School will also take part.
RIK is the media sponsor, and the organisers thanked the broadcaster. The events are supported by the Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth, the Deputy Ministry of Culture and the Pancyprian Union of Refugees.
Source: CNA
