The Bicommunal Project of September, 2001
1.
Acknowledging
each other’s pain.
2.
Celebrating our
togetherness through the reunion of old friends and co-villagers from the two
communities.
All Cypriots from all communities of our island are invited to take part in this venture, irrespective of whether they live in Cyprus or abroad. It is an attempt of “citizen diplomacy” to help create a culture of peace which is necessary for a lasting solution that will end the present status quo. The official commencement launch of the project took place with a bi-communal press conference on Saturday, 1st of September at 11:00 a.m. at the United Nations Headquarters in Pyla Square. It is symbolically important that the 1st of September is the world peace day.
As far as the first objective is concerned, an open bi-communal panel
discussion will be organised, where journalists from both communities will
refer to specific cases when “our people” hurt innocent people from “the other
side” and vice versa. These cases will
be explained in the context of a political analysis of the tragedy in our
island. As people of justice and peace we condemn
violence irrespective of who the perpetrators are. The panel discussion will take place in Ledra Palace on Sunday,
23rd of September at 11:00 a.m.
If the Turkish-Cypriots are not allowed to attend, the event will take
place at the United Nations Headquarters in Pyla square.
“I want to see my friend Mustafa”
To achieve the second objective, we are asking the
public to fill in two forms, which can be found at the end of this
document. This activity is being undertaken simultaneously by the peace
activists in both communities.
The first form is a signed statement in which the
Cypriot citizen expresses his/her desire for free communication with his/her
fellow countrymen of the other community.
If someone has ten friends, he/she will make ten separate statements
in ten different forms, if he/she has twenty, he/she will make twenty
statements, and so on.
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It is possible for each one to create his/her own
statement in any way he/she wants to.
For example, he/she can create a statement on a coloured paper of
different sizes, using markers or paint. You can even create your statements
using your personal computers. The only thing we ask is that all statements
should use the phrase “I want to see my friend……” and then your name, signature
and date. The more important the
person is, the more time you would want to give to this statement. We have a case of a teenager who has painted
her the statement on a big piece of wood and another where it has been written
on a sheet….
We have already collected hundreds of such
statements from both communities and we hope that, with the help of the public,
we will collect thousands by the end of September. All these statements will
be presented in a creative and symbolical way in the large bicommunal meeting,
which will take place at the 30th of September and thereafter they
will be presented in various international organisations.
The second form will give us more details
about your friends whom you want to find again. For example, we want information about their age, village,
employment, etc. All this information
will be exchanged by e-mail between the organisers of the project in the two
sides. They will search in their own community for the people mentioned in the
completed forms. Then they will notify the organisers in the other community
who will convey the results of the search to the interested people. The forms
should be sent to the following addresses:
Turkish
Cypriots send them to: Greek
Cypriots send them to:
«The September Project», «The September Project»,
P.O. Box 247, P.O. Box 45089,
Aradippou,
Nicosia Larnaca 7110.
To collect as many statements as possible we plan to
visit towns and villages throughout September to speak to the public about our
project. Any citizen who would like to
help us in organising such a meeting in the town or community he/she lives in,
please contact us at 0542-8559735 (for Turkish Cypriots) or 09-498531 (for
Greek Cypriots) or send a message to our common e-mail address: yepforcyprus@yahoo.com.
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30th of September: Cyprus Peace Day
The big day of the project will be Sunday the 30th
of September. On this day we plan to
organise a big bicommunal youth festival combined with reunion meetings of
old friends and co-villagers. This day
will be declared as “Cyprus Peace Day”.
The venue of the festival will be as a large map of Cyprus with big
signs naming each district. Old friends who
used
to live there together can meet. This event will be held in the Ledra Palace
in Nicosia starting at 2:00pm. In case this venue +will not be available
then the Pergamos park near Pyla will be used. The possible change of venue will be announced ahead of time.
The organisers
These
come from bicommunal groups of young people who are supported by other
bi-communal groups with older members. All these groups operate in Cyprus on a
volunteer basis in very difficult circumstances due to the obstacles put
against bi-communal activities. It is symbolically important that the attempts
to build bridges of peace on our island are undertaken mainly by bicommunal
groups of young people. So that we shall not to lose hope…
Web
pages with text, pictures and movies concerning the activities of the
bi-communal youth groups can be found in the following sites:
http://www.peace-cyprus.org/VillagersMeeting/July1/
http://www.peacecyprus.org/VillagersMeeting/Paphos/
The Youth Encounters
for Peace (YEP) project
http://www.peace-cyprus.org/Festival/
http://www.peace-cyprus.org/Youth/YouthFestival2/
·
For more information call 0542-8559735 (for Turkish Cypriots) or 09-498531
(for Greek Cypriots) or e-mail at: yepforcyprus@yahoo.com
Form 1
I WANT TO SEE MY FRIEND
…..………………………….
Signature:……………………….….
Name:………………………………..
Date:……………..…
«The September Project», «The September Project»,
P.O. Box 247, P.O. Box 45089 ,
Aradippou,
Nicosia Larnaca 7110
(A)
Information about you:
Name:
Address:
Date before 1974:
Your age: Tel no.: E-mail:
Some other information about you which may be
helpful for us in order to find your friend. For example, where do you used to
work together, with which name or nickname did they use to call you etc.
(B)
Information about your friends:
(1) Name: Age today (approx):
Village or Town:
Any other information about your friend. For
example, nickname job, other family members with whom you believe he lives with
today etc.
(2) Name: Age today (approx):
Village or Town:
Other information:
(3) Name: Age today (approx):
Village or Town:
Other information:
«The September Project», «The September Project»,
P.O. Box 247, P.O. Box 45089,
Aradippou,
Nicosia. Larnaca 7110.