Youth Technical Committee Co-Chair Amalia Avraam: “There Is No Deadlock We Cannot Overcome”

President Tufan Erhürman and Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides are expected to meet members of the Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage, the Youth Technical Committee and the Steering Committee of the Civil Society Participation Advisory Body. The meeting will give the committees an opportunity to receive political support for their bicommunal efforts and demonstrate how they are developing effective mechanisms for cooperation.

YOUTH TECHNICAL COMMITTEE CO-CHAIR AMALIA AVRAAM

According to the newspaper Politis, Youth Technical Committee Co-Chair Amalia Avraam said the committee last met with the leaders in May last year, when Ersin Tatar was president. She said the upcoming meeting would allow the leaders to learn more about the committee’s work and see how effectively it operates.

Avraam said the committee had continued making progress despite various provocations and obstacles, adding that there was no deadlock it could not overcome.

She said the committee was a living example of how Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots could cooperate. Its aim, she explained, was not to repeat the same arguments but to find new ways to bring young people from the two communities closer together.

Avraam said the committee did not see itself as two separate delegations. Whenever one member proposed an idea, she explained, the members discussed how it could be developed further.

She added that the committee was preparing a document for the leaders outlining the challenges and provocations facing young people in Cyprus and ways to address them.

Avraam said she hoped the leaders would consider the proposals contained in the document.

YOUTH TECHNICAL COMMITTEE MEMBER CHRISTOS PARMAKKIS

Another committee member, Christos Parmakkis, said one of the key messages he wanted to convey to the leaders concerned the importance of young people being represented in peace negotiations, Politis reported.

Referring to United Nations Security Council Resolution 2250, Parmakkis said it recognised that young people were not merely victims of conflict or the only group vulnerable to radicalisation.

Young people could play a positive role in peacebuilding, conflict prevention, coexistence and social reconciliation, he said.

CIVIL SOCIETY PARTICIPATION ADVISORY BODY STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBER ALEXANDROS LORDOS

According to Politis, Alexandros Lordos, a member of the Steering Committee of the Civil Society Participation Advisory Body, said the aim was to convene the first Citizens’ Assembly in February or March next year.

The newspaper reported that the Coordination Committee was meeting approximately every two weeks to prepare for the assembly.

The main objective is to bring together citizens from both communities who represent a broad cross-section of society and give them an opportunity to express their views on important issues.

Several practical matters must be resolved before the first meeting, including determining the methodology to be used and ensuring that the views and concerns raised by participants are conveyed to the leaders and given serious consideration.

Lordos stressed that the latter issue was particularly important. Negotiations conducted behind closed doors could sometimes become detached from citizens’ actual needs, he said, adding that the Citizens’ Assembly offered an important opportunity to connect public expectations with the negotiations.

Lordos said the initiative aimed to convey public sentiment to the leaders.

“We do not expect it to affect the fundamental issues of the Cyprus problem. However, we expect it to give the negotiations a meaningful societal dimension,” he said.

ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNICAL COMMITTEE CO-CHAIR MICHALIS LOIZIDIS

Meanwhile, the newspaper Phileleftheros published comments by Environmental Technical Committee Co-Chair Michalis Loizidis.

Loizidis said the November visit to Cyprus by Maria Angela Holguín, the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Cyprus, would be considered in the context of accelerating activities supported by the technical committees.

He said the committees had already been informed that Holguín wished to meet with them, although a date for the meeting had not yet been confirmed.

Loizidis said the committee was making preliminary preparations. He added that the UN’s response to the technical committees’ activities reflected its belief that their initiatives could produce practical results through civil society organisations working to narrow the divide between the two communities.

He also said the committee had a very positive agenda and that mechanisms and communication channels were in place to promote activities, address emerging problems and advance cooperation.

The report also noted that Greek Cypriot negotiator Menelaos Menelau and Presidential Undersecretary Mehmet Dana were scheduled to meet on Monday.