Rewriting the history books: government denies knowledge of European initiative

THE government yesterday said it had not been officially briefed on the visit of a Council of Europe official to review history books on both sides of the divide.

On Tuesday, Uwe Mueller, and official from the CoE’s Directorate of Political Affairs, told the Cyprus News Agency that he would have meetings with Greek and Turkish Cypriot education groups concerning the mutual review of history books and prospects for taking out inaccuracies and references to hatred between the two communities.

“It looks like Mr. Mueller is here,” Government Spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides said yesterday; “but the Foreign Ministry has neither been briefed nor knows about his visit.”

Chrysostomides said the government did not give the visit any significance, adding it was either his own decision to visit or that of the Council of Europe, which had failed formally to brief the government.

The spokesman said the government was not upset at not being informed, but added, “normally he was obliged to inform of his mission through the diplomatic route”.

The spokesman was echoed by Education Minister Pefkios Georgiades, who said there was no political decision concerning the European initiative.

He said that he had no official information on Mueller’s trip, adding, however, that his ministry was ready to start a dialogue.

“We are not afraid to tackle such an issue because history is history and reality,” Georgiades said.

The ministry’s Permanent Secretary Petros Kareklas said the problems was not so much that historical facts were twisted, but how they were presented.

Kareklas said the books used were continuously reviewed in line with contemporary perceptions.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.