TWO donkeys will attempt to cross into the occupied areas at the Ledra Palace checkpoint on Monday in protest against the showing of passports, as part of a series of bicommunal events leading up to the annual Cyprus peace day on September 30.
The events are designed to covers a wide variety of themes and political messages, such as the showing of passports since the checkpoints opened on April 23 this year.
Nicos Anastasiou, a representative of the 10 bicommunal groups participating in the events, said yesterday the idea to use the donkeys was inspired by a past quote of Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, who said the only real Cypriots in Cyprus were the donkeys.
“We say OK, then the donkeys should have no problem in crossing without passports,” Anastasiou told the Cyprus Mail. “We are symbolically going to take them there and see what happens,” he added, saying the peace activists wanted to combine humour with politics to try and make their point about the passport issue.
In case the donkeys have a problem in crossing, passports have also been prepared for them.
Before Monday’s event, a reunion will take place on Sunday in the south of the island for Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot friends from the village of occupied Elia.
On Wednesday next, an interactive bicommunal gathering titled: “Cypriot Memories, Culture and Future” will be held in the north at the Arabahmet Cultural Centre in old Nicosia.
“In this bi-communal event, elder members of Cypriot society will have a unique opportunity to pass on their memories of Cypriot culture for a better future in Cyprus and the audience will have a chance to experience and try out for themselves a variety of aspects of Cypriot culture ranging from Cypriot dances, playing the violin, Cypriot poems, making coffee in the traditional way using hot sand and so on,” a statement from the organisers said.
Several more reunions will also take place in the last days leading up to Peace Day on September 30, including an evening of Classical Music and Contemporary Cypriot Poetry on September 29. The venue will be announced at a later date.
On September 30, a bicommunal Futsal and Basketball competition will be held at the American Academy in Nicosia, for which registration is required. On the same day, there will be a celebration for Cyprus Peace Day at the Ledra Palace from 7pm to 10pm.
Also in the pipeline is a bi-communal peace march, blood donations and blood sample donations (for tests for bone marrow transplants) between 7 and 8 pm at the entrance of the Ledra Palace.
The ceremonial part of the evening, which will begin at 8pm, will include one minute of silence in memory of all the victims of violence in Cyprus.
Anastasiou said that since April 23, when both sides were allowed to cross, the work of the bicommunal groups had become easier and more difficult at the same time because there were always issues to be resolved. “We always said that bicommunal work had to be done before, during and after a solution,” he said.
