A HOST of Greek and Turkish Cypriot trade unions and NGOs yesterday pledged their support for plans to take the Olympic flame through occupied northern Cyprus.
The flame will arrive in Cyprus next Thursday and will be paraded around the island for two days before being flown back to Athens. It is still unsure, however, whether the flame will be taken north of the cease-fire line.
At a news conference in the Ledra Palace Hotel in the UN-buffer zone yesterday, campaigners issued a joint declaration stating their determination to see the flame pass through “all areas of Cyprus to utilise its symbolism to assist our belief in peace and reconciliation”.
Speaking to reporters, Solution Now president Christos Stavrou said he and fellow campaigners were keen to see the flame go north as a symbol of “peace and reunification”. He added: “To have the flame circulate only in the south and carried only by Greek Cypriots would amount to an acceptance of partition”.
If the pro-peace NGOs get their way, the flame will be carried through Paphos, Limassol and Nicosia, from where it will cross the Green Line and be taken to Kyrenia and the ruins of Salamis. It will then be brought back south via Famagusta and Paralimni.
Christou, commenting on reports in the Greek Cypriot press that the Olympic authorities in Athens would not allow the flame to be taken north, said: “We are concerned that it may be true, but it is not yet clear what is going on. We hear from various sources that a decision has been made, but nothing has been said publicly.”
However, head of the Cyprus Olympic Committee Kikis Lazarides insisted yesterday no decision had been taken and said the matter of whether the flame goes north rested with the Olympic 2004 Committee in Athens. The representative of the Committee will be in Cyprus on Monday for finalisation of the flame-carrying plans.
Lazarides said his organisation was in favour of the flag going north in the interests of “peace and unity”, but added that there were “problems”.
Asked what these problems might be, the Secretary General of the Cyprus Olympic Committee, Andeas Stavrou, said he was not sure, but was confident that any difficulties would be resolved at Monday’s meeting.
Fears that Turkish Cypriot authorities might carry out passport and immigration checks on athletes crossing the Green Line were quelled on Thursday by Turkish Cypriot ‘prime minister’ Mehmet Ali Talat, who promised that no checks would be carried out.
This message was passed on at yesterday’s press conference by Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Trade president Hasip Erel, who also expressed confidence a bicommunal slant would be given to the flame carrying ceremony.
“Our prime minister has said the athletes can pass the checkpoints running,” he said.
The bicommunal group also proposed lighting a Cyprus peace flame from the Olympic flame that would burn in the buffer zone until the island is reunited and act as a focal point for bicommunal events.
