I spent last weekend shuttling between three Cyprus-related conferences taking place in various locations in Nicosia. On Friday, I attended the East Mediterranean
University’s (EMU) conference at the Fulbright Centre, while on Saturday I entertained myself going to and fro between Intercollege and the University of Cyprus.
“Tiring,” commented a foreign academic I met at each conference, who was desperately trying to cover all the interesting topics discussed. “Couldn’t they co-ordinate them a bit more efficiently? Certainly, they knew about each other in advance, didn’t they?”
“I was so happy I would be coming to Cyprus for this event,” said a university lecturer. “I emailed all my colleagues based here, saying I would be participating, only to receive an answer from them that they would be somewhere else.”
I’m not an expert on the issue and have no idea about the rules of co-operation among Cypriot higher educational institutions (and being a superficial journalist I found it more pleasant to be all over the place), but touch?. With all due respect to the uniqueness of the Cyprus situation, I really can’t comprehend this lack of communication.
If only the topics that the conferences covered had varied I would have understood it, but no. The University of Cyprus’ conference (Nationalism in the Troubled Triangle: Cyprus, Greece and Turkey) concentrated on such topics as Greek and Turkish nationalism in both the motherlands and the Cypriot context; the Cypriot Left and its perception of the national question. Participants of the conference at Intercollege (Between Social Change and Nationalism), talked about the Cyprus Republic and nationalism; the position of the Left in partitioned societies in national conflicts and the future of reconciliation in Cyprus. Meanwhile the Peace Journalism Conference at the Fulbright, apart from the theoretical aspect of such activity, also investigated biased reporting in Greek and Turkish Cypriot media.
All these subjects certainly interconnect. But just to make things clear and avoid any explanatory letters: 1) I don’t suspect the authorities of these three educational institutions had any bad intentions; 2) I know that the academics who organised the events deeply respect each other; 3) I understand that the University of Cyprus is a university, Intercollege has just applied to become one, and the EMU is based in the north; and 4) I know that the conference at Intercollege was organised in honour of Dr. Michael Attalides, its rector emeritus, and therefore had a different aim.
But still, come on guys, you shared topics, academics, public and even the time-frame. If you, academics, the free minds, the cr?me de la cr?me of logic can’t co-ordinate then who can?
Another comment made by foreign academics about this hive of academic activity was related to a report in this paper about the Ministry of Education condemning the Greek Cypriot academics participating in the Peace Journalism conference. It said that such energies may “lead to the direct or indirect recognition of the pseudostate”. At the same time, the rector of the University of Cyprus stated: “We believe that the universities in the occupied areas function under an illegal regime. The participation of any colleague (in events organised by them) is to be judged by himself, just as he is to be judged by any other citizen of the Republic.”
“Does he mean that if a citizen of the Republic decides to burn the car of an academic who co-operates with his colleagues in the north, he has the right to do so?” one university lecturer asked me. “This makes me really depressed.”
I don’t know what Mr Zenios meant and actually hope he just wanted to say that academics have the freedom to decide in such a case. But if he meant something else, here it is, a definition of an ‘academic conference’ found at Wikipedia:
“An academic conference is a conference for researchers (not always academics) to present and discuss their work. Together with academic or scientific journals, conferences provide an important channel for exchange of information between
researchers. Generally, work is presented in the form of short, concise presentations lasting about 10 to 30 minutes, usually including discussion. Often there are one or more keynote speakers (usually scholars of some standing) presenting a lecture that lasts an hour or so, and which is likely to be advertised before the conference. Panel discussions, roundtables on various issues, workshops may be part of the conference.”
Sorry, but I can’t see anything there about recognition of a pseudostate.
