Buffer-zone human chain to highlight nuclear dangers

A human chain across the buffer zone in the Ledra street crossing point on Wednesday, in memory of the victims of the Chernobyl disaster, sent the message that what happened in the Ukrainian city 31 years ago and Fukushima, Japan, six years ago, must not happen in Akkuyu, Turkey, just 90 kilometres away from the shores of Kyrenia in northern Cyprus.

Participants joined hands and held candles and signs reading “No to nuclear power” and “Mediterranean – Nuclear Free”. Political parties and various organisations from both sides of the divide attended the event, at which a joint statement pointing out the risks of nuclear power was read out in Greek by Elias Demetriou and Turkish by Fezel Nizam.

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.