Cyprus, Greece and Egypt hold tripartite diaspora meeting

Cyprus, Greece and Egypt on Tuesday signed a cooperation protocol that aims to bring Cypriots and Greeks who used to live in Alexandria back to the city.

The project is an initiative of Egyptian Minister of Immigration and Expatriates Affairs Nabila Makram, who visited Cyprus, along with Greece’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Terence Quick for consultations with Cyprus’ Presidential Commissioner for humanitarian affairs Photis Photiou as part of the tripartite cooperation of the three countries on diaspora issues.

Photiou said it was a historic moment for the three countries, since it was the first time that cooperation on diaspora was achieved and the first time the three countries decided on a common strategy and joint actions.

The Nostos programme aims at gathering Cypriots and Greeks or their descendants in Alexandria for a return trip to the place where they or their ancestors lived.

Photiou said a number of other issues had been agreed on but for diaspora youth, there was a need to have better cooperation between universities so as to offer scholarships to young people of the three countries.

Already, there has been strong interest from Greeks and Cypriots who wish to participate in the project, Makram said.

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.