Unite Cyprus marks first anniversary, call for political courage

Unite Cyprus Now, a group advocating for a solution to the Cyprus problem, marked its first year anniversary on Friday.

Commemorating the event, the group which calls itself a multi communal people’s movement, gathered at the Ledra/Lokmaci crossing.

Unite Cyprus Now has actively called for a solution particularly during the talks in Crans Montana which eventually collapsed.

“It has been exactly one year since we first gathered in May 2017 to demand an end to the shameful division of our country. Cypriots from all over Cyprus, from all communities, backgrounds, political affiliations and ages joined us wanting just one thing: to Unite Cyprus Now,” the group said.

“One year on, while a settlement seems ostensibly to be much closer, as most of the chapters in the negotiations have been agreed upon, in practice we are drifting dangerously towards permanent partition. The political courage and will seem absent, preventing a settlement of the remaining core issues. This absence has allowed the voices that want to keep Cypriots apart to become stronger, clouding the vision for a united Cyprus.

The group said they would not give up in their efforts to leave future generations “a Cyprus that is united, secure, stable and prosperous.”

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.