AROUND 33 Greek Cypriot, Turkish Cypriot and Greek musicians will come together for a solidarity gig in Nicosia next Monday 24.
The concert will be he held on the D’Avilla bastion and has been organised by the Cultural Movement with the aim of fostering social and political solidarity and because, as event organiser Andreas Chrysanthou said: “The situation in Cyprus is very sad… and we have decided to take action in this historic period to unite people together.”
He said that there are a lot of diverging opinions and political conflicts now, but with the economic crisis, imminent EU presidency, gas exploration, the Cyprus problem and turmoil following the Mari naval blast, solidarity was vitally important.
“We have to talk about decisions, not fight. When we fight we have tragedies.”
Asked how the free concert will help to bring people together, Chrysanthou said: “People of culture can help in this period to cool down people.”
Unfortunately, he says, the media has only fanned the flames since the Mari blast and served to divide people. “The media is like a wild animal” he said. “It is not good to use peoples’ (emotional) pain in this reality TV show.”
According to the daily Philelefteros, participants in the event will take it as an opportunity to show solidarity – not just for Cypriots – but for the emotionally-pained President Demetris Christofias, who will speak at the event, and who spoke out on Thursday about his bitterness after losing the support of the people.
“I am very bitter” he told journalists after the Council of Europe Forum on, of all things, social cohesion. “Here nothing the President does is good enough. Abroad everyone says that the President of the Republic of Cyprus does many good things,” Christofias said.
One of the participants reportedly called on the people to turn their backs on the media frenzy surrounding the president – describing it as a “beastly manipulation of public opinion” and the “exploitation of human suffering and transformation of the tragic news (about the Mari blast)”
The real enemy is not Christofias but, they say: “Occupation and division, the economic crisis, the attacks of international speculators, unemployment for thousands patriot and a bureaucratic and unwieldy state apparatus”
Nicosia regional secretary for the AKEL youth group EDON, Andreas Andreou said yesterday: “I think it is obvious that the internal front is divided, with some people asking for the residents resignation.”
Echoing Chrysanthou’s comments, Andreaou highlighted Cyprus’ current challenges and the need to join forces to tackle them.
“I think that the criticisms have been exaggerated. The President has the ability to deal with these issues, and with more support on the internal front, more could be done.”
