Ministry condemns academics taking part in conference organised by university in north

THE EDUCATION Minister has condemned the presence of Greek Cypriot academics participating in a three-day media conference under the aegis of the Eastern Mediterranean University in occupied Famagusta.

The Education Ministry told daily Phileleftheros that it “condemns any energies that lead to the direct or indirect recognition of the pseudostate,” although it did not elaborate exactly in what way a conference on media issues implies any kind of “direct or indirect recognition” of the north as a state.

The three-day “Peace Journalism Conference” involves presentations by Turks, Greek, Turkish Cypriots, and Greek Cypriots on issues such as covering human rights stories, Middle East issues, media bias, and Greek and Turkish nationalism.

Yesterday’s presentation took place at theFaculty of Communication and Media Studies. Today’s events are set to take place at the Fulbright Commission in the Nicosia Buffer Zone, while tomorrow’s are to be either in Ledra Palace or the Fulbright Commission.

Education Minister Pefkios Georgiades refused to comment on the participation of University of Cyprus professors in the conference, claiming that was an internal issue for the university since it is an independent institution.

The newly re-elected rector of the University of Cyprus, Stavros Zenios, took the same position as the government on the participation of Greek Cypriot journalists and academics.

“We believe that the universities in the occupied areas function under an illegal regime,” Zenios said, adding that the University of Cyprus has never been officially represented in any events organised by universities in the north.

“The participation of any colleague is to be judged by himself, just as he is to be judged by any other citizen of the Republic,” Zenios said.

The conference includes seminars like ‘Problems and Experiences of Peace Journalism in Cyprus’, ‘The Main Obstacle to Greek Peace Journalism:
Ethnocentrism and National Narrative’, and ‘Greece as ‘the Other’ and the State-Biased Reflection of Greece-related issues in Turkish papers’.

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.