Androlikou needs support

Sir,

For years I have avoided writing in the English press of Cyprus about the village of Androlikou in the Akamas area, possibly one of the most picturesque communities of rural Cyprus, abandoned by its progressive Turkish Cypriot inhabitants 12 months after the Turkish invasion.

As of January 1, 2007, Androlikou will have its own mixed elected Village Council, consisting of four Turkish Cypriots and one Greek Cypriot member. This is the first time since 1964 that Greek and Turkish Cypriots will sit together round a village table and talk about the restoration of their derelict community. The Council consists presently of the heads of all the remaining Turkish Cypriot families, which have lived constantly in the village since 1974, with the addition of a Greek Cypriot lady who came to Cyprus, not long ago from faraway Darwin in the Northern Territories, in Australia. This is a stroke of good luck because the lady is broadminded and I am sure she will work in unison with her Turkish Cypriot compatriots for the good of the community.

Successive governments of the Republic in the last 25 years have brought water, electricity, a road and allocated Turkish Cypriot land to the remaining Turkish Cypriot families. Two other Turkish Cypriot families that came from the north are already permanently established in the village. Depending on how things develop from now on, they will decide if their stay will be permanent or otherwise.

Time unfortunately is not on our side. Androlikou will not develop into the flowering community it was 40 years ago, unless government support in all fields is both generous and substantial. There are empty houses in the village but they are in a bad state for habitation. They can only be revitalised if the animals get out of the village and a substantial amount of money both from the government coffers and the EU special funds are invested in the village.

It is for this reason that EU officials should take the trouble to visit Androlikou with the appropriate government officials for a first on-the-spot assessment of this critical situation.

That is if we want this intercommunal experiment to succeed. If the Androlikou experiment in intercommunal living fails, then I fear that the future for the rest Cyprus is bleak. This is a message that both the government of Cyprus and the EU officials should heed loudly and clearly. It is in their hands whether the first experiment in intercommunal living in the Republic will succeed or fail.

My hope is that it will succeed. It will succeed if we want it to succeed.

Dr Yiannis Taliotis,
Androlikou, Akamas

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.