Olympic torch to pass through north

THE OLYMPIC flame is to pass through north Cyprus after a joint decision by the Cyprus Olympic Committee and the Athens 2004 Organising Committee.

According to a written statement yesterday, both the committees said that the decision was taken in the spirit of the motto of the torch run: “Our flame unites the world”.

“To do this, we ask that the we enjoy the conditions we enjoyed in other cities in the world that the Olympic torch has travelled,” the statement read.

“This includes the free movement of the torch bearers and committee officials without hindrance.”
The joint delegation of the COC and the Athens 2004 committee were yesterday expected to meet with authorities in the north to discuss the implementation of the programme.

One hundred and forty Cypriots have been chosen as Olympic torchbearers to carry the flame around the island when it arrives in Paphos from Sofia, Bulgaria on July 8. The flame will make its historic trip around the island before it returns to Greece to open the games in August.

Government Spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides said the government had given its consent for the Olympic flame to pass through the occupied areas on condition that there would not be an issue of the participating athletes displaying passports and there would not be any exploitation of the route aimed at upgrading the occupying regime.

He added that the flame would be carried by Greek and Turkish Cypriot athletes.

Chrysostomides said that if the Turkish Cypriot reply was positive, the torch would cross over from the Ledra Palace checkpoint.

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.