PRESS RELEASE
TURNING THE WALL OF PAIN TO A BRIDGE AT THE CENTRE OF CYPRUS
If a line is drawn on the map of Cyprus from east to west and another from north to south the two lines will cross on a small hill outside the village of Dhali. On that hill, on Saturday the 26th of March, at 3:00 pm, 70 teenagers from the two communities will hold hands and make a circle. Then an event will take place to acknowledge that both communities have suffered on this island:
· A Turkish Cypriot and a Greek Cypriot whose fathers were lost during the war will together place some flowers in the middle of the circle in memory of their fathers.
· Then two teenagers, one Greek Cypriot and one Turkish Cypriot, members of the Cyprus Friendship Programme, whose grandfathers were also lost will place flowers in the middle of the circle.
· The organizers will then ask everyone present to hold one minute of silence to grieve together and remember all the people who were lost in the many years of conflict in Cyprus, not just the ones in our own community.
· Finally, we shall ask those present to enter the circle and also place flowers in the middle. Many may also have lost members of their families, while some others may just want express their sharing of the pain of all Cypriots.
Before the ceremony, the teenagers of the Cyprus Friendship Programme will plant 40 trees. Each tree will be planted by two teenagers, one from each community who will together decide to give a symbolic name to their tree. The names chosen will be sent to the media in the following days.
This is an open invitation to all Cypriots from both communities to attend the event. If you share with us the belief that we have all suffered enough, that it is important to forgive each other, that we need to acknowledge each other's pain in order to celebrate our togetherness, then take some flowers and come and meet us at the centre of Cyprus.
Instructions on how to find the hill:
· For those coming from Larnaca or Limassol: exit the highway at Tseri, exit towards Dhali, at traffic lights turn left, drive up the hill and take the first turning left into Ikarou Street. There is a sign which says White Hill.
· For those coming from Nicosia, exit from the highway for Tseri and Dhali. At the traffic lights turn left, go past the next set of traffic lights, up the hill, and take the first turning left into Ikarou Street. There is a sign which says White Hill.
For more information contact the programme coordinators, Sarper Ince sarper_ince@hotmail.com (0533 840 9792), or Nicos Anastasiou nicosiew@spidernet.com.cy (99-498531).