The two communities of Cyprus have managed for a long time to jointly hammer out the common elements comprising their cultural identity, the President Nicos Anastasiades said on Monday, expressing hope that a political settlement can be reached this year.
Addressing the opening of a bicommunal ceramics exhibition, at the Loukia and Michael Zampelas Art Museum, in Nicosia, the President noted that art can bring people together and help them understand diversity.
He referred to the exhibition, by saying that people from the two communities display their work, providing the leaders with the opportunity to inaugurate the exhibition and convey their own message, alongside the message of the artists.
As the President explained, the exhibition has previously opened in the Turkish-occupied part of Nicosia, where it was inaugurated by the Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci. “I am sure that Akinci shares the message conveyed by the exhibition itself”, summarized in its title “Together again”, the President said. He added that Akinci could not attend, due to other commitments.
He congratulated the artists, and expressed hope that a Cyprus solution will be reached within 2016 “in order to be finally able to talk about a free country, a European Cyprus which is our common country and our common future.”
Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. UN-led talks, aiming to reunite the island under a federal roof, resumed last May.
CNA/GMI/AGK/MM/2016
ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY