Address by the General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL Stefanos Stefanou to the Conference “Education and Politics”

 

Saturday 20 April 2024, KTOS House, occupied part of Nicosia

 

Dear Toufan and comrades of the Republican Turkish Party (CTP),

Dear teachers,

Dear friends,

Thank you for responding to our invitation to participate in today’s educational conference organised by the AKEL and CTP Working Group on Education. First of all, permit me to thank in particular the Turkish Cypriot Primary School Teachers Trade Union (KTOS) which is hosting us in its premises.

I also thank the educational and other organisations that are here with us today. Their participation in the conference we are organising is important. Their presence highlights the importance that is – and must be – attached to the crucial issue of education as an investment in our country’s future, the common future of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.

Today’s conference touches on a parameter of the debate on the Cyprus problem, which has not been given due importance over time. Education as a factor that determines consciences, creates or, better, can create critically thinking citizens, paving the way for the future.

Education must support the common conquest of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, namely the independent bi-communal Cypriot state. It is the result of what we agreed in 1960 and, regardless of what happened afterwards, the goal is to reunite it. Education must therefore serve the objective that the two communities will be called upon to achieve with the solution of the Cyprus problem: the co-management of the state within the framework of a federal solution.

For that reason, it is no coincidence that we have identified education as the first issue for discussion in the Working Groups that AKEL and CTP have set up, because it is a very crucial factor in the effort we have to make not only to cultivate a culture for a solution, but also to make the solution workable.

Historically, the two parties have played an important role on the education issue, paving the way for the messages that it needs to send out.

Of course, historical experience has shown that any reforms in education are not simply a matter for one party or one government. They are also the result of a social dialogue and the contribution of teachers and their organisations. Experience has demonstrated that radical changes presupposes a vision and will, while at the same time a social current is needed that can support them. A plan and a strategy is required.

This is the framework on which our efforts under the government of Demetris Christofias were based, with the emphasis on cultivating a culture of peaceful coexistence between the two communities.

Our effort, as expected, clashed with the established order of the reactionary forces. This is an established order that has been created for years by forces that either opposes a federal solution, also investing in one-dimensional nationalist narratives, even half a century after 1974.

Yet it was at that time that the way was paved for the need for education to be freed from the burdens of this one-dimensional approach and overcoming various myths. It opened up the debate on a pedagogy that fosters mutual respect, cooperation and empathy. To teach young people in both communities to understand, even if they do not accept, the views and positions that exist.

All these challenges that we have had and are facing are very important which we need to discuss together. To look at them with a critical eye. To learn from each other’s experiences. But most importantly, we need to build together our vision for our present and future, in the field of education too.

Today’s event is the first organised by the bilateral Working Groups that the two parties have set up a year ago. I take this opportunity to reiterate AKEL’s will to continue and strengthen the work done in this sector, as well as to extend the work of the Groups to cover other subjects. I am optimistic that this cooperation will continue and succeed.

Every step that is taken to strengthen the awareness that here in this country there are two communities that can work together, that can break down barriers and prove in practice that they can plan their own future together, is a small victory that paves the way for the future. A concrete example is the historic step we took in 2019 with the inclusion and election of Niyazi Kiziyurek on AKEL’s electoral list for the European elections. It was the first solid political answer to those who doubt that we can leave the conflict behind and build our common future. This is the message that we will be called upon to reaffirm together, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, in the electoral process on 9 June. Needless to say that the European elections are the only elections where Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots can vote together.

Together again, then, continuing on a path that has roots in the past and looks to the future, our common future, a future of reunification, peace, progress and prosperity for all Cypriots, for all Cypriots, for the entire Cypriot people.

I wish you a productive and fruitful debate.