Bicommunal group organising demo for federal solution

A bicommunal march on both sides of the divide is being organised on Saturday in support of a federal solution to the Cyprus problem and against the partition of the island.

The event is organised by the UniteCyprusNow group which has invited all Cypriots on both sides to join the march which is to take place at 5.30pm.

“It is time Cypriots showed that, despite our troubled past, we want to build a common future,” the group said.

The bicommunal march is scheduled to take place a few days before the informal five-party where the island’s two community leaders and guarantors Greece, Turkey and the UK will discuss how to move ahead with Cyprus negotiations. The Greek Cypriot side said they will discuss a bizonal bicommunal federation which is the solution framework the two communities agreed on while the Turkish Cypriot leadership and Turkey are calling for a two-state solution.

“Every passing day, every new development, proves over and again that the status-quo is not sustainable,” the group said.

Citing the various solution models proposed, the group said “the choice is between having a federal country run by Cypriots or a divided country where Cypriots will have no say in their country. The choice is between a federal solution and no solution,” it added.

This is why, it said, it is inviting all Cypriots on both sides of the divide to join the march on Saturday to show that “despite our troubled past, we want to build a common future.”

The group said the march in the south will start from Eleftheria Square.

Since March last year, when the two sides imposed restrictions on crossings citing the coronavirus pandemic, physical contact between members of the two communities has been almost impossible since only some groups of people (workers, patients) are allowed to cross daily.

Last Saturday afternoon, people gathered on either side of the Venetian walls in Nicosia near Paphos Gate to mark the one-year anniversary since the last time people were able to meet face to face, and call for the opening of the crossings.

Earlier in the month, members of the bicommunal Cypriot Songs Association (Σύνδεσμος Κυπριακού Τραγουδιού/Kıbrıs Havaları Derneği) performed together again after a long hiatus, in the same way. Turkish Cypriots stood on top of the wall, and the Greek Cypriots underneath and together they performed songs.