Thirty-eight young Cypriot Diaspora from Great Britain, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, Greece, and France gathered in Nicosia, Cyprus, between August 22 and 25 for the 10th NEPOMAK Executive Council (EC) Conference.
NEPOMAK is a global network of 15,000 young Cypriots across eight regions worldwide. The Conference aligned with the 21st POMAK-PSEKA World Conference, and needless to say, many agenda items overlapped.
There were briefings from various Cypriot government ministers, political leaders from different parties, workshops, and events organised by POMAK, PSEKA, and the Cypriot Government.
Delegates discussed strategies to advance the organisation’s role in ensuring Cypriot culture and identity are maintained and developed through young Diaspora Cypriots. President of NEPOMAK Christos Tuton called the Conference “inspiring” and said he was “delighted with the energy and enthusiasm” of all delegates.
“NEPOMAK has evolved into a vital part of the global Cypriot diaspora movement, and we are proud of our ongoing work as an organisation and cooperation with the Cypriot Government, POMAK, PSEKA and the Cypriot Federations around the world.”
The President added that the organisation will continue to connect young, diaspora Cypriots with their “heritage” and support the people and government of Cyprus “in their just struggle for a free, united Cyprus.”
Opening ceremony
The President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, provided the keynote speech at the opening on the evening of Tuesday, August 22. Christodoulides said he was “moved and delighted to be participating in the conference’s opening ceremony for the first time as President of the Republic of Cyprus.”
He said he felt close to the diaspora after studying in the United States and serving as a diplomat in London and Athens.
The President of Cyprus took the opportunity to announce Marios Lysiotis as Diaspora Commissioner and said that soon, there would be a Diaspora Museum with an online collection of materials from Cypriot diaspora history.
Christodoulides condemned the recent assault against UN peacekeepers in Pyla by Turkey. He said he would “do everything possible for a solution based on United Nations resolutions, “in line with the principles and values of the EU Acquis, namely, a bizonal, bicommunal federation.”
Christos Tuton, the NEPOMAK president, also addressed the opening and paid tribute to the generation of Cypriots who migrated from the island and built the Cypriot diaspora. He said that NEPOMAK is “proud to have already changed lives and changed the future of the Cypriot diaspora” in its 21-year history.
On the Cyprus issue, his message to many of the “international community” was, “Do not sit back and look the other way as Turkey pushes its partitionist agenda or continues its violations of international law.
The message by the NEPOMAK president was targeted at the ‘Five Eyes Nations, the United States, Canada, Britain, Australia, and New Zealand, represented by the young delegates. France was also a focus, given its increased involvement in the Mediterranean and support of Greece and Cyprus.
“Help us achieve a solution that brings a new dawn for Cyprus and its people – a free, united country with a solution based on the UN resolutions and let Cyprus and the world enjoy the undisputable benefits that reunification would bring.”
Conference delegates also heard from Senator Bob Menendez, Chair of the US Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, who was there for the POMAK-PSEKA World Conference.
The opening ceremony featured speeches from the President of POMAK, Andreas Papaevripides; the President of PSEKA, Philip Christopher; the President of the House of Representatives, Annita Demetriou; the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece, George Kotsiras; Archbishop George of Cyprus; and the Government Spokesperson, Konstantinos Letymbiotis.
Confluence of agendas
On Tuesday, August 22, NEPOMAK representatives visited the House of Representatives, hosted by the President of the House, Annita Demetriou. He spoke at length to the NEPOMAK delegation and asked about their connection to Cyprus. She talked about the value of modern communication, dealing with adversity and negativity, and said that as young people, they are “the change they want to see in the future”.
NEPOMAK visited the Presidential Palace for a reception hosted by the President and First Lady of Cyprus. They attended a concert, ‘Cyprus Now and Forever,’ organised by the Presidency of the Republic of Cyprus to mark Turkey’s 49th anniversary of the illegal invasion and occupation of Cyprus.
The delegates also had briefings from the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Energy, Minister of Defence, Chief of the National Guard, Minister of Education, Deputy Minister to the President, First Lady, Accountant General, and Head of Humanitarian Issues of Missing Persons and Enclaved Cypriots.
They also held sessions with the Government Spokesperson, Konstantinos Letymbiotis, and the new Diaspora Commissioner, Marios Lysiotis, on diaspora youth and Cyprus issues.
Firm resolutions
In a formal resolution, POMAK, PSEKA and NEPOMAK expressed their “continued and collective commitment to campaign for a free, united Cyprus and support for President Christodoulides’ efforts to resume negotiations from where they were left.”
The resolution called for negotiations towards “creating a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality, as defined in the relevant UN Security Resolutions.”
It condemned Turkey’s ongoing illegal occupation of over a third of Cyprus and unlawful assault on UN peacekeepers near Pyla.
NEPOMAK is the World Federation of Young Diaspora Cypriots. We are an organisation run entirely by volunteers aged 18-30. Membership is free and available to anyone outside of Cyprus with at least one grandparent of Cypriot origin. To sign up as a member of NEPOMAK, visit nepomak.org For more information or to ask any questions, email info@nepomak.org
