Greek Cypriot side rejects proposal for joint children's football match
Greek Cypriot side rejects proposal for joint children's football match
The Greek Cypriot side has rejected a proposal for a joint football match between youth teams from northern and southern Cyprus.
This was stated by the Turkish Cypriot politician Tufan Erhurman in an interview with the TV channel Kanal Sim.
This was stated by the Turkish Cypriot politician Tufan Erhurman in an interview with the TV channel Kanal Sim.
Specifically, it was about a friendly match between two U14 teams from the north and south of the island. The reason given for the refusal was that clubs from the south were members of international football associations and such a match could cause problems with these associations.
Erhurman was skeptical about this argumentation. In his assessment, the international federations are familiar with the special situation in Cyprus. He does not believe that there would be objections if both sides on the island agree to the game. The aim of his proposal was to bring children together through sport.
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In the same interview, Erhurman also commented on the so-called "Imagine" educational program, which promotes the exchange between young people of both countries ethnic groups. He said that he had not yet received an official initiative to resume the program. The project had been stopped under his predecessor Ersin Tatar.
According to Erhurman, President Nikos Christodoulides has not yet officially taken up the issue. Although his side continues to work independently on education and rapprochement projects, a concrete proposal for the resumption of the program has not been submitted.
The Cypriot Ministry of Education announced last month that it wanted to resume the program. The mayors of Nicosia, Mehmet Harmanci and Charalambos Prountzos, also publicly spoke out in favor of the continuation. At an event in support of the project, Harmanci emphasized that getting to know each other is a basic prerequisite for peace, reconciliation and solidarity on the island.
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advertising spaceCommentary: No future without encounters – why the rejection of a youth match harms reunification
The rejection of a joint football match for children from northern and southern Cyprus is more than a side note of daily politics. It is a political signal – and unfortunately a wrong one. Anyone who seriously talks about reunification, rapprochement and trust must not put a stop to it precisely where understanding is easiest and most honest: with the youth.
Tufan Erhurman's proposal to organise a joint U14 match was not aimed at symbolic politics, but at everyday life. Children who play sports together get to know each other – beyond flags, ideologies and historical recriminations. The fact that this proposal was rejected with reference to possible problems with international associations seems pretextual and unconvincing. International organisations in particular are aware of the special situation in Cyprus – and they are the ones who regularly emphasise the importance of civil society and youth encounters.
If contact between young people is prevented, it does not create a neutral state, but a vacuum. This vacuum is filled by prejudices, mistrust and traditional narratives that are not experienced but adopted. Those who block contact cement the division – not geographically, but mentally.
This attitude is particularly contradictory against the background of official commitments to reconciliation and rapprochement. The "Imagine" educational program, which is intended to promote precisely this exchange, also still lacks clear, binding steps. President Nikos Christodoulides has not yet actively promoted the issue. Support at the municipal level – for example from the mayors of Nicosia – thus contrasts with restraint at the state level.
Peace does not come about through summits alone, border crossings or technical facilitations in everyday life. All of this is important – but it does not replace human contact. Reunification that is not anchored in the everyday life of the next generation remains a political construct without a social foundation.
If you really want a common future on this island, you have to start making encounters possible – not preventing them. Especially with children. Anything else is short-sighted and ultimately not conducive to genuine, sustainable reunification.
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Author: MF-Redaktion
Source: CyprusMail.com, Government CY
