CENTRE POINT OF HOPE

A CIRCLE of peace was held at the centre point of Cyprus, as around 100 teenagers from the North and South held hands on a hill outside Dhali village.

If lines are drawn on the map of Cyprus from east to west and north to south, they cross on that area, near South Nicosia, where the Cyprus Friendship Programme (CFP) Bicommunal Youth Group planted 40 trees and remembered the Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots lost in the war. Those who lost relatives during the conflicts of the 1960s and 70s placed flowers in remembrance.

"This is a time when we can declare that we have all suffered enough," said programme coordinator Nicos Anastasiou in a speech before the group held a minute's silence. "This is a time to declare that the law of an eye for and eye and a tooth for a tooth that has left so many people blind and toothless has no place in Cyprus any more." "But today as we stand under the same sky, we can also say that we share the hope for lasting peace in Cyprus." The teens gave a symbolic name to each tree before planting them.

"They will be going to America together on a trip where they'll be doing community work," coordinator Sarper Ince told the Star. The CFP started in 2009 as an initiative of HasNa, a small US non-profit organisation.

North Cyprus Properties