 |
A small group of young Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots are being invited to spend a few days in Malta in the course of which they may participate in friendly karting events, and spend time together during two half-day tours kindly offered by the Malta Tourism Authority.
Badger Karting in Malta has kindly accepted to host 10 to 12 young Cypriots – Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots - between the ages of 18 and 21, for a few fun races on a complimentary basis.
Five star hotel Radisson Blu Resort in St. Julian’s, Malta, is offering a specially reduced standard room rate on a bed and breakfast basis, which when shared between two people, it renders the few days visit highly affordable.
The only condition is that each young participant from a Cypriot community accepts to share the same room with another Cypriot from the other community. The whole point of this initiative is to provide an opportunity for a small group of Cypriot youth from the two communities to experience spending some time living together, as well as playing and enjoying themselves together in a third country.
As Malta is another island and a European Union member State not far away from Cyprus, young Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots who can speak English will have the occasion to experience how it might be possible for them to live in peace on a little island.
The purpose of this initiative is to build new friendships between young people from different parts of northern and southern Cyprus. So first preference will be given to young people from different towns and cities in the north and in the south of the island, who have never met before. The whole objective of this initiative is to put into practice an element of the theory of peace building and reconciliation. If this initial effort succeeds, other groups will be invited during the year.
Sports is being used in this initiative to create a small peace constituency among a small group of Cypriots, and the karting discipline has been selected because it can be fun and exciting at the same time.
These will not be competitive races but fun races. So there will be no winners and losers. Young Cypriots from one community who have no problem spending time with other young Cypriots from the other community are invited to participate.
With the support of the Malta Tourism Authority, this group of young Cypriots will also spend two half-days together touring the island of Malta, and possibly the sister island of Gozo. MTA is kindly providing a Guide and transport for these two tours.
Other activities shall include a brief discussion at the Peace Laboratory in Hal Far, and a short visit to the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies of the University of Malta, where courses in conflict analysis and resolution may be pursued. So this initiative will also have its own educational element in addition to its leisure and entertainment value.
During the visit, young people from Cyprus are also likely to make new friends with some young members of the karting clubs in Malta, as well as other Maltese friends.
The plan is to launch this initiative in the last week of January, possibly between Thursday, 31st and the following Monday, 4th February. But the plan is flexible, in order to accommodate the needs of the Cypriot participants, who will have to take responsibility for their travel arrangements and cost to Malta and back, and the reduced accommodation rate.
The karting clubs in Cyprus are being informed about this initiative, and they may feel free to offer any support to any of their own young members.
Young Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots who are interested in participating in this initiative are invited to visit the Malta & Auto Racing page on Facebook and leave a comment, so that they will be contacted with further details.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Malta-Auto-Racing/338360612843316
Alternatively, they may send their contact details by not later than January 18th, through an email to [email protected].
Note:
The promoter of this initiative is conducting research on peace building in Cyprus, and has promoted motor sports events in Malta over a long period of time.
This material is presented as the original analysis of analysts at S-CAR and is distributed without profit and for educational purposes. Attribution to the copyright holder is provided whenever available as is a link to the original source. Reproduction of copyrighted material is subject to the requirements of the copyright owner. Visit the original source of this material to determine restrictions before reproducing it. To request the alteration or removal of this material please email [email protected].