After meeting the four Cypriot teenagers who feature in The Elders' documentary, Cyprus: Digging the Past in Search of the Future, former UK Minister for Europe Glenys Kinnock reflects on the role of young people in advancing reconciliation on the divided island.
Idil Cazimoglu, who appears in The Elders' documentary about the search for missing persons in Cyprus, reflects on growing up on a divided island and says it is up to ordinary Cypriots to build a shared future in which both communities live together in peace.
17-year old Michael is a member of the Cypriot Friendship Programme, which brings together Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot teenagers to promote coexistence between their two communities. Here he blogs about the challenges he faces from people who don't think peace is possible - as well as his experience meeting the Elders and featuring in their documentary, “Cyprus: Digging the Past in Search of the Future”.
"Peace is not merely the absence of war." Examining the disengagement of ordinary Cypriots from the peace process, Christalla Yakinthou argues that to keep things the way they are at present is to remain frozen in the past.
Reflecting on his years of peace-building work, Nicos Anastasiou argues that the acknowledgement of each other's pain can help to transform divisive memories of the past into a vehicle for building trust in the present.
Shortly after attending a meeting between the Elders and leading women from politics, civil society, business, journalism and academia, Nadia Karayianni reflects on the vital role of women in fostering peace in Cyprus.
Rana Zincir Celal coordinates the Cyprus Chapter of the Greek-Turkish Forum. Following a meeting between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot women and Elders' Lakhdar Brahimi and Gro Brundtland, she writes about the need for women to be more involved in the peace process in Cyprus
