Committee on Enlightenment and European Affairs
The Committee on Enlightenment and European Affairs, as its title implies, deals with the issues of the enlightenment of citizens, political and organized groups, both in Cyprus and abroad, and focuses on achieving the goal of returning Morphou and the area to their legal residents.
In order to achieve this, the Municipality of Morphou, in cooperation with the members of the Committee, takes the following actions:
- Conducts outreach visits abroad to decision-makers such as Britain, Greece, USA and others and has contacts with politicians, organized groups and individuals, who can help solve our problem. Our contacts with our twin municipalities in Greece and other European cities are also very useful.
- At home:
a) organizes assemblies of people of Morphou in which politicians or other experts are invited to enlighten our fellow citizens on our national issue.
b) Participates in contacts and meetings held by the Municipality with the President of the Republic, the President of the Parliament, party leaders, other political persons and ambassadors of foreign countries, to whom it states the demands of the displaced people of Morphou and demands their vindication.
c) The Mayor and other members of the Committee visit schools and talk to students about Morphou.
The two most important events falling within the Committee’s field of action are the following:
a) On August 16, under the Mayor, on the day of the occupation of Morphou, as member of a wider delegation, it visits the President of the Republic and the Parliament, the ambassadors of the five permanent members of the Security Council of the United Nations and the Permanent Representation of the European Union in Cyprus and delivers a protest resolution for the continued occupation of Morphou. The resolution expresses the peoples’ of Morphou firm position and will to return to their homeland. In the evening of the same day, on the presence of the Metropolitan of Morphou, a memorial to the fallen and a prayer to the missing persons of Morphou take place. There is always a speaker at the event.
b) The week of events is called “Morphou Memory Days”. This includes the following:
- Blood donations in Nicosia and Limassol.
- A press conference.
- Participation in special television programs to inform and mobilize the public to participate in the event.
- Artistic event.
- Visit to the President of the Republic by members of foreign delegations from foreign parliaments and twin municipalities.
The culmination of these events is the memorial service for the fallen and the prayer for the missing persons in the Church of St. Afxivios in Astromeritis, in the presence of the Metropolitan of Morphou.
After the end of the doxology, an event takes place at the Astromeritis Cultural Center, where speeches are delivered by the President of the Republic, the Mayor of Morphou and representatives of foreign delegations.
A rally takes then place to the Astromeritis barricade, where they lay wreaths at the Monument to the Fallen Soldiers of Morphou and a resolution to the representatives of the United Nations is submitted.
The current members of the Committee are the following:
- Maro Kei, President
- Kyriakos Koudounas, Member
- Ourania Peletie, Member
- Maria Tarapoulouzi, Member
- Tasoula Hadjiprokopiou, Volunteer
- Chris Sofroniou, Volunteer
- Christos Petsidis, Volunteer
The Mayor Victor Hadjiavraam participates in all committees of the Municipal Council and presides when present.
The Committee is open to suggestions and opinions from our fellow citizens and to enriching its work with volunteers, who wish to provide their services.
The Committee makes recommendations to the plenary of the Municipal Council, which has the final say on its activities.
Youth Committee
To be able to offer new possibilities as a society, in these challenging and difficult times, young people must be at the forefront. That is why the Municipality of Morphou would like to its young people embrace in every way as its most expensive treasure and as a guarantee of our continued existence as people of Morphou. For this reason, the Youth Committee of the Municipality aims to reach and bring young people of Morphou closer to the Municipality through various cultural, sport, recreational and educational activities.
The Committee has an advisory role in the Municipal Youth Council. In addition, the Committee provides administrative support to the Municipal Youth Council and cooperates with it on issues related to its interests with the aim of developing initiatives, implementing actions and gaining experience, to promote the solution of various problems that young people may face.
The main objective is to promote the participation of young people in the activities of the Municipality of Morphou and to take decisions on issues that concern them, to strengthen relations with young people from other countries and to meet modern challenges in today’s difficult times.
We believe in the young people of Morphou. We have the knowledge, the creativity and the mental courage to act our best selves and build a better future, until the much-desired time of return.
The committee is chaired by Ourania Peletie, Member of the Municipal Council, who is ex officio and President of the Municipal Youth Council. Vice Mayor Kyriakos Koudounas and Maria Tarapoulouzi and Maro Kei, members of the Municipal Council are also members of this Committee.
Mayor Victor Hadjiavraam participates in all committees of the Municipality and presides when present.
Press and Public Relations Committee
The main task of the Press and Public Relations Committee is to inform the citizens of our occupied town of the various activities organized by the Municipality, as well as to highlight the work carried out by the Municipality of Morphou on refugees. The primary aim of the Press Committee is to keep the desire to return to our occupied territories alive. It is also responsible for publishing the quarterly magazine “Voice of Morphou”, and has been playing an active role in social media with the creation of a Facebook page named “Morphou Municipality”. At the same time, the Committee is responsible for the upgraded website of the Municipality of Morphou, where people of Morphou and other citizens can be informed on the various issues concerning our occupied town.
The Committee aims to maintain the close cooperation with the Media and journalists in general, whose role has been important in informing the people of Morphou, who have been refugees for 46 years.
The Press and Public Relations Committee is a four-member committee composed of members of the Municipal Council. It also has volunteers, and its goal is to involve our fellow citizens, who can contribute to the Committee’s efforts in various ways.
Mayor Victor Hadjiavraam participates in all committees of the Municipality and presides when present.
The current members of the Committee are the following:
- NIKOLETTA VOUZOUNI – PRESIDENT OF THE PRESS COMMITTEE
- KIRIAKOS KOUDOUNAS – BOARD MEMBER
- CHARALAMBOS STROPPOS – BOARD MEMBER
- MARO KEI – BOARD MEMBER
Cultural Committee
The legal residents of Morphou are still displaced from their hometown, still forced to live the life of a refugee. What unites us now and has to keep us alive is our culture. We should emphasize in our cultural heritage, which cannot be taken away from us by any conqueror.
The Cultural Committee aims to promote activities, workshops, seminars and events that bring citizens together in every corner of non-occupied Cyprus. Such events highlight the diverse, artistic and spiritual development of our country. People of Morphou have many artistic talents. The committee aims to highlight and utilize such gifts for the benefit of all citizens in order to promote the culture of our town.
It is the duty of all of us to preserve our historical, cultural and religious heritage, and to pass our traditions and customs on to the younger people. Through the events of the festival organized by the Municipality, through photographs and videos as well as the various exhibits in various exhibitions organized by the Committee, the older people of Morphou keep their memories alive and young people are informed and educated. Only if we are informed, we will claim and will not forget our Morphou until the much-desired time of return.
Particular efforts have been made to upgrade the Orange Festival, which has been organized in early June in recent years. We aim to improve the Festival so that it resembles the original one, in the same form it had when it was being held in Morphou. This will make young people love the Festival and take part. Apart from the people of Morphou, there are many refugees and other citizens, who have enjoyed the Festival and they would like to see it again in its original form.
Therefore, for all the above, the Cultural Committee of the Municipality is responsible for organizing such events. The committee is chaired by Maria Tarapoulouzi, Member of the Municipal Council and its members are Charalambos Stroppos, Katia Hambis and Christakis Palonas.
Mayor Victor Hadjiavraam participates in all committees of the Municipality and presides when present.
The committee, the new members of the Board of Directors and the mayor, in collaboration with citizens, will contribute new ideas to disseminate and preserve the cultural heritage of our town, with the aim of enriching and upgrading cultural events.
Welfare and Refugee Affairs Committee
Ad Hoc Family Tree Committee
The proclaimed goal of our Municipal Council is to preserve the memory of the occupation of our territories through various events. This includes the collection and recording of data for the creation of family trees of our beloved Morphou.
This project is a national necessity, since place and human are inextricably linked and interdependent.
There are many difficulties for this strenuous and costly project, especially after 46 years of being refugees. However, despite the obstacles, we are ready to work towards this goal. In addition to our own will, both government support (financial, human resources) and the assistance of the people of Morphou are required to complete the project.
Therefore, we invite all people of Morphou to work with us for the achievement of this goal.
Application forms are available at the Municipality offices and on the website.
Ad Hoc Museum Material Committee
In an effort to preserve the memory of our occupied town and keep everything that keeps us close to our roots alive, the Municipality of Morphou collects objects, documents, photographs and anything else, people of Morphou may have brought with them after the events of 1974 or has been returned to them after the opening of the barricades in 2003.
The collection, based on donations, will be displayed at the Municipality Offices in Limassol, with the ultimate goal of creating a Museum for Morphou in the future, which will include parts of the history of our occupied town and various exhibits full of memories that our fellow citizens have been keeping for 46 years or more.
The Municipality of Morphou would like to thank in advance all our Citizens, who intend to contribute to this collection. For further information, please contact the Municipality Offices at 22447333.
Please note that copies of original documents or photographs can also be donated.