This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. To commemorate this event, the Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne & Victoria, together with SEKA Victoria and the Cyprus Community of Melbourne & Victoria, will be presenting a series of lectures on the Cyprus Issue.
The live lecture sessions will begin at 7:00 p.m. and will be held at the Greek Centre’s Mezzanine Level (168 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne). Each 25-minute session will feature two speakers and include an opportunity for questions.
Please note that the lecture by William Mallinson will only be presented online, on Facebook or YouTube.
LECTURE PROGRAMME
- Cyprus and Kissinger: Killing the Myth (Online)
- Presenter: Dr. William Mallinson, Professor of Political Ideas & Institutions at Guglielmo Marconi University
- Abstract: “As the author of a recent book on Kissinger and how he misled Greece, and even Britain, over the invasion of Cyprus, I am surprised at the mainstream media’s eulogizing of one of the most cynical armchair executioners the world has ever known. We must set the record straight…”
- When: Thursday, July 11
- The Nature of the Turkish Invasion of Cyprus in 1974
- Presenter: Pavlos Andronikos, President of SEKA Victoria
- Abstract: “Turkish sources describe what we call the ‘Turkish Invasion’ as a ‘peace operation’. What was it really? How was it conducted, and what were its aims?”
- When: Thursday, July 18
- Cyprus: The Solution Rests with Turkey, Not Greek and Turkish Cypriots
- Presenter: Theo Theophanous, President of the Cyprus Community of Melbourne & Victoria
- Abstract: “Evidence suggests a majority of Greek and Turkish Cypriots want a free and united Cyprus under a federation model. It is a mistake to think that the election of the right-wing Tatar, who is pursuing a two-country model, is now the main obstacle. The diaspora has a role to play in showing the international community that Greek and Turkish Cypriots can coexist under a free and united Cyprus Federation, and that Turkey remains the main obstacle.”
- When: Thursday, July 18
- Pseudo State or Defacto State? The Legal Status of the Occupied Part of Cyprus
- Presenter: Dean Kalimnou, Neos Kosmos contributor, well-known lawyer, poet, and writer
- Abstract: “While the so-called Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is considered illegitimate in international law, this lecture looks at the various means by which some world powers seek to treat with that entity as sovereign.”
- When: Thursday, July 25
- Because there are books, there is beauty in this world: The literature of Cyprus and the trauma of the invasion (In Greek Only)
- Presenter: Philologist Yannis Milidis
- Abstract: “What would our world be without books? Even in moments of national tragedy where there is a risk of the disappearance of an entire people, books come to give breath and spirit to the victims of the tragedy, to ease the memories and dead ends. Books are what hold and record the culture of a people threatened with extinction. Through their books, authors resist injustice and disappearance. We will therefore present how the work of Cypriot writers who lived through the invasion, but even younger ones who did not live through it, change the course of history, giving the beauty of life and culture back to its victims.”
- When: Thursday, July 25