Visa process between Iran and Cyprus to be simplified, increasing tourists to at least 12,000 and 24,000 per year

Location of Iran and Cyprus. I filled Cyprus in in full because it now looks like unification will be a distinct possibility in the near future.

Two interesting pieces of information from the Financial Mirror today from an article featuring an interview with Iran's Ambassador to Cyprus (Ali Reza Bikdeli).

Iran’s Ambassador estimates that currently 6,000 people from Iran visit Cyprus every year, with very few Cypriots visiting Iran.

“With direct flights and accelerated and simplified procedures on visa applications, we can boost the number of Iranians visiting Cyprus to 12,000 in the first year and easily 24,000 the second year.”

Iran, with its rich and diverse culture, history and attractions is viewed by the ambassador as an ideal place for Cypriots to visit.

Bikdeli said there is a big misconception among Cypriots and Europeans in general about the situation in Iran and its people.

“Until people visit Iran, they are mostly reserved, but after the first visit, they fall in love with the place, its people, the rich culture and way of life,” he said, referring to many Cypriots who want to return many times more after their first trip.

and:

In an effort to change the misconception about Iran, mainly derived from biased international media, the Iranian embassy in Nicosia is promoting direct contact among the two countries, facilitating easy visa procedures for Cypriots visiting Iran and organising cultural activities to provide a better understanding among the two people.

“We have proverb in Farsi (Persian language) which says: better to see once than to hear a thousand times,” is Bikdeli’s advice to all who wish to form their own opinion about a country like Iran, its people and culture rather than be dictated as to what to believe or not by foreign media.

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Spanish and Turkish language up in Cyprus; English and French down

Nicosia es el centro y la capital de un distrito administrativo (Distrito de Nicosia), y después de la caída del muro de Berlín, es la única ciudad capital del mundo dividida por un muro, con las partes norte (turca) y sur (griega), separadas por la "Línea Verde", una zona desmilitarizada mantenida por las Naciones Unidas.

Cyprus Mail has an article from just a few hours ago with a good amount of numbers showing the popularity of foreign languages in Cyprus compared to a few years ago.

In short: Spanish is way up, perhaps somewhat due to the popularity of its soap operas and its perception as an easy language to learn. French is down somewhat because it seems to be mandatory for a few years and by the time they reach lyceum age (secondary school) they have already studied it for a few years, and now may prefer to move on to something else.

As for the languages on the curriculum, the following have been added over the years:

The study of foreign languages has become increasingly important in the school curriculum with Cyprus’ accession to the EU, with French and German being added in 2001, Russian in 2002, and Turkish in 2003.

Thanks to the increased probability of reunification (I assume that's the reason), Turkish is also way up, which I'm happy to see.

For students in the second year of lyceum, French language used to be the most popular after English, but since last year now ranks fourth. 62.96 per cent chose English this year, down from last year’s 66.71 per cent, while only 12.65 per cent of students chose French, compared with 16.21 per cent last year.

Meanwhile the number of students choosing Turkish language is steadily increasing, with only one per cent in 2003, when it was first introduced into the curriculum, compared with today’s 7.76 per cent.

German and Russian remain the least popular at 2.81 per cent and 3.50 per cent respectively, while Italian remains extremely popular – consistently second only to English it is chosen by over one in two students.

So why is Italian so popular in Cyprus? ....I have no idea. Wikipedia in neither English, Italian, nor Spanish have any information on that either. I don't see anything in an automatic Google translation of the Greek page either.

Why is Italian so popular there?

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Peace talks going really well in Cyprus

Kato Pyrgos (Greek: Κάτω Πύργος)

No translation from Turkish here, just a heads up that things seem to be going really well in Cyprus and that a deal could be struck soon (next meeting is on Friday, so tomorrow):

War-divided Cyprus is close to reaching a peace settlement, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and other members of an international peace initiative said Thursday.

Carter is visiting Cyprus with South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former Algerian Foreign Minister Lakhdar Brahimi...Greek Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat relaunched reunification talks last month and are due to hold their fourth meeting Friday.

"We're on the verge of seeing an agreement here," Carter told a news conference held inside the UN-controlled buffer zone splitting the island. "I believe it is quite likely that we will have success."

and:

"We have said to these two splendid leaders that it is their moment in history, it is a moment that we hope they will catch," Tutu said. "We want to say, go for it, go for it."

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Greek students to learn Turkish / Rum öğrenciler Türkçe öğrenecek

Here's some news in Turkish from Zaman about Cyprus, where there seems to be only good news these days. Maybe this will happen with Georgia in about 15 years or so:

In 1983 Turkish Cypriots unilaterally proclaimed independence, which was only recognized by Turkey.

Sounds a lot like the news today where Abkhazia and South Ossetia proclaimed independence, thus far only recognized by Russia.

Rum öğrenciler Türkçe öğrenecek

Greek students to learn Turkish

Kıbrıs Rum Kesimi Eğitim Bakanlığı, adadaki Rum ve Türkler arasında kültürler arası anlayış, barış içinde bir arada yaşama ve karşılıklı saygının geliştirilmesi için önlem paketi açıklamaya hazırlanıyor. Cyprus Mail gazetesinin haberine göre, önümüzdeki öğretim yılında uygulamaya konacak önlemler arasında Rum çocuklara Türkçe öğretilmesi de yer alıyor.

The Cyprus Greek Ministry of Education is preparing to announce an action package to develop understanding between the Greek and Turk cultures in the island, living in a single area in peace, and mutual respect. According to news from the Cyprus Mail newspaper, Turkish education to Greek children will also have a place in the measures to be carried out in the coming academic year.

Türk Dili derslerinde Türkçe ve Yunanca metinleri karşılaştırmalı olarak görecek Rum öğrenciler için Kıbrıs Türk Edebiyatı'nı da öğrenme imkânı bulacak. Derslerde iki toplumun ortak sorunları ve önceki dönemlerde birlikte yaşama tecrübeleri de ele alınacak.

In the Turkish language lessons Greek students will see Turkish and Greek texts contrasted, and Cyprus Turkish Literature will be possible for them to learn as well. In the lessons the issues of the two societies and the experiences of living together in previous eras will be taken up.

Eğitim Bakanı Andreas Dimitriyu'nun reform programı kapsamındaki paket, öğrencileri Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti'nden akranlarıyla ortak faaliyetler için teşvik etmeyi de öngörüyor. Avrupa Birliği'nin eğitim projelerine Kıbrıslı Türk gençler de davet edilecek, iki toplumun okulları arasındaki kültürel, sosyal ve sportif faaliyetler desteklenecek. Öğrenciler; kariyer seçimi, müzik, dans ve eğlence gibi her iki toplumun gençlerini ilgilendiren konularda kafa yormaya yönlendirilecek.

Education Minister Andreas Dimitriyu's reform program packet envisions encouraging cooperative activities for children with their peers in Northern Cyprus. Young Cypriot Turks will be invited to EU education programs as well, and cultural, social and sportive activities between schools in the two societies will be supported. Students will be directed to ponder on subjects interesting to students in both societies such as career choices, music, dance and entertainment.

Rum Yönetimi, proje kapsamında güneydeki okullara 'yabancı dil konuşan' öğrencilerin kabulünü hızlandıracağını da duyurdu. Pilot projenin uygulanacağı 16 okulda hızlandırılmış Yunanca kursları açılacak. Rum öğretmenler, ana dili Yunanca olmayan öğrencilerin eğitilmesi için çok kültürlülük dersleri alacak.

The Greek administration also announced that acceptance of students that speak foreign languages would be sped up in schools in the south in the scope of the project. In 16 schools where the pilot project is to be carried out there will be accelerated Greek courses. Greek teachers will have very cultural classes as students that don't speak Greek as a mother tongue will be taught.

Rum Yönetimi, daha önce de tarih Türklere düşmanlık ifadelerinin bulunduğu tarih kitaplarını gözden geçireceğini duyurmuştu.

The Greek administration previously announced that they would revise history books that had statements referring to historical Turks as enemies.

(CİHAN)

23 Ağustos 2008, Cumartesi
23 August 2008, Saturday

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