Nicosia: The greatest advantage of this country is its human resources, and the obligation of the state is to support young people in the field of the arts, Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides, said on Tuesday evening in a ceremony at the Presidential Palace for the awarding of the ‘Nemitsas 2024’ prize in Classical Ballet, to principal dancer of the Vienna State Opera, Ioanna Avraam. He also announced the creation of a Committee of Wise Persons with the participation of Cypriots living abroad who are distinguished in various fields.
According to Cyprus News Agency, the President of the Republic emphasized that his participation in the event was part of the Government’s political will to support institutions that honour excellence, especially in cases of Cypriots who excel internationally. He said that the Committee of Wise Persons will be a think tank, which will collaborate with the Cyprus Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts, with the Economy and Competitiveness Council and the National Board for Rese
arch and Innovation, ‘so that we can utilise all these minds, the Cypriot capital that excels abroad’.
President Christodoulides added that Ioanna Avraam has years of significant international contribution to dance, with significant distinctions, including her selection as a principal dancer at the Vienna State Ballet in 2022, the award of the Young Artist Award of the Cyprus Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts in 2023, as well as a ‘Special Recognition’ award by the relevant committee of the European Award for Raising Public Awareness on Europe’s Cultural Heritage just a short time ago, in Portugal.
For her part, Avraam said that the arts cannot change the world by themselves, but with their imagination, humanitarian and international character they show the way to politicians. ‘One of my dreams is to dance in Famagusta, in ancient Salamis, in a free and reunited Cyprus, without foreign troops and bases, where all its inhabitants, Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots, Armenians, Latins, Maronites, live in pe
ace and prosperity’, she said. Addressing the President of the Republic, she asked, among other things, that the state promotes the arts in schools.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.