Conference
SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE 50 Years
since the Coup d'état and the Turkish Invasion in Cyprus
28 - 29 JUNE 2024, 18:00
UNIVERSITY OF CYPRUS
University of Cyprus Senate Building, Room Β108
DESCRIPTION
The global order is at a turning point. The decline of US-led unipolarity has given rise to multipolarity, where multiple centers of power—especially in the Global South—are reshaping international relations. This shift is opening possibilities for a new, more equitable and cooperative world order.
Amidst this transformation, China has put forward the concept of a Global Community of Shared Future, a vision that challenges traditional hegemonic models by promoting mutual respect, cooperation, and common prosperity.
To address these critical questions, the Research Institute Promitheas and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) co-orgnaise an international conference in Cyprus. This event will bring together scholars and experts from China, Cyprus, and Europe to analyze the transition to multipolarity, the implications for global peace, security, and economic stability, how this approach can be beneficial for southern European countries, especially Cyprus; a country that is divided since the Turkish occupation of 1974.
DETAILS
International scientific conference on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the coup and the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in July 1974.
The two-day conference will highlight the historical, social and political aspects of these two important events, enriching the existing literature and academic research on the subject.
Program
FRIDAY, 28 June 2024
WELCOME SPEECHES
17:30 | PASHIARDIS Chrysostomos
Member of the Conference Organising Committee
17:35 | SAVVA Tassos
President of the Pancyprian Union of Democratic Resistance
17:40 | GOLEMIS Charis
On behalf of the research network TRANSFORM europe!
INTRODUCTORY SPEECH
17:45 | The Cyprus problem in the current international context:
challenges and prospects
MENELAOU Menelaos
President of the BoD of the Research Institute Promitheas
KEY-NOTE SPEECH
18:00 | “Imperial” Hellenism and Cyprus. From the 19th to the 20th century.
MARGARITIS Giorgos
Professor of Modern History, Department of Political Science Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
SESSION 1: The overthrow of democratic governments as a tool for imposing control.
Coordinator: PELEKANOU Maria Member of BoD of Research Inst. Promitheas
18:20 | The values of the April Revolution in the future of Portugal
MADEIRA Miguel
Member of the Central Committee of PCP
18:35 | Imperialist plans in light of the geopolitical significance of Cyprus
Prof. GOULIAMOS Kostas
Deputy President of the Research Institute PROMITHEAΣ
18:50 | Revisiting 1974: A reflective and long-lasting reading against the morbid revisionism of history
TRIMIKLINIOTIS Nikos
Professor of Sociology, Social Sciences and Law, University of Nicosia
SATURDAY, 29 June 2024
9:30 | Participants Registrations
SESSION 2*: Cyprus Problem:
Historical context, evolution and the tragedy of 1974.
*Session 2 is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Rolandos Katsiaounis, founding member of Promitheas Research Institute on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of his death.
Coordinator: ALEKOU Alexis Member of BoD of Research Inst. Promitheas
9:45 | Rolandos Katsiaounis: the voice of the popular strata in history
MICHAEL Ν. Michalis
Associate Professor, Department of Turkish and Middle Eastern Studies University of Cyprus
Tribute to Rolandos Katsiaounis
CLOGG Richard
Professor of History
10:00 | AKEL in the struggle to prevent the fascist coup d’état
KOLOKASIDIS Yiannakis
Historian
10:15 | Colonialism and settler politics: a parallel society in the occupied territories
MOUDOUROS Nikos
Assistant Professor Department of Turkish and Middle Eastern Studies University of Cyprus
10:30 | Shadows of the coup and the 1974 invasion. Parastate armed groups and the political crisis in the defense of the Republic of Cyprus
TSARTSIANDIOU Maria
PhD Candidate in Political Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10:45 | Demographic engineering in Turkey’s irredentism process
KANATLI Murat
Activist, Politician
DISCUSSION
11:15 | COFFEE BREAK
SESSION 3: The efforts to resolve the Cyprus problem and what needs to be done in the current circumstances locally, regionally and internationally
Coordination: Prof. CONSTANTINOU Costakis Member of BoD of Research Inst. Promitheas
11:30 | Human Rights and the Cyprus Problem
MAVRONICOLA Natasa
Professor of Human Rights Law, University of Birmingham
11:45 | The Resumption of the Negotiation Process on the Cyprus Issue:
Between Challenges and Hope
TSIELEPIS Toumazos
International Law expert, member of the Political Bureau of AKEL and former member of the Negotiating Team
12:00 | ELAM, Cyprus and Migration
ELLINAS A. Antonis
Professor of Comparative Politics, Department of Social and Political Science, University of Cyprus
12:15 | Greek dissent vis-à-vis the Cyprus dispute
KALPADAKIS Giorgos
Senior Researcher at the Modern Greek History Research Center of the Academy of Athens (KEINE)
DISCUSSION
12:45 | LUNCH BREAK
(light lunch offered)
SESSION 4: Art and education as a tool of memory and protection of universal values
Coordination: Dr Anastasia HASIKOU (Member of Scientific Council of the Research Inst. Promitheas)
14:00 | Reproducing myths in an Ottoman educational system
MICHAEL N. Michalis
Associate Professor, Department of Turkish and Middle Eastern Studies University of Cyprus
14:15 | Literary representations of the 1974 coup and the Turkish invasion in Cyprus
MIARIS Giorgos K.
Teacher, Author
DISCUSSION
14:30 | Art and education as a tool of memory and defense of universal values
MARKIDOU Tereza
(PhD Visual Pedagogy), Primary Education Teacher, Scientific Collaborator of the Cyprus Pedagogical Institute
Examples from the educational system of Cyprus
14:45 | Theatre as a space for recording and managing historical memory:
the case of Cyprus (coup d’état and Turkish invasion 1974)
ATHANASIOU TAKI Marina
Doctor of Theatrical Studies
Conference
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
for Peace and Social Justice in a period of multiple crises
17 June 2026
Duration: Full-day Conference
Registration 9:30 a.m.,
First Session 10:00 a.m.,
Last Session concludes at 18:30
Venue: SEKKI Amphitheatre B115, Shiakolas Educational Centre
for Clinical Medicine, Nicosia (by Karaiskakio Foundation)
DESCRIPTION
The 3rd International Conference of the Alexis Tsipras Institute (INAT) will take place in Nicosia, Cyprus. The conference will be held on 17 June in Nicosia, in cooperation with the Research Institute Promitheas (INEP). This year’s conference will focus on developments in the Middle East, broader international affairs, the Cyprus problem, human rights in times of war, the protection of religious minorities, and the need to formulate a strong progressive response to the rise of the far right and authoritarianism.
For further information and registration
Contact: [email protected]
RSVP for Opening / Session 1 and/or Session 6 by 15 June 2026 at [email protected]
Organizers & Supporters:
PROGRAM
17 June 2026
WELCOME REMARKS
10:00 | Evgenia Fotoniata, INAT Director, Greece
10:10 | Costakis Constantinou, Debuty President of the BoD, INEP, Associate Professor, Department of Arts and Communication at Frederick University
10:15 -10:45 | SESSION 1
Developments in the Middle East
●● Sameh Shoukry, Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Egyptian House of Representatives, Minister of Foreign Affairs (2014 – 2024), Republic of Egypt
●● Laurie Haytayan, MENA director, Natural Resource
●● Rana Salman, Co – Director, Combatants for Peace, Palestine
●● Lynn Boylan, Sinn Fein MEP, Republic of Ireland (online)
Moderator: Dimitris Papageorgiou, Diplomat, Greece Governance Institute, Lebanon
10:50 -11:25 | SESSION 2
Global Developments
●● Emilio Lozada Garcia, Head of the International Relations Department, Central Committee of the Communist Party, Cuba (video message)
●● Li Zan, Professor, Institute of International Law, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, China
●● Natasa Loizou, Consultant on International Security & Innovation Strategies, INAT Scientific Council, Cyprus
●● Matt Duss, Foreign Policy Advisor, Executive Vice President, Centre for International Relations, USA (online)
Moderator: Vera Polycarpou, Head International Relations and European Policy Sector CC AKEL
11:40 -12:40 | SESSION 3
The Cyprus issue
●● Charlampos Prountzos, Mayor of Nicosia, Republic of Cyprus
●● Mehmet Harmancı, Head of the Turkish Cypriot community in Nicosia, Cyprus
●● Harry Tzimitras, Director, Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) Cyprus Centre, INAT Scientific Council, Greece
●● Sila Usar Incirli, President of the Republican Turkish Party (CTP), Cyprus
●● Andreas Mavroyannis, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Cyprus in the UN (2003-2008 & 2019-2021), Cyprus
●● Nicholas Kyriakides, Vice President and Founder of Oxygen for Democracy, Cyprus
●● Nikos Moudouros, Assistant Professor, Department of Turkish & Middle Eastern Studies, University of Cyprus, Cyprus
Moderator: Stavriani Konstantinou, Journalist at the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation
12:45 - 13:45 | SESSION 4
Human Rights and the war in Middle East
●● H.A.H. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome (written message)
●● Theoni Koufonikolakou, Former Greek Ombudspersons for Children, Head of Public Relations of the Alexis Tsipras Institute, Greece
●● Orly Noy, Journalist, Chair of B’Tselem, Israel
●● Konstilia Karydi, Anaesthetist, MSF, Medical Aid for Palestinians & International Rescue Committee, Greece (online)
●● Gideon Levy, Journalist, Haaretz, Israel (online)
●● Aristoteles Constantinides, Associate Professor of International Law & Human Rights, University of Cyprus, Cyprus
●● Costas Gavroglu, Minister of Education (2016 – 2019), Professor, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
Moderator: Alexandros Zachariades, Research Associate, University of Cyprus, Hellenic Observatory, LSE, Cyprus
15:00 IN CONVERSATION
Progressive economics in a turbulent landscape
●● Professor Thomas Piketty, France (online)
with Evgenia Fotoniata, INAT Director, Greece
16:00 - 17:20 | SESSION 5
The rise of the far – right and the progressive response across the Atlantic
●● Humberto Costa, Federal Senator, President of Partido dos Trabalhadores (2025), Brazil (video message)
●● Carmen Yulin Cruz, Mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico (2013 – 2020), USA (video message)
●● Jan Dieren, Member of the Bundestag, SPD, Germany
●● Mark Botenga, MEP, Worker’s Party of Belgium, Belgium (online)
●● Maria Jimena Lopez, Federal Deputy of Frente Renovador, Argentina (online)
●● Chris Van Hollen, Senator, Democratic Party, USA (TBC) (video message/zoom)
●● Maya Fernandez Allende, Socialist Party of Chile, Minister of National Defence (2022 – 2025), President of the Chamber of Deputies (2018 – 2019), Chile (online)
●● Audun Herning, Secretary General, Socialist Left Party, Norway
Moderator: Nomiki Konst, Journalist, USA
17:20 -18:00 | SESSION 6
In Dialogue with
Alexis Tsipras, Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic (2015 – 2019), President of ELAS, Greece
Stefanos Stefanou, General Secretary of the AKEL Party, Cyprus
Moderator: Marina Oikonomidou, Chief Editor, Alpha Cyprus, Cyprus
18:05 Prespa Peace Award
SPEAKERS include among others
THOMAS PICKETTY
Economist
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MAYA ALLENDE
Former President of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile and former Minister of Defence
HUMBERTO COSTA
Senator and former President of Brazil’s Workers’ Party (PT)
SAMEH SHOUKRY
Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Egyptian House of Representatives and former Minister of Foreign Affairs
MATT DUSS
Vice President of the Centre for International Relations
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SILA USAR İNCIRLI
President of the Republican Turkish Party (CTP) Sıla Usar İncirli
CHARALAMBOS PROUNTZOS
Mayor of Nicosia
MEHMET HARMANCI
Turkish Cypriot leader of Nicosia
STEFANOS STEFANOU
AKEL General Secretary
