Cyprus Conflict Resolution Trainers Group
Encyclopedia
The Cyprus Conflict Resolution Trainers Group (also referred to in the media or literature as CRTG: Conflict Resolution Trainers Group, or simply Trainers’ Group or The Trainers) was founded in 1994 by about 30 Cypriot peace pioneers (15 Greek Cypriots
and 15 Turkish Cypriots
). Because this group has introduced conflict resolution
and structured dialogue concepts to a few thousand Cypriots, it is credited for the formation of an embryonic peace movement
.
workshops conducted by professionals and academics from the United States and Canada, particularly Herb Kelman of Harvard University
, Ron Fisher of the University of Saskatchewan
, Louise Diamond of the Institute for MultiTrack Diplomacy in Washington, D.C., and Diana Chigas of the Conflict Management Group in Boston. Most members of the CRTG have participated in conflict resolution workshops organized by the Cyprus Consortium and an advanced follow-up training for trainers. A few were also members of the Bi-communal Steering Committee, which strategized and facilitated the organization of the first workshops in Cyprus. This committee enjoyed the strong support of the Executive Director of Fulbright
, Daniel Hadjittofis, who provided strategic and logistical support. His involvement was instrumental to the success, because Fulbright was recognized as a neutral bicommunal institution since it was created before the conflicts of 1963 and 1974 and could therefore host bi-communal events without political complexities.
and Turkish Cypriots
) met on a weekly basis, both in separate community meetings and in bi-communal settings.
to which they invited others who had expressed interest in joining them in peace building efforts.
, which was built by the UN and operated by Fulbright to host the increasing number of bi-communal workshops and seminars. During the event, a historical overview of all bi-communal groups created and facilitated by the CRTG was shown,
, which stated on 27 June 1997, Paragraph 13: “Welcomes the efforts of the United Nations and others concerned to promote the holding of bi-communal events so as to build trust and mutual respect between the two communities, urges that these efforts be continued, acknowledges the recent cooperation from all concerned on both sides to that end, and strongly encourages them to take further steps to facilitate such bi-communal events and to ensure that they take place in conditions of safety and security.”
, Maria Hadjipavlou
and Yiannis Laouris
) have also described the work of the CRTG in their respective books.
Canan Öztoprak
, also one of the founding members of CRTG, who also served as Minister of Education and Culture in Northern Cyprus published an extensive criticism on the positives and negatives of the Bi-Communal meetings and Activities mainly organized by the CRTG.
Greek Cypriots
Greek Cypriots are the ethnic Greek population of Cyprus, forming the island's largest ethnolinguistic community at 77% of the population. Greek Cypriots are mostly members of the Church of Cyprus, an autocephalous Greek Orthodox Church within the wider communion of Orthodox Christianity...
and 15 Turkish Cypriots
Turkish Cypriots
Turkish Cypriots are the ethnic Turks and members of the Turkish-speaking ethnolinguistic community of the Eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus. The term is used to refer explicitly to the indigenous Turkish Cypriots, whose Ottoman Turkish forbears colonised the island in 1571...
). Because this group has introduced conflict resolution
Conflict resolution
Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of some social conflict. Often, committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively communicating information about their conflicting motives or ideologies to the rest...
and structured dialogue concepts to a few thousand Cypriots, it is credited for the formation of an embryonic peace movement
Peace movement
A peace movement is a social movement that seeks to achieve ideals such as the ending of a particular war , minimize inter-human violence in a particular place or type of situation, often linked to the goal of achieving world peace...
.
Historical Overview
The "core group" of the CRTG had come together through their participation in various conflict resolutionConflict resolution
Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of some social conflict. Often, committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively communicating information about their conflicting motives or ideologies to the rest...
workshops conducted by professionals and academics from the United States and Canada, particularly Herb Kelman of Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, Ron Fisher of the University of Saskatchewan
University of Saskatchewan
The University of Saskatchewan is a Canadian public research university, founded in 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. An "Act to establish and incorporate a University for the Province of Saskatchewan" was passed by the...
, Louise Diamond of the Institute for MultiTrack Diplomacy in Washington, D.C., and Diana Chigas of the Conflict Management Group in Boston. Most members of the CRTG have participated in conflict resolution workshops organized by the Cyprus Consortium and an advanced follow-up training for trainers. A few were also members of the Bi-communal Steering Committee, which strategized and facilitated the organization of the first workshops in Cyprus. This committee enjoyed the strong support of the Executive Director of Fulbright
Fulbright Program
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright-Hays Program, is a program of competitive, merit-based grants for international educational exchange for students, scholars, teachers, professionals, scientists and artists, founded by United States Senator J. William Fulbright in 1946. Under the...
, Daniel Hadjittofis, who provided strategic and logistical support. His involvement was instrumental to the success, because Fulbright was recognized as a neutral bicommunal institution since it was created before the conflicts of 1963 and 1974 and could therefore host bi-communal events without political complexities.
The Cyprus Consortium
The Cyprus Consortium, was an ad-hoc cooperation between the Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy, the Conflict Management Group and NTL Institute for Applied Behavioral Science). It was formed to support the joint Cyprus Conflict management Project" in Cyprus, which was sponsored by the Cyprus Fulbright Commission and funded by the US Agency for International Development.The Bi-communal Steering Committee
The Bi-communal Conflict Resolution Steering Committee was formed in November 1992 by 12 (6 Greek Cypriots, 6 Turkish Cypriots) peace pioneers, who took upon their shoulders the task to coordinate bi-communal activities in Cyprus. Their most notable achievement was the organization of a 10-day long training in conflict resolution that took place in Oxford, UK. What became known as the Oxford Group attracted extraordinary positive and negative publicity . It is this visibility that eventually lead to the formation of The Cyprus Consortium.Developing a vision for the future
Between the fall of 1994 and the summer of 1995, this group conducted structured dialogues (also known as Interactive Management workshops) using a methodology grounded on the science of Structured dialogic design aiming to facilitate peace-building efforts in Cyprus. Two separate groups (Greek CypriotsGreek Cypriots
Greek Cypriots are the ethnic Greek population of Cyprus, forming the island's largest ethnolinguistic community at 77% of the population. Greek Cypriots are mostly members of the Church of Cyprus, an autocephalous Greek Orthodox Church within the wider communion of Orthodox Christianity...
and Turkish Cypriots
Turkish Cypriots
Turkish Cypriots are the ethnic Turks and members of the Turkish-speaking ethnolinguistic community of the Eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus. The term is used to refer explicitly to the indigenous Turkish Cypriots, whose Ottoman Turkish forbears colonised the island in 1571...
) met on a weekly basis, both in separate community meetings and in bi-communal settings.
Cyprus Peace Bazaar
In the third phase of their work, the CCRTG proposed a total of 241 possible projects designed to work toward their vision, and they eventually selected 15 of these projects (using democratic structured dialogue) for implementation during the following year. On June 24, 1995 they held an Agora/Bazaar in the premises of Ledra PalaceLedra Palace
The Ledra Palace Hotel is located in central Nicosia, Cyprus, and until 1974 was one of the largest and most glamorous hotels of the capital. The Hotel was built in 1949 and had a de luxe rating. All rooms had hot and cold water, central heating and a telephone. Facilities included a conference,...
to which they invited others who had expressed interest in joining them in peace building efforts.
Selected projects
| # | PROJECT |
| 1 | Form study groups on Cyprus Federation/EU |
| 2 | Establish regular columns in G/C and T/C newspapers by members of opposite community |
| 3 | Schedule series of lectures by Orthodox and Muslim priests |
| 4 | Establish bi-communal meetings for T/Cs and G/Cs who studied together in integrated schools before 1974 (English School and American Academy) |
| 5 | Find sponsors for publishing books on poetry, short stories, art, folk dances in both languages |
| 6 | Establish a bi-communal women’s research center and support group |
| 7 | Form a bi-communal research center on history, social structure, traditions, culture, oral history of the two communities |
| 8 | Conduct bi-communal workshops for young political leaders |
| 9 | Establish bi-communal center to teach Internet and Greek and Turkish languages |
| 10 | Organize bi-communal workshops on problem solving techniques for educationalists |
| 11 | Set up bi-communal training/research center on conflict resolution and problem solving |
| 12 | Create bi-communal dialogue groups to focus on critical issues (property concerns, identity, security, etc.) |
| 13 | Organize poetry evenings for bi-communal audience |
| 14 | Organize concert with theme Peace on the Green line |
| 15 | Study the living conditions of T/Cs who live in the south and G/Cs who live in the north and make joint public report |
Implementation
The Cyprus Conflict Resolution Trainers Group requested financial support from the UN with a historical letter sent to UN General Secretary. In 1999, the UN established the UNOPS program, which provided funding for the above 15 and more than a hundred additional peace projects on the island.International Recognition
During a special event held under the auspices of Fulbright, the UN, the US Embassy and a number of other Diplomatic Representations in December 1997, the members of the CRTG were honored. The event took place in a newly constructed temporary building, in the yards of Ledra PalaceLedra Palace
The Ledra Palace Hotel is located in central Nicosia, Cyprus, and until 1974 was one of the largest and most glamorous hotels of the capital. The Hotel was built in 1949 and had a de luxe rating. All rooms had hot and cold water, central heating and a telephone. Facilities included a conference,...
, which was built by the UN and operated by Fulbright to host the increasing number of bi-communal workshops and seminars. During the event, a historical overview of all bi-communal groups created and facilitated by the CRTG was shown,
Special mentioning in a UN Resolution
The work of the CRTG was recognized through United Nations Security Council Resolution 1117United Nations Security Council Resolution 1117
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1117, adopted unanimously on June 27, 1997, after recalling all resolutions on Cyprus, particularly resolutions 186 , 939 and 1092 , the Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus until December 31, 1997.Cyprus agreed...
, which stated on 27 June 1997, Paragraph 13: “Welcomes the efforts of the United Nations and others concerned to promote the holding of bi-communal events so as to build trust and mutual respect between the two communities, urges that these efforts be continued, acknowledges the recent cooperation from all concerned on both sides to that end, and strongly encourages them to take further steps to facilitate such bi-communal events and to ensure that they take place in conditions of safety and security.”
A stimulus for academic peace studies
The work of the CRTG stimulated dozens of PhDs and Masters in the fields of Peace, Conflict Resolution and related studies. For example, Oliver Wolleh from Berghof Peace Support published a book on the work of the CRTG. Three members of the CRTG (Harry AnastasiouHarry Anastasiou
Harry Anastasiou a Cypriot American social and political scientist is a known pioneer in peace-building initiatives in Cyprus, Greece, Turkey, the Middle East and the European Union.-Biography:Harry Anastasiou is currently Professor and leading core faculty member of Portland State University's...
, Maria Hadjipavlou
Maria Hadjipavlou
Maria Hadjipavlou is a well-known expert in conflict resolution and feminism. She has promoted peace across the divide in Cyprus for the last twenty-five years. She is a trainer in conflict resolution and gender-raising consciousness...
and Yiannis Laouris
Yiannis Laouris
Yiannis Laouris is a social and business entrepreneur. He is a neurophysiologist and systems scientist trained in Germany and the US, who has also become known for his socially responsible work and scientific contributions in the fields of peace and development through the application of modern...
) have also described the work of the CRTG in their respective books.
Evaluations
A number of scholars evaluated the impact of the conflict resolution activities on the island.Canan Öztoprak
Canan Öztoprak
Canan Öztoprak is a Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Cabinet Minister appointed in the April 2005 TRNC Government of Prime Minister Ferdi Sabit Soyer. Her portfolios are National Education and Culture. She has been an active peace activist and founding member of the Cyprus Conflict Resolution...
, also one of the founding members of CRTG, who also served as Minister of Education and Culture in Northern Cyprus published an extensive criticism on the positives and negatives of the Bi-Communal meetings and Activities mainly organized by the CRTG.