The Medal of Outstanding Contribution of the Republic of Cyprus was awarded by President Nicos Anastasiades to Takis Hatzidimitriou, former Chairman of the Bicommunal Committee for Culture, at a ceremony held today at the Presidential Palace.
In his speech at the beginning of the ceremony, the President of the Republic said that the medal was awarded to Mr. Hatzidimitriou "as a minimal token of recognition and appreciation of his multifaceted action and his many years of contribution to his country, as well as his great contribution to the preservation and promotion of our cultural heritage." adding that "this is a just honour to a consistent politician, a selfless citizen of this country, a Cypriot who fights for a homeland without barbed wire, a homeland in which we will build bridges of understanding and mutual understanding".
Afterwards, the President of the Republic praised the rich activity of Mr. Hatzidimitriou, which allowed him "to closely associate his name with the preservation of our cultural heritage, especially with his appointment as Head of the Technical Committee for Cultural Heritage, immediately after its establishment in 2008", underlining that "in his effort or vision, more correctly, and despite any obstacles and difficulties, through the uninterrupted, peaceful activities of the volunteer experts who make up the Commission, the joint restoration and rehabilitation of more than 90 cultural heritage monuments in the areas controlled by the Republic of Cyprus and our occupied homeland was achieved".
Anastasiades also referred to the joint award of the European Citizen's Prize in 2015 to Takis Hadjidemetriou and his counterpart Ali Tunsai, and singled out the distinction received by Mr Hadjidemetriou at the European Heritage Summit, in the category of Contribution to Cultural Heritage, held last September in Venice.
Concluding his speech, the President of the Republic said that the dedicated effort of Takis Hadjidemitriou as Head of the Greek Cypriot side of the Bicommunal Technical Committee "shows the way of cooperation between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, in order to achieve the goal of reunification of our homeland and ensure a promising and creative future for future generations", while assuring that "as a State we will continue to support in every possible way the activity developed by the members of the Committee".
For his part, Mr. Hadjidemetriou thanked the President of the Republic for the "great honour" and said that "the award is a recognition of the efforts of the Technical Committee for Cultural Heritage, which for fourteen years now has been working for the preservation of the monuments of Cyprus", adding that "the support, inspiration and strength of the work of the Technical Committee is the love of our people for their monuments".
"Monuments seek their people and people seek their monuments. And between the cracks and between the walls the soul of Cyprus is nesting."
[/P]Highlighting the cooperation with the Consultative Body and the Turkish Cypriot delegation to the Bicommunal Technical Committee, as well as the support of the European Union, the UNDP and the United Nations, Mr. Hatzidimitriou stressed that "the aim of the Technical Committee in the conditions we are going through is to salvage what is salvaged and the interconnection of the monuments to emphasize the unity of the country. Each monument with its own history and all together to express the true and total history of Cyprus".
In closing, the laureate noted that "interconnected with the struggle for the preservation of monuments is the struggle for the preservation of the people, which is the source of culture", stressing that "every monument that is preserved is a small light that overcomes the darkness of the tragedy of the country and sows hope for tomorrow's peaceful and multicultural Cyprus."
Source: CNA
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