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Compatriots,
If you know where you are going, you know when to leave. And I did not come here and join in power to gain fame and glory, but because in a second "touch of the soul", I shared the vision for culture of my long-time friend and now President, Mr. Nikos Christodoulides. From the outset, and before I accepted the honour of being offered the portfolio of the Ministry of State for Culture, we agreed that I would take over in order to promote three important issues of his electoral programme within a reasonable timeframe:
First: the professionalisation of artists, with some two and a half thousand artists being facilitated in the payment of their social insurances so that they can receive a pension.
Second: The issuance of a prepaid Youth-Culture card worth 200 euros for young people who will have reached the age of 18 by 2023.
And third: The exemption from taxation of the money that companies, organizations or individuals offer as sponsorships to cultural events.
For these, from the very first moment in the Ministry of Culture we have been working carefully, methodically and intensively, so that the preparation has brought us to a point where the end is in sight.
At the same time, on the basis of the Law by which the Ministry of Culture was created last year, the antiquities of Cyprus, from July 1, 2023 were included - and rightly so - in our Ministry. The integration of the Department of Antiquities, which was created in 1936, into the newly created Deputy Ministry of Culture required significant preparatory work and coordination of many services and people, which was and is being done quietly and on the basis of a strategic planning, leading to the future through modern concepts. And I am convinced that we will succeed!
Since March, when I took over as Deputy Minister of Culture, I have had meetings with hundreds of artists and people who serve culture. We have discussed the problems, provided solutions or even wheeled out plans that revive cultural activity and whose results will be seen in the near future.
The greatest bet of my life is musical creation, composition, singing and my close relationship and relevance with the world. That is where I come from and that is where I return to. My accounts with music will be open as long as I exist.
For me, the most fascinating characteristic of power is when it manages to bring about changes that improve the quality of people's lives. I think that, during my time at the State Department of Culture, this has been planned and set in motion, thanks to my tireless colleagues, the Director General and the Officers of the State Department, whom I thank from the bottom of my heart for their quality work and dedication to Culture.
From the bottom of my heart, I would like to thank the President of the Republic, Mr. Nikos Christodoulides, for the confidence he has shown in me by entrusting me with the portfolio of the Deputy Ministry of Culture. I hope that my short passage from the Government has had a positive impact.
Finally, addressing the artists and all my compatriots who believed in me, I would like to say the following: Building on the long tradition of our culture, I believe that we must fight passionately to bring it up on the rails of the modern world by creating a culturally literate society. A society on which, through knowledge, to build a complex and multicultural quality of life, which respects man, the environment and - ultimately - creates ethos. I believe that only this will save us both as a country and as European Cyprus!
Hello and be well
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