Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou offers 500,000 euros
to the 100 winners of the Cyprus Bi-Communal Awards 2019
Prizes of 30,000 euros for Natalie Christopher’s dreams
Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou announces the winners of the Cyprus Bi-Communal Awards 2019, to be held for the 11th consecutive year in Cyprus. In total 50 bi-communal teams, consisting of 50 Greek Cypriots and 50 Turkish Cypriots, will win a prize of € 10,000 each, with the total cash prizes this year adding up to €500,000.
More than 600 Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots joined forces for peace on the island and applied for the Stelios Bi-Communal Awards 2019, claiming one of the 50 awards, offered by the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation. Despite the particularly negative political climate in Cyprus, the number of applicants this year was only marginally lower than last year, by a factor of around 15%.
One-third of the 600 participants are new applicants, one-third are previous winners and the rest are past applicants, that have not yet won. As in previous year, more than half of the awards will be given to new applicants, as part of our efforts to encourage a change of attitude towards the other community on the island of Cyprus.
The aim of the awards is to strengthen the socio-economic ties between the two communities in Cyprus, to encourage cooperation and trust between Greek-Cypriots and Turkish-Cypriots thereby establishing lasting peace on the island. Since 2009, the total sum of €3,750.000 in cash prizes has been awarded.
The winners have been selected from the fields of business, science, arts and sports, as well partnerships of non-profit organizations. The winning category this year is Art, with a total of 12 awards. It is a category that prevails, verifying a shared love for culture that is growing each year, proving that theatre and music can bring together people. The Partners in life category continues to shine with a steady increase in participations year on year . The Partners in Life category first appeared in 2015, with only one entry. In the last four years the number of applicants increased significantly showing there is less of a stigma nowadays in forming personal relationships with people from the other community and this year the number of entries rose to 26, of which 6 will be given awards.
A sad tone in the list of hundreds of applicants was the name of astrophysicist Natalie Christopher, who passed away unexpectedly last Summer. Natalie had submitted three different applications in the categories of science and sport showing her commitment for peace on the island. Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, honoring Natalie’s memory and her will for peaceful coexistence in Cyprus, decided to award €30,000 for the three projects she had dreamt of with her Turkish Cypriot partners: Yenal Ogmen Evren Cazil and Umrenil Umral.
The award ceremony which is held exclusively for the winners and their partner only and will take place on October 8, 2019 at 7pm at the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation Headquarters, located at 5 Markou Drakou Street, Nicosia, close to Ledra Palace.
For the latest news of all the activities of the Stelios Foundation in Cyprus please visit our local website : www.steliosfoundation.com.cy
The list of the 50 winning Bi-Communal teams is:
ART – 12 TEAMS
- Neocleous – Gazioglu (Organizing art exhibitions)
- Achilleos -Aydi (Crafts makers-Traditional chairs)
- Pantelides – Balcioglu (Book recipes of Karpasia foods)
- Αlexandrou-Oztek (Jewellery making Art-Craft)
- Papageorghiou -Shukri (Film makers / Workshops)
- Avraam -Sadrazam (Musicians)
- Theodorou -Albayrak (Musicians)
- Petrodas- Saldun (“Hunt” Film about homophobia)
- Kramvi- Yakula (Bi Communal Music Team)
- Hajipetrou- Gökbörü (Pangea Festival)
- Melanidou – Tilki (Bi-communal Choir)
- Argyrou – Kozal (DJs / releasing an album)
NGO – 8 TEAMS
- Agapiou-Mesutoglu (Woman mediator network)
- Diakou – Sonmez (Alzheimer’s)
- Zanettou – Azgin (Living and speaking peace workshops)
- Trimikliniotis-Korkmazel (Othello writing team)
- Christou – Karapaşaoğlu (Walking tours)
- CYMEPA – KTZMO (Increasing Awareness of Fish Consumption)
- Missirlis – Imge (Promotingbi-communal activities)
- Nicolaides – Rasimoglu (Limassol Municipality Bicommunal Events)
BUSINESS – 7 TEAMS
- Karageorgis – Tombul (Fish Traders)
- Kyriakou – Bastug (PR – Collaboration on bi-communal projects)
- Fylaktou-Erk (Social Campaign)
- Georgiadou-Inal (Wibus educates woman)
- Kyriakou-Berk (Roof gardens of old city-food)
- Patatini–Vurgun (Promoting Online Jewellery Sale)
- Vassiliou – Agit (Ice cream makers)
PARTNERS IN LIFE – 6 TEAMS
- Melodias – Yashin (Couple)
- Mylonas – Bayhanli (Couple)
- Özateş – Ioannou (Married)
- Sea – Doluay (Married)
- Avgousti – Akdogu (Same sex couple)
- Louca – Ozkarsiyaali (Partners in life)
SCIENCE – 6 TEAMS
- Hadjipanayis – Ozdogac (Research on children with special needs)
- Christoforou -Karahasan (Shoemakers)
- Nicolaou- Göçkün (Scientific Journal)
- Armostis – Silay (Shared Words Science Project)
- Christopher- Umay (Astronomy & Art project)
- Christopher – Ogmen(Astronomy Camps)
OTHER – 6 TEAMS
- Michael – Tanova (Book translation)
- Panayiotou – Beyoglu (Parenting skills in families)
- Neofytou – Mutluyakali (Haravgi and Yeni Duzen newspapers)
- Birinci-Economidou (Collaborative support to raise the bicommunal child)
- Vasiliou – Kanay (Oral history project)
- Katsiaris – Altunoglu (Cyprus traditional chair makers)
SPORT – 5 TEAMS
- Christopher -Celal (Cyprus Girls Can)
- Episkopi FC – Yalova FC (FootballGame)
- Gavriel-Kibrit (Wheelchair Sport)
- Nicolas-Canlibalik (Bicommunal Basketball)
- Anastasiou-Aranir (Sport for Kids)
