Minister of Education, Sports and Youth, Athena Michaelidou, has been invited to participate in a session of the European Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Education, where she will present the situation at the schools of Rizokarpaso, in the Turkish occupied areas of Cyprus.

According to a press release issued by the Education Ministry, this is a very important development, since, during the session, the date of which will be determined in the next few days, the Minister will have the opportunity to inform the MEPs, who are members of the Committee, about a series of provocative actions by the occupation regime, which violate the fundamental right of access to education of the enclaved students and systematically hinder the smooth operation of the nursery school, the primary school and the six-class gymnasium of Rizokarpaso.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.