As the Eastern Mediterranean is now once again in turmoil, Cyprus would like to step up and take action, acknowledging the political urgency of safeguarding cultural rights in times of crisis, Deputy Ministry of Culture Vasiliki Kassianidou said during her address at the MED9 conference on Cultural rights in times of crisis, held on Monday morning at the University of Cyprus in Nicosia. She also highlighted the support the permanent mission of Cyprus in Geneva has provided for several years to the UN mandate for cultural rights and has led to an initiative on cultural rights and the protection of cultural heritage in the UN Human Rights Council, a joint statement co-sponsored by 146 member and observer states. According to the Deputy Minister, the conference is organised by the Deputy Ministry of Culture in collaboration with the Organisation of European Programmes and Cultural Relations and the University of Cyprus in the framework of the MED9 Summit, an initiative started in 2014 by Cyprus in collaborati on with Spain, seeking to enhance informal cooperation among Mediterranean and southern European Member States, which includes Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain. She added that this year, Cyprus holds the Presidency of the MED9, with a number of ministerial meetings having already taken place or being planned in the next two weeks, also noting that on Monday afternoon she will chair an online meeting of Ministers of Culture during which a policy debate will take place to identify challenges in safeguarding cultural rights in the Mediterranean area, and approaches which aim at integrating resilience-building of the cultural and creative sectors to broader human rights policies. At the end of the meeting, we will adopt a declaration of cultural rights, she further said, adding that the culmination of Cyprus' presidency will be the meeting of the Heads of State for the MED9 in Cyprus in the second week of October, where the results of the ministerial meetings, includin g today's, will be adopted. The main purpose behind the creation of the MED9 group is to discuss issues of common interest and together to introduce some discussions in Brussels in the framework of the developing agenda of the European Union, continued Kassianidou, adding that bringing culture to the forefront of political debate is a matter of common interest for all states in the MED9, as is the safeguarding of culture in times of crisis. 'Over the last years there have been several periods and facets of crisis, brought forth by the accelerating pace of political, economic, climatic, and technological challenges. This is a theme I would like to explore further during Cyprus' EU presidency in the first half of 2026', continued the Deputy Minister, further noting that in times of crisis, it is even more crucial that steps are taken for the protection of cultural rights and the recognition that cultural rights are relevant in many current debates, such as sustainable development. According to Kassianidou, t he choice of the conference's subject and the policy debate is not circumstantial as past July marked five decades since the invasion and illegal occupation of Cyprus by Turkey. 'Apart from the loss of human lives and material goods and the fact that over 36% of the territory of the Republic of Cyprus remains occupied by the Turkish Army until today, there is a clear infringement of the cultural rights of Cypriots: our cultural heritage suffers from the ongoing looting, destruction, theft and illegal export while Cypriots are not allowed to live in their homes or use freely their places of worship that are in the occupied part of the island', she underlined in that regard. She added that Cyprus also celebrates this year the 20th anniversary of its accession to the European Union. 'Europe is where Cyprus has historically and culturally always belonged. Since ancient times the island was considered as the Eastern most boundary of Europe and always acted as the bridge between Europe and the Middle East. As the Eastern Mediterranean is now once again in turmoil, Cyprus would like to step up and take action, acknowledging the political urgency of safeguarding cultural rights in times of crisis', she stressed. She also highlighted the support the permanent mission of Cyprus in Geneva has provided for several years to the UN mandate for cultural rights and has led to an initiative on cultural rights and the protection of cultural heritage in the Human Rights Council, with a joint statement having been prepared and delivered by the Permanent Representative of Cyprus in the 31st session of the Human Rights Council in March 2016, focusing on the detrimental impact, the destruction of cultural heritage has on cultural rights. She added that the joint statement was co-sponsored by an unprecedented number of 146 member and observer states. 'The meeting in Geneva with UN Special Rapporteur, Professor Alexandra Xanthaki and Dragana Korljan from the office of High Commissioner for Human Rights, is what convinced me that the n ewly established Deputy Ministry of Culture can and should do more to support the Mandate for Cultural Rights' stressed the Deputy Minister. 'It is for this reason that I asked the help of Professor Xanthaki to draft the Declaration for Cultural Rights that will be discussed and adopted by the Ministers of Culture of the MED9 this afternoon', she noted. The Rector of the University of Cyprus, Professor Tasos Christophides, said in his welcome address that as members of a unique geographical territory, the MED9 share common values and aspirations for the future, deeply connected to the rich heritage of the Mediterranean region and aware of the vast challenges they face. 'In the era of rapid technological advancement, how can we safeguard genuine creativity from artificial intelligence intrusion? How do we balance culture and technology? In what ways do we educate viewers, readers and listeners to recognise and respect the original over the copycats? These are some questions on my mind when considering the c ultural heritage of humanity and what do we do, what we will pass on to future generations as the mindset and as historical legacy. I am confident that during this conference we will explore many aspects of cultural rights during turbulent times through an interdisciplinary approach', he noted. Catherine Magnant, Head of Unit for Cultural Policy at the European Commission, said in her intervention from Brussels that every MED9 Member states has its role to play in preserving their cultures and protecting their cultural rights. She added that cultural rights are infringed upon when war and geopolitical instability forces artists into silence, when economic hardship limits access to culture and deprives people of their right to participate in cultural life, when climate change threatens to wipe centuries old heritage sites from the map, when technological advances are misused to censure any thoughtful expression. She also referred to relevant EU policy actions, such as the defence for democracy package adopt ed in 2023, which includes a range of initiatives aiming at increasing citizen participation, engagement and trust in democracy, new rules to protect media pluralism and independence, measures to improve the social and professional situation artists, as well as the EU programme for Southern Europe to enhance the role of culture as sector for employment and resilience, and to promote the active participation of young people in building inclusive and democratic societies. The United Nations Special Rapporteur in the field of Cultural Rights and Professor of Laws at Brunel University London Alexandra Xanthaki thanked in her keynote speech Cyprus for its leadership in issues of cultural heritage and more widely cultural rights, which, as she said, has enhanced and continues to enhance the understanding and the development of standards related to cultural rights. She added that Cyprus is the pen holder of a resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council, the main human rights body of the UN that reinforces and c larifies the importance that cultural heritage and cultural diversity have for international human rights standards, a resolution that was quite popular and was adopted by unanimously. She then referred to her role as Special Rapporteur, which mainly pertains to identifying best practices and obstacles to cultural rights at all levels, fostering the adoption of measures to promote and safeguard cultural rights, and studying the relationship between cultural rights and cultural diversity, performed mainly by establishing dialogue with states during official visits. 'I am delighted to see that the MED9 states are endorsing and renewing their support to the existing standards of international human rights law regarding cultural rights. I am hoping that this declaration on cultural rights is going to act as reuniting and renewing the focus of the friendly states of my mandate and also going to allow more states to join forces to their respective cultural rights', she concluded. Giorgos Georgiou, Director of th e Department of Antiquities at the Deputy Ministry of Culture, said for his part that Cyprus has a long history of its cultural heritage being extensively removed from the island, adding that the ongoing occupation has greatly affected the cultural rights of the island's communities, who have none or limited access to visit, enjoy and research the material remains of the heritage in the occupied territories. He added that there are 269 listed ancient monuments in the occupied areas and that since 1974, damage has been recorded with regards to all categories of cultural in the occupied areas. 'The destruction of people's cultural heritage, beyond being an attack on their human rights to enjoy their heritage, is at the same time severely detrimental to their identity. The destruction of monuments, sites, landscapes and cultural objects, as well as the attack on intangible heritage, are serious forms of violence that aim to destroy the existence of any group of people with shared identities', underlined Georgi ou, adding that all efforts undertaken by the Department and the Government in general to protect, preserve and promote culture are enhanced by regional cultural cooperation, aiming at celebrating cultural diversity, intercultural dialogue, peace and equality. Source: Cyprus News Agency