Cyprus Conflict Resolution Trainers Group

The Cyprus Consortium, was an ad hoc cooperation between the Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy, the Conflict Management Group and NTL Institute for Applied Behavioral Science).[16] It was formed to support the joint Cyprus Conflict management Project" in Cyprus, which was sponsored by the Cyprus Fulbright Commission and funded by the US Agency for International Development.

The Bi-communal Conflict Resolution Steering Committee was formed in November 1992 by 12 (6 Greek Cypriots, 6 Turkish Cypriots) peace pioneers, who took upon their shoulders the task to coordinate bi-communal activities in Cyprus. Their most notable achievement was the organization of a 10-day-long training in conflict resolution that took place in Oxford, UK. What became known as the Oxford Group attracted extraordinary positive and negative publicity.[17] It is this visibility that eventually lead to the formation of The Cyprus Consortium.

In the third phase of their work, the CCRTG proposed a total of 241 possible projects designed to work toward their vision, and they eventually selected 15 of these projects (using democratic structured dialogue) for implementation during the following year. On June 24, 1995 they held an Agora/Bazaar in the premises of Ledra Palace to which they invited others who had expressed interest in joining them in peace building efforts.[20]

The Cyprus Conflict Resolution Trainers Group requested financial support from the UN with a historical letter sent to UN General Secretary, signed by one TC (Sevgül Uludağ) and one GC (Harry Anastasiou). Almost 3 years later, in late 1999, the UN established the UNOPS program, which provided funding for only a few of the above 15 and for more than a hundred additional peace projects on the island.

During a special event held under the auspices of Fulbright, the UN, the US Embassy and a number of other Diplomatic Representations in December 1997, the members of the CRTG were honored.[21] The event took place in a newly constructed temporary building, in the yards of Ledra Palace, which was built by the UN and operated by Fulbright to host the increasing number of bi-communal workshops and seminars. During the event, a historical overview of all bi-communal groups created and facilitated by the CRTG was shown,[22] [23]

The work of the CRTG was recognized through United Nations Security Council Resolution 1117, which stated on 27 June 1997, Paragraph 13: “Welcomes the efforts of the United Nations and others concerned to promote the holding of bi-communal events so as to build trust and mutual respect between the two communities, urges that these efforts be continued, acknowledges the recent cooperation from all concerned on both sides to that end, and strongly encourages them to take further steps to facilitate such bi-communal events and to ensure that they take place in conditions of safety and security.”

The work of the CRTG stimulated dozens of PhDs and Masters in the fields of Peace, Conflict Resolution and related studies. For example, Oliver Wolleh from Berghof Peace Support [24] published a book on the work of the CRTG.[25] Three members of the CRTG (Harry Anastasiou,[26] Maria Hadjipavlou[27] and Yiannis Laouris[28]) have also described the work of the CRTG in their respective books.

A number of scholars evaluated the impact of the conflict resolution activities on the island.[29] Canan Öztoprak, also one of the founding members of CRTG, who also served as Minister of Education and Culture in Northern Cyprus published an extensive criticism on the positives and negatives of the Bi-Communal meetings and Activities mainly organized by the CRTG.[30] Birte Vogel and Oliver Richmond have critically engaged with the question of external support to the peace movement [31]