Citizens in both the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities want objective information, fair representation and a guarantee that political leaders will act on their proposals before they engage with the Cyprus peace process, according to the findings of a new EU-funded project.
The findings come from focus groups conducted in the first phase of the Updated Cyprus Peace Process Design project, known as C-Up, which is funded by the European Union under the Aid Programme for the Turkish Cypriot community. The project is led by the Cyprus Peace and Dialogue Center in partnership with the Interdisciplinary Centre for Law, Alternative and Innovative Methods.
C-Up aims to involve citizens in reviewing and updating the way negotiations to solve the Cyprus problem are conducted, rather than in negotiating the core issues themselves. The organisers say the goal is to address structural obstacles in the process and to support the leaders in making difficult decisions.
Four common themes emerged across the focus groups. Participants wanted clear and unbiased information about previous rounds of negotiations and how they are conducted, with some calling for the minutes and documents of past talks to be published. They wanted civic assemblies to represent a true cross-section of society and to be protected from political influence. They sought political accountability, so that proposals made by citizens would be followed up by the leaders. And they called for impartial experts, with some suggesting ways to ensure those experts were truly independent.
Four mono-communal focus groups have already taken place, two in each community. The project has now moved into its main implementation phase, in which a representative cross-section of participants will take part in small mono-communal assemblies conducted under the principles of deliberative democracy, giving them time, space and information to consider how the negotiations have been run and how they might be updated.
The project will then convene AI-assisted bicommunal assemblies and, finally, an in-person bicommunal pilot assembly to consolidate the findings and test the full model. All activities follow rules of inclusive participation, respect for differing viewpoints, privacy protection and evidence-based discussion.
The organisers describe the project as timely, given the two leaders’ announcement on May 8 of a move towards establishing a consultative body for civil society engagement.
C-Up focuses solely on process design — the rules, structure, incentives and procedures that shape how negotiations are conducted. Previous rounds, the organisers note, have typically involved small groups of political leaders meeting behind closed doors, with limited public engagement and recurring breakdowns.
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