Presidential Commissioner Manolis Christofides Oversees Relations With Cyprus’ “Other” Minorities

By Janet McMahon

It would be difficult—particularly over the past quarter-century—to fault someone for thinking that there are only Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots. In fact, however, that someone would be overlooking Maronite, Armenian, and Latin Cypriots, not to mention some 22,000 foreign nationals who call Cyprus their home.

Manolis Christofides is the presidential commissioner whose jurisdiction includes religious groups in Cyprus, as well as Cypriots living and returning from abroad. Prior to the 1974 Turkish invasion, he said, 82 percent of the population was Greek Cypriot and 18 percent Turkish Cypriot. (The 1960 constitution, Commissioner Christofides explained, only recognized the Greek and Turkish communities. Article 2 gave the smaller minorities three months to decide which of the two communities to join, and all affiliated themselves with the Greek Cypriots.)

As of 1996, of a total population of 741,000, 621,800 (83.9 percent) were Greek Cypriots; 89,200 (12 percent) Turkish; 4,500 (.6 percent) Maronites; 2,500 (.4 percent) Armenians; 700 (.1 percent) Latins; and 22,300 (3 percent) foreign nationals. In addition, the commissioner noted, some 100,000 settlers from the Turkish mainland now live in northern Cyprus.

Although Cyprus served as a refuge for many Lebanese, including Maronites, during that country’s civil war, the Maronites who live on Cyprus have been there “for centuries—since the beginning of the millennium,” Commissioner Christofides said, “and in pretty much the same numbers.

“In the 13th century there were some 60 Maronite villages in the north,” he continued. “Now there are only four.”

Until 1974, Cypriot Maronites “all lived in traditional areas” in the north. Now only about 200 still live there, in what Christofides termed “enclaves.” The Maronites who now live in the south are the only Cypriots permitted to cross the Green Line and visit their relatives in the northern villages of Kormakitis, Karpasia, Asomatos and Santa Marina. A recent visa fee imposed by Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, however, may have a dampening effect on these visits.

Today, most of Cyprus’ Maronites “are mixed in with the general population,” the presidential commissioner said. “And, since they all are Christians, there have been many mixed marriages as a result. Still, we do our best to strengthen their own traditions, in music, dancing, religion, etc.”

Indeed, this equal emphasis on integration as well as cultural distinctness characterizes the work of Commissioner Christofides’ office. Originally, the two main Cypriot communities each had their own “communal chamber” with jurisdiction over religious, educational and cultural matters. In 1966—three years after the physical separation of the Greek and Turkish communities—the chambers were abandoned “de facto,” Christofides said, and the Greek Cypriots established a formal Ministry of Education.

Today the government provides free public schools to all its citizens, regardless of religion. Indeed, said Christofides, “the majority of Maronites prefer to attend Cypriot schools.”

For those students choosing to attend Maronite, Armenian or Latin schools, however, the government provides a subsidy to offset the costs of these private religious schools. Similarly, the commissioner said, since January “all priests are on the government payroll” and are equal to Christian Orthodox Cypriot priests. The government also subsidizes the renovation of minority schools and churches: “We feel it is our duty to help them in any way we can,” he affirmed, “and we’ve had no complaints or problems over the years.”

A founding member of the ruling Democratic Rally Party, Commissioner Christofides was born in Lafka in 1941 and studied law, political science and economics in Athens. He was the first president of the Federation of National Unions of Cypriot Students, representing the student movement in international conferences. In the 1970s he served as treasurer and vice president of the Nicosia School Committee and on the board of the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation.

He has practiced law for 25 years and was chairman of the Nicosia Bar Association and of the Cyprus Bar Council in the 1980s. At that time he was a member of parliament as well, serving as chairman of the Parliamentary Committees on Legal Affairs and on Human Rights and as a member of several other parliamentary committees.

Commissioner Christofides also is honorary president of the Democratic Rally Party’s youth organization, which he founded and which he chaired for 10 years, and is an ex-officio member of all the party’s collective bodies. In 1993 President Glafcos Clerides appointed him minister of health and in 1997 named him government spokesman. The commissioner assumed his current position in 1998.

During the 1955-59 struggle for independence from Britain, Manolis Christofides was a leading member of the youth organization of EOKA and was in charge of the armed teams protecting Nicosia’s Kato Enories district. “For 44 years in Cyprus,” he observed, “the headlines have always been the same [the Greek-Turkish rivalry]—so for the Cypriot the first page of the newspaper is of no interest.

“From 1960 to 1974,” he continued, “we the Greeks had the wrong impression that we were the winners. Since 1974 the Turks have that impression. Really, there are no winners,” he concluded, echoing what seems to be the refrain of his divided country: “This separation is contrary to nature.”

Janet McMahon is the managing editor of the Washington Report.