İncirli: Peace goes beyond politics; communities must be able to trust each other

CTP Leader Sıla Usar İncirli attended the 6th Pile Peace Festival, organised by the Pile Turkish muhtarlık (headman’s office), the Pile Greek Cypriot muhtarlık and the UN Peacekeeping Force (UNFICYP) Pile Office. Speaking at the festival, İncirli said: “Peace beyond a political goal is communities trusting each other, drawing closer, and relations developing on the basis of mutual understanding and respect.”

President Tufan Erhürman, Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides, and UN Special Representative and UNFICYP Head of Mission Khassim Diagne also attended. İncirli said that holding the festival again after six years had created great excitement in the communities.

İncirli called for negotiations to produce results rather than disappointment. She said recent incidents obstructing sports and cultural events risked harming the peace process, and stressed the need for confidence-building measures.