Two friends Yalcin Adal and Stavros Protz visited Parliament House to meet with Members and Senators of the Australian Parliament to promote Journey into Cyprus - their 16 day walk in March for a free and united Cyprus. The journey is inspired by the idea of a united Cyprus, one wherein the conflict between the Turkish North and the Greek South of the Island has come to an end.
They first met Mr Anthony Albanese MP, Vice-Chair of the Australia - Cyprus Parliamentary Friends Group and myself; Mr Albanese was very supportive of the Journey into Cyprus walk, and led a moving meeting with the Members of the Cyprus Friends Group in the afternoon.
Above: Yalcin Adal and Stavros Protz with the Australia / Cyprus Parliamentary Friends Group.
Yalcin and Stavros were honoured to meet with First Nations Australian politicians Ms Linda Burney MP and Senator Patrick Dodson and seek their wisdom on reconciliation and advice on sourcing an indigenous Australian healing tree to plant in the buffer zone in Cyprus.
Above left: Stavros Protz; Yalcin Adal and Senator Patrick Dodson. Above right: Anthony Albanese MP; Linda Burney MP; Yalcin Adal; Stavros Protz; and Maria Vamvakinou MP.
On the day, they also met with Ms Julie Bishop MP Chief of Staff, shared our story and requested support with the Australian High Commissioner to Cyprus to make a symbolic gesture of healing and reconciliation in Lefkosa.
For more information about our Journey Into Cyprus and to contribute to our cause you can do so here - https://chuffed.org/project/journey-into-cyprus
