Tansel: Most Turkish Cypriot Youth Committee Members Politically Appointed

Speaking on Agenda, a programme aired on Kıbrıs Postası TV and hosted by Ulaş Barış, Tansel said the committee should reflect the voice of young people from across Cyprus and not be reduced to a tool of political patronage.

Tansel described the Youth Technical Committee not as a Greek Cypriot or Turkish Cypriot initiative, but as a shared vision developed by Cypriot youth as a whole. He provided a detailed account of the committee’s origins, emphasizing that it was first proposed during the Anastasiades-Akıncı period, but was later shelved. The idea resurfaced through the efforts of the Local Conferences of Youth (LCOY), a platform in which Tansel was actively involved.

"We Live in a Post-Truth Era; Youth Have Moved Beyond Historical Tensions"

Characterising the current age as a "post-truth" era, Tansel said that young people today have easy access to information and are no longer bound by monopolised narratives. He noted that Cypriot youth are shifting away from the historical blame game and adopting a more global and holistic perspective.

Tansel underlined that the committee should serve as a platform to address youth-related issues, foster intercommunal engagement, and involve the younger generation in the peace process. He stressed that the Youth Technical Committee was conceived during the 2022 LCOY conferences, which endorsed UN Security Council resolutions calling for greater youth and women’s participation in peace negotiations. Among the recommendations was the establishment of the Youth Technical Committee and the rejuvenation of existing bi-communal committees.

These recommendations were initially shared with the UN, then presented to the leaders of both communities, and later delivered to UN Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo in 2023. According to Tansel, UN Secretary-General António Guterres was also directly informed by youth activists involved in the process. The appointment of María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar as the new UN Special Representative for Cyprus revived the initiative, which was eventually adopted as a Confidence-Building Measure (CBM) and led to the committee’s establishment in recent months.

"Most Turkish Cypriot Members Politically Appointed, Unlike the Inclusive Approach on the Greek Cypriot Side"

Tansel expressed concern over how the committee members were selected, particularly on the Turkish Cypriot side. While the Greek Cypriot delegation included a diverse group representing Latin, Armenian, and Maronite communities as well as political pluralism, Tansel claimed that nearly all Turkish Cypriot members — aside from a few exceptions — were political appointees.

"We Will Monitor the Committee’s Democratic Integrity"

Tansel concluded by stressing that the Youth Technical Committee must reflect the values and views of young people. He vowed to support and monitor its development to ensure it becomes a genuinely inclusive and democratic institution. “The youth have moved beyond binary, historically confined structures and blame games,” he said, “and this committee must be shaped accordingly.”