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Prominent French and Francophone Academic Institutions of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Cyprus Institute form a Partnership to Pursue Joint Scholarly Activities in the Field of Archaeology, History and Heritage

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The Cyprus Institute and the French Embassy in Cyprus hosted the French Archaeological and Historical research centres in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.

Update
Having met at the Cyprus Institute on 4th and 5th April, in a meeting convened jointly by the French Embassy in Cyprus and the Cyprus Institute, all the participating institutions agreed to a joint declaration, which has now been published on our website, which can be found by clicking here (English) or here (Français). The Cyprus Institute will be the coordinating institution to develop this partnership further. The institutes will involve in this cooperation their natural partners in their host countries as well as in Cyprus itself.


The French Embassy in Cyprus and the Cyprus Institute hosted a two-day workshop (4th & 5th April), bringing together the French institutes and Schools involved in archaeological and historical research and education in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.

Participants included the École Française d’Athènes (whose director Alexandre Farnoux chaired several sessions), the Institut français d'archéologie orientale, the Ecole Biblique et Archéologique Française de Jérusalem, the French Institute of Lebanon, the Institut français d'Études Anatoliennes, the Centre de recherche français à Jérusalem, the Institut français du Proche-Orient (Lebanon), the  Centre d'Études Alexandrines (Egypt), the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie, and the French Archaeological Missions in Cyprus (Paphos, Klimonas, Amathous, Potamia, Kition).  

The leadership and eminent researchers from these institutions discussed modes of enhanced cooperation in the fields of Archaeology, History and Heritage in the entire Eastern Mediterranean region. An ambitious program was formulated for cooperative activities including a conference series, exchange of students and researchers, joint education and research programs with a particular immediate focus on the protection and documentation of the shared cultural heritage of the region.

Chairing the first session, Prof. Vassos Karageorghis underlined the traditional role of Cyprus as a stepping stone between the Orient and the Occident, and proposed that this is the appropriate time to revive this role, taking advantage of the numerous fields of common interest which are rapidly developing between France and Cyprus.

In the words of the French Ambassador in Cyprus, His Excellency Mr. René Troccaz, “It is highly appropriate that this initiative takes place in Cyprus, a European Union country in the Eastern Mediterranean, and the event builds on a long history of academic cooperation between the French Missions and their partners in the region”.

Professor C. N. Papanicolas, President of the Cyprus Institute, added that “it is a privilege for our Institute, to host and be part of this important meeting of some of the most prominent international centres of excellence for the study of the history and the archaeology of this region, the cradle of Western Civilization. This event further reinforces our historic and significant ties with the French academic community and the excellence that characterizes it.”