The Cypriot Community of Lebanon
“The Cyprus Community in Lebanon Association (CCLA) was founded and enrolled on October 1, 2012, a symbolic day since October 1, is also the Independence Day of Cyprus! The purpose of establishing our Association is to preserve the identity of the Cypriots of Lebanon, but at the same time to preserve and learn the Cypriot tradition, the customs and culture of our island. It is a non-profit, non-political or religious association and our doors are open to both Cypriots and non-Cypriots. Many Lebanese have lived or visited our island and have loved it. They have good memories of Cyprus and the hospitality of the Cypriots and that is one of the reasons that we have several members of Lebanese descent. At the various events we are organizing here in Lebanon, we are always very involved with the Lebanese Greek and Armenian communities.Our activities are aimed at gathering all Cypriots living in Lebanon, getting to know each other and the youngest to get to know their roots. According to the information we have, there are around 1,300 with a Cypriot passport in Lebanon. Again according to information from the Lebanese government, the number of people with Cypriot origin reaches 3,000.
During the 6 years since the foundation of our Cypriot Association, we had various events, such as children’s activities, monthly meetings, Christmas events (backyards), annual meals with dancing and singing, as well as receptions in cooperation with the Cyprus Embassy for the celebration of the Independence of Cyprus and the establishment of the Cyprus League in Lebanon.
Recently we had the opportunity to invite and host two journalists from RIK 1 State TV and broadcast live broadcast from Lebanon to Cyprus and all the countries that watch RIK 1 via the internet, as well as 10 video screenshots that were broadcast in the morning, broadcast the State Channel RIK 1 in order to get the viewers of the Cyprus Community of Lebanon and bring the two countries closer together.
As a Cypriot association, we took the initiative, together with the cooperation of the Greek Club, to organize a charity event, “Dance for a Cause”. For the first time in Lebanon and the Middle East, people of Lebanese, Cypriot, Greek, and other nationalities danced together the Greek Dragon (Zorpas), Kalamatianos and Lebanese traditional Dabke in order to pass the message of peace and unity. All income from sponsors and participants was given to a children’s institution, SESOBEL. Many of the institution’s children danced with us. The whole event is on a Utupe film. Originality in this film was the presence of 4 dancers with traditional Greek and Cypriot costumes. This event was broadcasted in the first news on a Lebanese TV channel with a great audience.
The Cypriot community of Lebanon will continue to work, offer and honor the name of Cyprus. Our thoughts, souls, and hearts are in Cyprus, we are all proud ambassadors of our island.”