How did all begin?

It all began when some of us decided to make a short video summarising the Republic of Cyprus’ constitution, making it accessible and understandable to everyone.  More people got involved when we started talking about creating a website where one can look up some basic info related to the Cyprus Problem such as the not-so-recent Annan Plan, or key historic moments. A sort of wiki on the Cyprus Problem.

It then evolved as more people started throwing ideas about what this project should be. We opened it up to a features section where anyone can submit an opinion piece, a blog where we keep our followers up to date with current affairs (and archive them at the same time), polls and comments sections so that readers can speak their mind on specific matters.

It took us a while to figure out what it is that we are trying to achieve and that is to create a portal of up to date, holistic and objective information on the Cyprus problem and to create a culture and provide the means for anyone and everyone to share their opinion on this fundamental problem on our lovely island.

Perhaps what differentiates us, or at least what we think does, is our style of presenting the information. It all begun by summarising information and making accessible and that is still our general guideline.

How did the name spring up?

We are embarrassed to admit but the first demo website went by the name www.wikikip.org (wiki and kipros/kibris). The name ‘Cypriot Puzzle’ came up randomly one day but the moment it was said we all knew that was the name for our project.

What have we achieved

• Most importantly we set up a team of people who are volunteering their free time in what we believe to be the greater good of our island. Some are more active than others but every minute that one devotes from his free time is a minute we are grateful for. Through this a flat organisation structure and an internal working procedure evolved.
•  We have setup a website through which anyone can read-up and discuss on the Cypriot issue.
•  We’ve created an inform section (what was originally called our wiki section) where we present our analysis and summary of some concepts and historical events related to the Cypriot issue.
•  We’ve created 2 original educational animation videos aimed at making otherwise boring information fun with more than 4000 views (and we won’t rest until it reaches 1 million)
•  We made our firsts steps in securing small amounts of funding to create more original work.
•  We gathered and archived the current affairs of the last year (our news section).
•  We have more than 3000 Twitter followers and more than 500 Facebook followers, both of which serve as a means of communication and a platform for discussions
•  We made our first steps in creating a features section where anyone can submit their original opinion pieces
•  Set up online polls on various aspects of the problem

What needs to improve

• We’ve made a lot of progress on informing people but not so much in engaging with people. We would like to see a lot more people voicing their opinion and a lot more discussions taking place.
• We’d love to see our team of active volunteers grow, with enough interesting project to keep everyone busy.
• Our team is unfortunately more Greek Cypriot based. We would like (we need) more Turkish Cypriots actively involved if we want to be a balanced and objective team.
• Create more contacts with other organisations to explore the possibilities of collaboration, improve communication and outreach.

A detailed report of our activities can be seen on CYP 1-year Report