Animal Party criticizes BirdLife Cyprus for not joining protest — Cyprus Mail
In Cyprus, the Animal Party criticized the ornithological non-governmental organization BirdLife Cyprus for its decision not to join a protest outside parliament. The September 16 action was organized in connection with Elam’s decision to bring the issue of “environmental activists and phenomena related to them” before the parliamentary environment committee, Cyprus Mail reports.
Animal Party’s position
The party said that before the peaceful action, its leader Kyriakos Kyriakou contacted a BirdLife Cyprus representative to discuss the organization’s possible participation. According to Animal Party, the representative said that BirdLife Cyprus had decided not to take part in the protest.
The party also claims that the reasons cited included concerns about the possible impact on the organization’s public image and the expected number of participants. Animal Party questioned this approach, stating that environmental protection, wildlife protection and the fight against poaching should not be measured by the number of people attending an action.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
In addition, the party recalled that 18 civil society organizations signed a joint letter to parliament on the matter. It also noted that BirdLife Cyprus had previously publicly expressed dissatisfaction that it had not been invited to the environment committee meeting.
Committee discussion
Animal Party stated that the discussion, which was initially supposed to focus on poaching and illegal bird trapping, should not turn into a discussion about restrictions or control over activists. These are people who detect such illegal acts, report them and help the competent authorities respond.
During the committee meeting, Akel MP Giorgos Loukaides accused the committee chair and an Elam MP of deliberately targeting environmental organizations. Later, the head of the game service, Pantelis Hadjierou, said that activists “terrorize” hunters who operate legally. Earlier that week, Papayiannis said that activist groups had gone beyond what is acceptable and permitted and, according to him, violate the law when they disregard order, the police and the game service.
