Youth Program
Simge Kahvecioglu
Principal Coordinator
Simge Kahvecioglu is CFP’s Turkish Cypriot Principal Coordinator and has been involved in the Cyprus Friendship Programme since 2010. She has been active in bicommunal organizations since returning to Cyprus after receiving her education. She has been a member of “Cypriot Women in Dialogue” (2004-2008), a coordinator in the Multinational Winpeace Youth camps (2004-2009), and a Board member of the NGO “KAYAD” (Association of Women to Support Life) (2001-2007). In 2016, Simge and Sotia Adamidou, CFP’s Greek Cypriot Principal Coordinator, received a prestigious Stelios Foundation award for their bicommunal work through CFP. That same year, Simge was selected by President Akinci and continues to serve on the Bicommunal Technical Committee on Education, which was established to review existing practices of education in both sides of Cyprus, to undertake new relevant research on how education can contribute to develop a peace culture, to promote contact and co-operation between students, educators and educational organizations from the two communities and to recommend best policy options that will allow co-ordination between the two educational systems. Simge has been teaching mathematics at Turk Maarif College since 2000. She received a BS in Mathematics from the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey and a MS in Optimasation from the University of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom.
Yiota Kutulas
Coordinator
After receiving her university degree in International Relations, Yiota relocated to Cyprus to be closer to the sensitive issues she studied about. In 2003, she had her first experience in Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot bi-communal work during a one-year EU-funded program for Youth Encounters for Peace where she monitored implementation and prepared evaluations of all program activities. In the same year, Yiota became a member of Hands Across the Divide, the first Cypriot women’s bi-communal NGO. In EuroMed (the EU’s Youth Program), she assisted in providing capacity building initiatives through non-formal education programs to groups of European and Middle Eastern youth/youth workers in Jordan fostering multi-cultural understanding and respect for diversity. Yiota was the Cyprus country coordinator for Follow the Women, a women’s NGO, collaborating with regional partners for hundreds of women to cycle across the Levant promoting peace, transforming perceptions and enabling multi-cultural understanding. In 2025, the Cyprus Friendship Program offered Yiota the position of Co-Coordinator for the USA residency program. She had the opportunity to witness Cypriot youth from both communities cooperate in various activities in Nicosia’s Buffer Zone, but also in beautiful settings in Oregon and Washington. The generosity of the American host parents during the one-month residency program allows Cypriot youth to be Ambassadors of Cyprus in the USA, raising awareness, sharing their culture and traditions with their American hosts, while at the same time, enjoying once in a lifetime experiences, further developing friendships and bonds. Yiota looks forward to continuing working with CFP and Cypriot youth helping to contribute to a culture of understanding, respect, peace and reconciliation.
Çise Sakalli
Coordinator
I was born in Nicosia in North Cyprus. Growing up in the last divided capital of Europe, I had always been curious to meet the people on the “other” side of the divide and I started getting involved in bicommunial activities at the age of 15. My first experience was with a group called Youth Encounters for Peace (YEP) facilitated by teachers who then became the founder coordinators of Cyprus Friendship Programme in 2009. I graduated from Turkish Maarif College in Nicosia in 2001 and continued my higher education with a Fulbright scholarship at the College of William and Mary in Virginia. I graduated in 2005 and with a double major in English and International Relations. I returned to Cyprus upon graduation and started work as an English teacher. I have worked at several private and state schools since then. In the meantime I have obtained a post graduate diploma from Nottingham University in Applied Lingustics and English Language Teaching. I am often busy with in service and training programs in my field and I also undertake work for the Ministry of Education in benchmarking English Language teaching in North Cyprus with CEFR standards. However my hopes for peace on the island and interest in conflict resolution have never diminished and I have been a coordinator for the Cyprus Friendship Programme since its founding year 2009.
Bulut Unvan
Coordinator
Bulut Unvan is a Cyprus-based researcher, writer, and project manager. He holds degrees in Politics from Nottingham Trent University and Philosophy from the University of Greenwich, an MA in Western Literature from KU Leuven (Belgium), and a PhD from the University of Cyprus on Turkish Cypriot literature. He is currently managing a European Union–funded bi-communal project in Cyprus. He previously taught Turkish literature at The English School and at the University of Cyprus. He has worked as Communication Manager at the Cyprus Peace and Dialogue Center and continues to serve as a member of its Steering Committee. He is also a board member of the Centre of Visual Arts & Research (CVAR).
Ege Özada
Camp Leader
Ege Özada was born and raised in Cyprus and is 19 years old. He is currently studying Economics and Finance at Sapienza University of Rome. He has been involved in the CFP Cyprus Programme since 2023, first participating as a camper and later serving as a helper in the following years. He is passionate about working with Cypriot youth, supporting them, and creating a safe space where they can develop a deeper understanding of their country and its history.
Eldemzeki Zekican
Camp Leader
Eldemzeki Zekican is 18 years old and has lived in Cyprus his entire life. He is currently studying medicine at Maastricht University. He first participated in the CFP Troodos Camp in the summer of 2022 and was selected for the CFP US Program the following year. Since 2023, he has been serving as a Helper at the CFP Troodos Camp every summer. In addition, he has taken part in numerous bi-communal and multi-communal camps both in Cyprus and abroad, actively contributing to peace-building and cooperation efforts.
Theophania Zachariou
Camp Leader
Theophania Zachariou is currently studying in Greece to become a kindergarten teacher and has a strong interest in music and art. She participated to CFP as a camper in 2022 and has been one of the Greek-speaking Cypriot camp helpers since 2023, actively promoting peace and fostering friendships between Greek and Turkish Cypriots.
Maria Asvesta
Selection Support Coordinator
Maria Asvesta is a graduate of University College London and the Institute of Education, (University of London). Her first Degree was in Economics, and this was shortly followed with a Postgraduate Certificate in Education and then a MSc in Environmental Economics. She has been a Teacher for thirty years, teaching Economics, Business Studies and more recently Global Perspectives/ Human Rights Education. Since moving to Cyprus from the UK in 1989, she has worked as a Teacher in several private and international schools on the island, fulfilling a wide variety of roles including the post of Senior Teacher i/c Intercultural Education at the English School, Nicosia (2009 – 2019). This post was created in 2009 and deemed imperative when the first Turkish-Cypriot students were re-enrolled to the school after thirty years of segregation. During this period, she was tasked with creating policies and practices with the aim of creating a culturally responsive school. This led to further postgraduate studies in Education for Democratic Citizenship / Human Rights Education. She has also been a contributor to a book “Integrated Education in Conflicted Societies (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), and has a passion for peace education and the promotion of youth engagement and active democratic citizenship. She continues to work as a Teacher at the Senior School in Nicosia, teaching Economics and Business Studies on a part-time basis, hoping to be able to devote more time to peacebuilding through her involvement with the CFP. This is her fourth year as a Coordinator of CFP, a role she thoroughly enjoys!
Vangelis Evangelou
Selection Support Coordinator
Vangelis Evangelou is a Cypriot-born artist who has dedicated his life to teaching art and creativity among the youth of Cyprus. After graduating from the American Academy of Larnaca and completing his military service, he was awarded a four-year Fulbright scholarship to the United States, where he studied Film/Animation and Fine Arts at the University of Central Florida, Orlando. It was during his involvement with the Fulbright Commission that Vangelis first came in contact with Turkish Cypriots and, having completed his four years in Florida and a Conflict Resolution course in Boston, Massachusetts, he developed an interest in the unification of the island and the bridging of the two communities. He remained in the USA for four more years, completing his Master’s degree in Art Education and working as a middle-school art teacher in Osceola County, Florida. In 2000, he returned to his home country, and has since taught studio art and art history at various state and private high-schools and colleges around the island. He also operated a private artists’ workshop for nineteen years, teaching supplemental art programs to children and teenagers while preparing them for entrance to Universities around the U.K. Vangelis thrives when working with children and teenagers of all backgrounds and levels of artistic development, often feeling more at home when surrounded by them instead of adults. “I get enormous satisfaction watching youthful enthusiasm translate into artistic expression”. He has contributed to many civic art programs in Cyprus, including collaborations with various theater companies to create sets and costumes. He has also illustrated several books, designed and executed murals, art installations and logos for state and privately-run institutions, and has organized art exhibitions to showcase his students’ work. Coming from a musical family, he has played the piano all his life. He loves travel and experiencing other cultures, and is fluent in Greek, English and French, and also can communicate efficiently in Spanish, Italian and Turkish.
Merve Güralp Gazi
Selection Support Coordinator
Merve Güralp Gazi, who was born and raised in Nicosia-Cyprus, participated as a teen in the Cyprus Friendship Programme in 2011. While in the US, she was hosted in the Portland, Oregon area and her experience created a desire to become more active in promoting bicommunal opportunities for Cypriot teens. She became an active CFP alumna, promoting the program to her friends at school and across the island and participating in a wide variety of bicommunal activites. She completed her higher education at Queen Mary, the University of London in England, and also in Germany at Johannes Gutenberg Universität. She recently completed her master’s degree in Education at University College London. Since 2017 she is working as a German teacher and Model United Nation (MUN) Advisor at TED Northern Cyprus College. In 2018 she was invited to become a coordinator.
Alumni Association
Demi Asvesta
Co-Leader
Dimitra Asvesta is a final-year Spanish student with a deep belief in the power of words, stories and the arts to spark dialogue and drive social change. Since graduating from CFP, she has contributed to alumni outreach via event-planning, and by creating content for the program’s social media presence. She is currently committed to the production of CFP’s first alumni newsletter, which features important updates and spotlights fellow alumni’s roles as change-makers, as well the local contexts which make their hard work essential.
Doruk Ekingen
Co-Leader
Doruk Ekingen is an engineer with a passion for peacebuilding, innovation, and cultural connection. He graduated from Creating Friendships for Peace (CFP) in 2019 by attending the CFP America program in San Francisco, and also represented CFP at Euroscola that same year. Born in the UK and raised in Cyprus, Doruk brings a unique cross-cultural perspective to his work. He is the co-founder of Cylingo, a nonprofit platform dedicated to preserving Cypriot dialects and promoting unity through language. Doruk believes in the power of youth, dialogue, and shared heritage to build a more peaceful and inclusive future for Cyprus.
Erdem Soyer
Co-Leader
Erdem Soyer is an Urban Planning and Design student currently studying in the UK. He is a 2019 graduate of the Cyprus Friendship Programme (CFP) through the USA program, during which he stayed in Oregon. That same year, he represented CFP at the European Parliament’s Euroscola program. Born and raised in Nicosia, the divided capital of Cyprus, Erdem is passionate about how social policies and art can be used to unite communities across physical and social divides. His academic and personal interests focus on leveraging urban planning, policy, art, and cultural initiatives to bridge communities separated by conflict. He volunteered in initiatives by the United Nations Development Program’s Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage in Cyprus, where he witnessed and observed the power of peacebuilding through preserving common heritage.