'Roots Revival Week' Egypt's message of peace to world: min.

CAIRO - 26 April 2018: Minister of Immigration and Expatriates' Affairs Nabila Makram deemed the "Roots Revival Week" of the Egyptian Greek and Cypriot communities as the first of its kind to honor foreign communities, saying the event sends a message of peace to the whole world.

Egypt, in the era of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, takes care of Egyptian expatriates with the view of linking them to the homeland, Makram said in an interview with Al Gomhuria newspaper out Thursday.

This event is part of an initiative submitted to President Sisi, who agreed to sponsor it, the minister said.

Makram added that she coordinated with her Greek and Cypriot counterparts to choose Greek and Cypriot participants in the event whose families used to live in Egypt a century back.

The ministry has prepared a special program for 120 visitors representing the second and third generations of Egyptian Greek communities in different world countries, Makram added.

The program includes visits to the places in which their families used to live, such as Zizinia and El Raml neighborhoods in Alexandria, followed by a visit to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa, a tour of Giza Pyramids, and finally a visit to Saint Catherine's Monastery in Sharm El Sheikh.

In December 2017, Egypt, Cyprus and Greece signed a cooperation protocol that aimed to bring Cypriots and Greeks; who used to live in Alexandria, back to the city, under the auspices of the "Nostos" project.

The project is an initiative of the Egyptian minister of immigration and expatriates affairs, who visited Cyprus along with Greek Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Terence Quick for consultations with Cyprus’ Presidential Commissioner for humanitarian affairs Photis Photiou, as part of the tripartite cooperation of the three countries on diaspora issues.