Cyprus Chronicles – Part I

D. was invited to give a presentation in Cyprus and asked if I’d be interested in joining him. Yes, please, I said.

From my days studying international relations in college, Cyprus has long been one of those places about which I’ve been curious. Looking again at a map before the trip, it’s easy to understand why this relatively small island has had such a dynamic history. Its strategic location in the Mediterranean between Africa, the Middle East and Europe has indelibly shaped its history. It’s been battled over for centuries with each occupier – the Franks, Venetians, the Ottomans, and the British, among others, leaving their mark with legacies that remain very alive today, in the landscape, politics and day-to-day lives of Cypriots.

We stayed in the inland capital of Nicosia, also known as Lefkosia. One of the first things you notice in central Nicosia are the walls which still stand from the mid-1500s, put in place by Venetians to deter the Ottomans. The walls are made of sandstone and in amazing shape, looking as solid as if they were built 50 years ago rather than 500.

They surround the center city area and, if viewed from above, have 11 bastions that look like a sun.

There were three gates, which are still (mostly) intact.

These old fortifications are not the only barriers in place; Nicosia stands today as a divided city within a divided country. The southern two-thirds of the territory is the Republic of Cyprus, a member of the European Union with the Euro as currency and where Greek is the predominant language.

The northern third, including parts of Nicosia, has the name of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, though is not formally recognized as a nation by any other country other than Turkey. Due to that, it’s cut off from trade to other countries (other than Turkey), uses the Turkish lira as currency and Turkish as the primary language. It surprised me that even mail from here must go through Turkey to be processed.

There’s quite a complex history here stemming to the years that Cypriots fought for independence from the British Empire and there’s no way I can do it justice here but I’ll post some resources later for anyone wanting to dig a bit deeper.

The situation today is often described as a frozen conflict – no active fighting, but also no resolution. A thirty-meter (approx. one hundred-foot) buffer, called the “Green Zone”, has been erected between the two areas which is occupied by UN peacekeeping force.

(Indeed, at one point, we came upon two young peacekeepers with their iconic blue helmets in the street and I couldn’t help but be taken aback. While very familiar from seeing them in war zones on television, it was my first real-life encounter.)

On the historically main commercial street, Lidras Street, there is a pedestrian checkpoint where one can pass from one side of the divide to the other. Checkpoints like this were only opened up in 2003.

I passed from the south to the north, having my passport reviewed at a checkpoint on each end. Those thirty meters in between with boarded-up storefronts felt eerily haunted by ages past when Cypriots mingled in peace.

What was clear to me on my explorations was the great cost of this conflict – with forced evacuations of Greek Cypriots from the north to the south and Turkish Cypriots from the south to the north – in some cases losing homes and businesses that had been in their families for generations and also villages with heritage, customs and crafts. Many families hold deep wounds for those who died in the conflicts and those still missing.

I felt encouraged about hearing about a nonprofit, Home for Cooperation, that has purposely set up a cafe and meeting place in the buffer zone to encourage dialogue between the two sides. There is also a choir, the Bi-Communal Choir for Peace, formed in 1997 with members from both sides. It holds its practices in the buffer zones, is led jointly by Greek and Turkish Cypriot conductors and performs songs in both languages.

I hope you’ll forgive that I spent this first Cyprus installment giving some background on this complex, challenging and beautiful place. There’s much more to share about our brief Cyprus experience and I hope to post another blog or two.

I wish you all great peace in your hearts, families and communities.