Cyprus Journal by Bruce Krug

Journal Day 1: Arrival Larnaca

Friday 4 Sept 2009: Departure: 1:15 P.M. Portland International Airport

Arrival : 7:30 A.M. Frankfurt International Airport

Departure: 9:45 A.M. Frankfurt International Airport

Arrival : 2:00 P.M. Larnaca International Airport

On arriving in the airport at Larnaca, I was not too surprised to see a more-or-less less developed airport compared to PDX; however it should be pointed out that a new airport is being built by a French construction company and it will open very soon. Upon leaving the airport there were a large number of taxis available on the street, however not as many as I remember in Romania 10 years ago. Various languages were being spoken at the airport, but English was common to most everyone.

The drive through town held some surprises as Romania was European, but fairly primitive. There were European and American businesses as well as the picturesque village businesses. One almost surprise was the large number of cars both on the street and parked around. Romania had not been like that. Traffic was chaotic, but I have heard that all European streets seem that way to Americans. The streets are so characteristically small and dead ended that it is little wonder traffic can be a nightmare.

The hotel was located on the Mediterranean Sea in what was obviously the tourist boardwalk area. Hotel rooms were 80 Euro, comparable to most US hotel rooms, or maybe a little cheaper. It had all of the amenities, although it was definitely older. The TV and the toilet were not functioning in our room, although they did fix it right away.

Our first activity was a presentation and a great introduction to our stay here. Two typical teenage girls arrived with two adult males. Sarper, the darker of the two men turned out to be a Turkish Cypriot. Later, however, I would discover that that color of skin means little in deciding whether or not a person is Turkish or Greek. The other turned out to be Harry’s brother, Micos.

Each of the two adults took a turn speaking and explained their involvement with the peace process, and how they had just returned from an all-day meeting with the girls and their compatriots. They had designed a symbol of the peace movement, a military helmet with a plant planted in it. They are going to present the plant and ask that it be spread throughout the country as a symbol of the quest for peace.

Micos explained that he was a teacher at the American School in Larnaca and that he had been involved in the movement for a long time. He had not served in the military during the war, but had been too young. Sarper, on the other hand, had been in the US studying and was home on Summer Break and was called upon to serve in the military. His return to the states to study basically cost him a year of education as he was understandably shook up about the war.

The girls were next and told their involvement. One was a Turkish Cypriot from Famagusta, the other a Greek Cypriot from the American School. Another man, the father of the Greek Cypriot girl was there with his son as well.

The Greek girl spoke first of how Mikos, Harry’s brother had issued a call at her school where he teaches for students interested in being peace makers wanting to solve the Cyprus problem. About 120 students showed up and went through several activities until around 20 were left, selected to proceed in the bi-communal activities that were planned for the students. She really did enjoy the process and now the Turkish Cypriot girl was one of her closest friends.

The Turkish Cypriot young lady had a much different story. There were no essays written, no large calls made to the school, and in fact was not encouraged at all in the bi-communal calls. I wonder, now, whether it might have been the same in the public schools that are run by the government in the Republic of Cyprus. It is difficult to know since I am still relatively unfamiliar with the system there. Individual teachers were few but arranged the groups bi-communal activities almost on the ‘sly’.

She and her friend were able to spend 30 days in America where they truly realized the other’s ‘real’ personas and were part of a program begun in Northern Ireland called ‘Pairs’. Two young people are selected to be separated from their peers and put with each other in a neutral place such as the United States. There they were together as a family for 30 days and it provided a time for them to really see that the other side are not monsters but are people just like they are.

The girl from the North commented on two very telling tales about her experience. The first involved her brother who, when taken to the activities of the group was shocked to find that the Greek Cypriot side were people, not monsters after all. The second was her recounting of the story of the flags on the mountainside and how recently more attention has been given it. Both tales recount things that can happen with Nationalism in control.

Several thoughts came out of this story, pretty obvious one is that kids have been taught Nationalist versions of history and have no clue what the other side is really like. Thirty-five years of no contact has left two estranged parties with only an imaginary image of the other sides’ actual nature, or how similar they might be to one another. Similarities in language, combined after centuries of co-existence leave them different than the language of their respective fatherlands, much as American English is almost unintelligible to a person from England.

The previous generations’ obsession with the flag on the hill, again a nationalist rally call, points to a bitter divide that may be difficult to get around. With much focus still being put on the landmark, little else could compare. It confirms the obvious pride of the nation-state indicated by the lack of interest in the peace process at the girl’s school.

Our first meal, which we ate following our meeting, was in an open air eating place that lined the boardwalk. The food was good, although my Greek Salad was truly different as it had not one shred of lettuce in it. Prices on the food were fairly good, although when you figured out the price in dollars it really was pretty expensive. It is obvious, also, why the open air aspect is so popular since to air condition is costly, and to sit outside in the cool Mediterranean breeze is a fantastic feeling!

Journal Day 2: Larnaca

Although I was tired, of course, I didn’t sleep as well or as long as I wanted. I woke up early, about three o’clock, and pretty much that was it. I tried to go and find coffee, but of course it was a Sunday morning. Not even STARBUCKS was open! I also didn’t know how to get coffee downstairs yet. I didn’t have a computer either, so I decided to just walk around a bit.

The walk was interesting. I saw what I interpreted to be several instances of prostitutes being picked up for business in the early morning hours. I also was able to walk down to the fortress on the sea and when I walked around it discovered the real world of Larnaca. Although it was early there were a few people out, but I suspect that probably the reason that I didn’t see more is that they were out until the wee hours of the morning partying since it is at least tolerable in the late evening to sit outside and enjoy oneself. The cool breeze at our dinner last night was wonderful!

Our first stop was at one of the refugee camps that were created directly after the Turkish invasion of 1974. Some interesting facts were revealed during our discussion of these camps. One is that they now have title to the property that they are living in. By itself, to me at least, these are no longer refugees. They just live here. After all, I don’t have any title to any property either. Another different story is that the government intentionally tries to keep the refugees in their status as refugees so that they can maintain it as a bargaining tool. Stupid stuff there buddies!

The refugee camp here in Larnaca is the one that André us, our bus driver was raised in. He apparently is also close to my age and was around 11 when he and his family became refugees. The family proved to be beautiful people, totally hospitable as they laid out snacks and drinks for our whole group, and provided Harry with a place to lecture on the situation.

Some interesting answers to questions that came up were the questions about the return to the North should the property issue be settled and a new government formed. One aspect was that although the older lady indicated she might return, the question I had was whether that would really happen. Her family is here now and they do have title to their property. Her own home has been demolished, for whatever reason, and she knows and has no one that lives there to be around. I don’t think she really would go. Some other concerns were that the Turkish settlers were not the ones that she would live next to. Turkish Cypriots would be fine, but Turkish settlers should be sending “home”. Hmm, I wonder just how much those people that she is talking about would call Turkey home and themselves ‘Turks’ and not ‘Turkish Cypriots’? Her emotional state, however, was an indication of why that really isn’t a question that is being dealt with objectively at this point.

One other fantastic moment came out of this visit when the young boy that was André us’ son said that he was ‘Cypriot’ and ‘European’ as opposed to being a ‘Greek Cypriot’, or simply ‘Greek’. As with racism in the United States, it is not the generation that solves the problems by treaties that actually are able to put wars and racism behind them. It will be those, like this young man, who were raised in the new regime and therefore don’t share anything but the stories with their elders. Being European eliminates the need for the stereotypes and prejudice and the left over anger and sentiments about the ‘old days’. André us remembers, and probably so does his wife, but his sons will no longer hold on particularly if things go well for them. The North is some place that they were from originally, but it is no longer their home.

Our next stop was the Mosque where the aunt of Mohammed is buried. Harry let us in on the fact that in most Cypriot cities and villages, mosques and churches were right next to each other and that for centuries they co-existed. I knew this because, as a historian I knew that in its early phases Islam did not have anything against either Christians or Jews because they were ‘people of the book’. In other words, although Moslems felt that we Christians were off base in our interpretations and belief system, they also felt that we had it partially correct; therefore they felt that both Jews and Christians should be spared. Only heathens were given the choice, “Accept Allah, or DIE!” Most did accept Allah, I should imagine.

It is very true that the struggle against Islam has occurred mostly in the nineteenth and twentieth century as nationalism has taken hold of the people of Europe and the world. I am not sure that I can condemn nationalism totally, at this point, but I also must acknowledge its effect on my objectivity and the fact that, just like André us’ son, my daughter would share none of my inhibitions, leading to believe that probably some of my concerns are unfounded and simply the result of my own brain-washing by nationalists in my youth.

We returned to the hotel and were able to find a bank that would let us take out cash so that we didn’t have to worry about that. I took a walk while Susannah took a nap and was able to go out into the city and actually look around. I am still surprised by the cars driving on the wrong side of the street, although it is very logical.

Our final stop of the day was the party boat. Loved our swim in the Med. Sea and certainly loved the scuba night dive I did with The Captain. He is an amazing man with an amazing story. The party itself was wonderful, although I don’t dance, and have never drunk any alcohol in my life, so that was interesting. It was a blast though and certainly an experience. I loved talking to those guys on the boat too as they had very interesting stories too!

JOURNAL: DAY THREE; NICOSIA

Our trip to Nicosia was a learning experience as well. We stopped at the Missing Persons memorial at a chapel on the top of the hills outside of Nicosia. The trip to Nicosia only takes 30 minutes or so, so this actually wasn’t that big of a deal time wise.

I loved the art and the exhibition material, and as usual, I was focusing on the facts in the situation and focused on the ‘1619’ number that was all over everything. Unfortunately, as the other André us told us later, ‘1619’ is pretty much just a ‘pie-in-the-sky’ number. Yes, there were missing persons, certainly, but the larger the number, the better for the nationalists, and they tended to keep the fires burning by continuing to drum up hate with the number to maintain their position. It also is consistent with their world view and desire to Hellenize the history of Cyprus.

The young lady that was our tour guide was really a trained physician, I guess, but decided to do this because she felt that it was important. Hmm, not so sure that I would agree on that one, but I do understand where she is coming from.

In the old city of Nicosia we arrived at our hotel. It was nice and it HAD FREE COMPUTERS! Although that was great, I had already written our first day and arrival because I didn’t know that we were getting to use the computers later. The hotel seemed more modern, and I suspect, that since it wasn’t on the boardwalk of the port city tourist town, that more business travelers and the like would use it, that it would be less touristy. No pool, no gym, just internet and laundry service; which I used!

My exploration of the old city was fantastic with so many discoveries of real people and the small business market that exists here! All of these little, sometimes one-person shops, where people do it all with grinders, and different industrial machinery that is really cool! I got to look around and explore in the afternoon and we then had a session over at the NGO office and met with Larry and his group of interns that he works with and had the programs that they are involved with explained a little. It was very informative in several ways, one of which being that I am not sure that it would work for me to intern here and be able to get Katherine’s nursing school in. But we will see. The problem simply put is that the NGO’s must arrange their own support and all of that and although I like the idea, with no nursing schools here I don’t know how it would work in the near future for us, which is unfortunate to say the least.

Tomorrow we go to see President Talat of the Turkish Republic. Susannah and I had already come up with our questions for him, but we went along with the stop at the coffee house to talk with Larry and Harry about the questions. It ended up that we were not the group that got to talk to Harry, and therefore we ended up just having coffee and leaving. We went straight to bed!

Day Four: Northern Nicosia

Susannah and I woke up early today and immediately headed over to the border with Northern Nicosia and crossing through the check point into Turkish occupied Cyprus. We passed through at about 6:30 a.m. and the Greek side seemed genuinely annoyed with the fact that I had to ask what to do. The Turkish side, however, made sure that they knew what was going on. No questions really, they just put our numbers into the computer and, stamped the piece of paper with their code, and sent us on. The paper was so that we would not have the stamp in our Passport which could cause problems since that would indicate they really were a country or something to that effect. They actually sent a guy, however, who shadowed us as we wandered up the totally empty street toward what looked like a main street. I guess he decided that we looked innocent enough and left us when we got to the Police station. We wandered around and looked at the run down buildings, far worse than what they were on the Greek side (probably due to UN funding problems in Northern Cyprus due to the Greek Republics blocking of any money being given Turkish occupied territory. I walked toward a walled off street with a guard and was surprised to see the guard stand up and move, armed, to stop me. It gave me a sense of the real nature of this program, and despite the islands small size, for the people that live here this is a serious situation. I realize that the missing person’s museum should have done that, but it still was a little unreal to a person that lives in the relative peace of the United States all of their life. We wandered back to the main gate at 7:45 a.m. or so and again the Turkish guards really paid attention while the Greek guards would have let anyone through as they didn’t even glance at our Passport or paper.

The second trip across the border was slightly more interesting. This time a Turkish soldier actually checked your little paper before you entered Northern Nicosia, but still, it was not an issue. We had to wait for Sarper Ince, as he was our Turkish Cypriot guide in Northern Nicosia and at the president’s office. Susannah and I were thrilled to find Pepsi available! I surmise that that is because Coke was able to secure a foothold on the Greek side early on in the twentieth century, or at least before PepsiCo became more world wide. Since the Turkish occupied Cyprus was not opened up until the late 90’s it is logical that Pepsi stood a better chance to move in before Coke could swallow up another area. Sarper arrived at 10:30 and we headed for the presidential office for the president of the Turkish occupied Northern republic of Cyprus.

Of course, I was able to snap a couple of pictures before entering the presidential grounds of Turkish Flags flying large and Northern Republic of Cyprus flags flying small. It was interesting to note this difference. At least in the Southern republic, the Greek flag may be flying but at least it is the same size as the Republic of Cyprus flag. After entering the compound, no pictures were allowed.

We were led through the check point and had our passports checked, although the guard was unsure of me since I seemed too old to be a student there. This would not be the only time this would happen. They don’t understand much about older students here, although I am not sure I do either. We were taken to a large meeting room filled with couches and two chairs at the head of the room, one for the moderator, Harry, and one for the president, Talat. Talat was preceded by another gentleman, a man that Harry knew through the peace process, and he briefed us on the recent events in the talks between Talat and Christophios, the Republic of Cyprus president. Although somewhat accusatory with regard to the speed of the negotiations, Talat’s coordinator was very cordial and open. Talat entered and we all stood in honor of the office, whether recognized or not. No more cordial and friendly a man could have been asked for as he went to each person and shook their hand. Then we proceeded to have a conversation, not a speech, about the Cyprus problem. I was deeply impressed by this man. He is either an extremely shrewd politician, which I am sure he is, or he is a generally very nice man. The gist of the conversation went something like the points below:

· It is the Greek side that has slowed the progress of the talks with them not willing to make more than one two hour visit per week.

· It was the Greek side that wished to totally start from base zero rather than tell what was wrong with the Annan Plan and go from there. A lot of time was wasted working out things already worked out in the 2004 referendum.

· The delay for the recent weeks talk due to the trouble at the border was simply ridiculous. Having read the papers on the Greek side for the last three days, I would agree that it wasn’t necessary for the incident, but with the Press being the way that it is it was perhaps necessary for Christophios and his political position.

· Turkey is putting on pressure to achieve a settlement before the end of the year and they are evaluated for entrance into the EU.

· Talat acknowledged that he is under personal pressure to get something accomplished during the talks as he faces re-election in February.

· Major stumbling blocks, as always is the property questions. Greeks want first choice and that will be difficult to give. Why don’t we just swap for the Turkish Cypriot property lost in the south?

· Admits that settlers will be another problem to be dealt with.

· Bi-zonal Federation might be a problem with Greeks diluting the vote of the North, so Turkish Cypriots want some sort of guarantee in the election of the president and their count. Greeks want to totally control the government and have a strong central presidency.

· Possible suggestions for the rotating presidency were that the president would only serve 6 months. I agree with the Greeks on this one in that that just isn’t enough time for effective governance.

We left with Talat posing for an official picture of us with Talat. I left feeling legitimately important, that the talks were important to Talat personally, and that if there were to be agreement, it would be Talat that was instrumental in making that happen. He seemed a totally above board real person who really cared.

We went for lunch at the Kahn center building in Northern Nicosia with Sarper. I looked around and looked through all of the little shops that were in this round sort of market place. Dating from the Ottoman period, this was one of two major marketplace inns established by the Ottomans in Nicosia. A Khan is very similar to the inn that Jesus was turned away from in the Bible.

I also learned a valuable lesson about ordering food in Northern Nicosia, maybe in Cyprus period: if you are going to order meat, make sure that you order a ‘piece of meat’ and not something with meat in it. It might turn out like the ‘meatball rolls’ that supposedly got at the Khan. There was no meat at all anywhere in that tortilla filled pita bread. Sarper said this was common.

Upon return to the Hotel in Southern Nicosia, a return through the checkpoint with general apathy by the Greek border guards, Susannah proceeded to take a nap while I set out to discover the location of the Museums and explore the city. With about three hours of walking, many wanderings in the streets trying to figure out how the map I bought represented the streets, I found the struggle museum and the Archbishopric and Byzantine Art Museum. The most fascinating part of the exploration was of course just looking over the inner city (Inside the Venetian Walls of Nicosia) and all of the interesting little shops that hide away in old crumbling buildings. It was fascinating to see the different little one-man operations that were abundant in this section. It was also fascinating to see that once you exit the Ledra street area the shops get more run down and the people less curious and less friendly. Most shops are small, rather crudely put together, and often next door to an abandoned shop with broken windows and padlocks on the door. Cars also do not slow down or look for pedestrians; pedestrians look out for cars. They also drive on the left side with right hand drive and I don’t know why that makes it difficult to walk safely, but it does. Twice I almost got run over cause I didn’t look the right direction first!

The meeting at 6:00 was with a lady connected, or in charge sort of, of the NGOs that we met with last night. The meeting was somewhat of a disappointment since Maria; from my perspective at least, is about twenty years behind what is going on in the United States. Our world is no longer the mom at home, helpless woman who needs encouragement to get out of the home. I admit to writing the first set of information about her work with the peace movement, but after she digressed into talking feminist ideology, I sort of tuned out. Later I discovered that many of the ladies were even surprised by this ladies apparent lack of knowledge about the culture of the US women’s movement in the 90’s. Twenty years ago what she perceived may have been the case, but today her ‘case’ is ‘out of date’. It might, however, still be true in more traditional Cyprus. The restaurant where we had dinner following the lecture may be a case in point as my observation of a man and his woman (girlfriend or wife makes no difference) still indicated a lot of the patriarchal behaviors that Vivian was referring to.

Day Five: Nicosia: The Greek Side

Today we get to see the President of the Republic of Cyprus! We left to go to the Presidential Palace, where Archbishop Malarias III was first installed as President in 1960, and where in 1974 an attempted Junta, in collaboration with the Greek Junta in the mainland, tried to capture and overthrow President Malarias in the Palace. Due to poor planning and not following through with the battle plan, Makarios was able to simply leave the palace through the back side and escape. The Junta did not succeed and instead of setting up Greek enosis, brought the Turkish Army invasion upon the island of Cyprus and the semi-permanent division of Cyprus into North and South, Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot. By trying to take it all, they lost more than they gained.

The Greek Cypriot press reported that Christophios was not on the island, but in Italy, where he was enlisting the help of President Berlesconi in putting pressure on Turkey to withdraw troops and solve the Cyprus Problem. It seemed like a good question to ask about at the meeting today since the indications that we had from Talat was that Turkey was already putting pressure on to solve the problem. We were met by two ladies who were going to apparently take us on a tour of the Palace before we were to meet the president. We did go around the grounds where we heard again the story of the battle in 1974; saw the bullet holes in the walls that still remain. We heard a couple of the stories, and then were taken to a large meeting room around a large official looking table. It was much more formal than yesterdays meeting with Talat, and immediately more intimidating. We were then told that the president would not be joining us, but that his first aide, Leonidus, would be conducting the meeting and would be able to relay any information that we might want. Harry knew this man and seemed comfortable with that answer. I had overheard Harry earlier that it might be that we would not be able to meet with Christophios.

Partly due to the largeness of the room, and the arrangement of the seating, it was not convenient for Leo to shake all of our hands, or to make us feel as ‘at ease’ as Talat had yesterday. Leo was definitely a nice gentleman, but I felt that he was less willing to take positions, or even to report president’s positions, than what Talat had. Of course, he wasn’t the president himself, so this accounts for some of this. Evading the real questions and giving only the standard answers is all he really could do since he was not the president. Still, that was the nature of his answers as they were filled with positioning and political double-talk in order to achieve effect. Most questions were accompanied by blaming Talat and the Turks for any of the lack of progress being made in the talks. When asked if he felt that there was any pressure being put on The Republic of Cyprus to move forward in the talks, Leo replied that this was not something that was right and that they did not respond to that pressure. Interestingly, when asked if Turkey should put pressure on Talat, or if pressure should be put on Turkey, that was fine.

With regard to the property issue, the key point of disagreement it seems between the two sides, the major issue is ‘who’ gets to decide what. The Greeks want the original owner to decide while the TCs want the decision to be more arbitrated by outside forces. He also believed, and I agreed with him, that few Greeks would return to their former properties in the North. He sited several ongoing and former historical examples of this situation going back to the original owners. Although this was true, it also was true that every situation is unique and therefore it might not be possible to compare them. Talat had also used historical examples to back up his stand that the original owners should not have the ultimate say in the matter, so you know these two sides are playing to their own selective view of history. All things considered, I thought that Leo was far more political in his answers and said little that we did not already know both from the papers and the former negotiations. Leo also was playing on the defensive role since he no doubt knew we had seen Talat the day before. I was pretty unmoved by the position and felt we had gotten more truthful and heartfelt answers from Talat.

We took pictures out front again and discussed again the role of Cyprus and the British Empire, as well as a couple of other things and then were taken back to our bus. No doubt speaking for the president is incredibly difficult, but I still felt like he was evading a lot of our questions. Over all my impression of Leonidus and the Greek side was not that favorable, but I was also aware there were mitigating factors.

Released for the afternoon, Susannah and I ate at a cute little café close to the hotel. Interestingly, we discussed in some detail the events of the day, our impressions, and some conclusions that we had about our meetings. A couple that was sitting next to us were really interested in what we were saying and I believe that they understood everything, however they declined to talk when asked about any of the issues at hand. Susannah and I then proceeded on the Struggle Museum that I had located on Tuesday.

My initial reaction to the struggle museum was negative, condemning whoever had come up with the idea of spreading propaganda. It was only after seeing personal artifacts that belonged to General Grievas that I became conscious of my own nations spirit of nationalism. Greivas personal items could easily be compared to those of George Washington, the most revered of our forefathers in the United States. I could have been at the Smithsonian, or in Boston where the Boston Tea Party, the Boston Massacre, and Paul Revere’s famous ride are also similar events and national memorabilia. I quickly was drawn to the architecture and the methods being used to produce a substantial effect on the visitor. As you slowly climbed to the top of the exhibits you were rising much as the nation of Cyprus rose from colonial oppression, or apparently so in the eyes of the Cypriots, to the glorious crowning and deifying of those who sacrificed their greatest sacrifice, their life, for the struggle for freedom. Much like Nathan Hale, the famed patriot that stated at the gallows created for him by the British in the colonies in 1779, “I regret that I have but one life to give for my country.”, the 9 men hung by the British in 1957 are the centerpiece of the struggle museum. Virtually no one was in the museum, and I swear the curator was asleep when we first got there. He did provide some books and information for us when we left though.

Our next stop was at the home of the Archbishop of Cyprus in the Greek Orthodox Church. Of course you don’t get to see his home, but the Byzantine Art Museum in the Makarios III event center is located next door to it. An old Greek Orthodox Church is also located on the grounds, but it was closed when we went in. We were able to see the Art Museum which was absolutely marvelous! Frescos dating from 400 A.D. were on display as well as other exhibits. The Frescos stuck out because they were the centerpiece of the museum at this time. These were taken by the Turkish Army out of the cathedrals in Northern Cyprus and sold on the black market to anyone with money. Most were returned in 1992 or so when a raid in Germany resulted in their recovery. I took notice of the phrasing of the descriptions and the description of the recovery as they were stated in such a way as to make the Turkish Army look as much like evil criminals as possible. I found myself being equally outraged about the pictures even though I personally was not involved in either the church or in Cyprus. Words can make all of the difference in telling the story.

On our way back to the hotel we wanted to stop by the Ethnological museum and it proved to be closed, just as the postal museum had been, but my main interest in stopping there was to discover what exactly an ‘ethnological’ museum really is. I didn’t find out that day. We then went back to the hotel.

At 6:00 we went down to the meeting room in the dinner hall of the hotel and met with a newspaper editor instrumental in the search to discover the whereabouts of the missing 1619 Greek Cypriots of the war in 1974. Editor in Chief of a local newspaper Andreas Paraschos was himself a refugee from Northern Cyprus in 1974. He has been instrumental in discovering graves, identifying remains, and aiding in the peace process for many years. His stories had many interesting points.

First, a Greek Cypriot who was trapped in the North after the 1974 invasion, he enjoyed relative freedom and was able to escape to the South easily since he has a dark complexion and spoke fluent Turkish. They never even realized that he wasn’t a Turkish Cypriot! It shows the lack of distinguishing characteristics between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots and also gives credit to the historical documentation that I read while in Cyprus that basically says that the only differences between the Greeks and Turkish Cypriots in the 19^th century was where they went to church on Sunday! Any stereotype of either group was, as it usually is, the fabrication of nationalists hoping to create some division.

A second note was concerning the 1619 missing persons, the magic number of missing that we had been introduced to on our trip into Nicosia. Of that 1619 many, many of those named were found, or were found to not have been missing at all. It seemed to prove, a fact that we had already been told that the government of the Republic of Cyprus definitely is interested in maintaining the number as a magic number of horror and one that can conjure up images of the war, essentially waving the bloody flag to create ill will toward the Turkish Army and Turkish Cypriots and fan the flames of racial separations to support the government’s position..

Finally, he told about the discovery of a new grave near the border in the North that was revealed by the Turkish Army. He said that if it holds anything like the numbers that have been predicted then, they the 1619 could become a thing of the past, part of war that happened long ago. He also indicated that there were certainly Turkish Cypriots on the Southern side that also still needs to be explored.

We adjourned but went next door where we were promptly met by a gentleman next door at the eatery located there, who wanted to know if we were, ‘from the states?’, a question which we of course answered yes. He replied that he had been in the states for training and that prompted our conversation to gravitate toward his background. He told us that he had lived for nearly 20 years in Australia. There he had a family, and came back to Cyprus to be with his parents in their old age. I asked about his parents position on reunification and he replied that they had been all for it and had voted for the 2004 referendum. He had not been in Cyprus then, but had heard the news and new that his parents had been disappointed. He wanted to talk more and we agreed to return the next night.

DAY SIX: OLD NICOSIA & the Struggle Museum

Day Six would prove to be interesting since Susannah and I had already explored the museums that Harry had planned for us to tour. We decided to attend anyway since the Struggle Museum had been free and it might help to have Harry’s interpretation on some points. Another student joined us at the hotel and went with us to the Museum. Although Harry was able to shed a personal light on some of the articles on the walls, through my reading and the exhibits it turned out to be only mildly beneficial to return. The architectural design was most telling, as I said before, and both the former student and I had some good discussions on it as we went through the struggle museum. We decided not to go to the art museum next door again because they would charge us another 2 Euros to get in. We decided to go to the Folk Museum next door instead.

We also looked into the Orthodox Church on the grounds there as well and listened for a moment to the guide’s talk on the icons painted on the walls and ceiling. The Folk Museum was not a disappointment, but it proved to be less exciting than the Byzantine Art museum had the day before. There were many examples of clothing and items used from the 18^th and 19^th Centuries and it was only one floor. We completed the tour and waited outside the Art Museum for Harry and the others. On the way back to the hotel we stopped at the Ethnological Museum and were told it was 1.75 Euros. Unfortunately the guard wouldn’t really tell me what was upstairs, so we decided not to go in. Susannah and I broke off from the rest of the group and stopped and had Lebanese cuisine on the way back for lunch. That was as interesting as anything since they were watching a cable Lebanese program that was comical even if you couldn’t understand the language! It was a game show that was just so stupid you could even tell it without understanding it. The most interesting part of the stop was the buying of fresh meat from a runner from the meat shop. The owner bartered with the runner who apparently had authority to take less than the agreed on price. I found it most interesting in the unregulated aspects of this kind of trade. The food was good and we returned to the hotel well fed.

At this point, I again left on one of my fact finding missions out into the world of the real people of Nicosia. This time I left the old walled city and headed into the new urbanized Nicosia. I first went to the archaeological museum, but was intrigued by the businesses I saw along the way. Many were closed for the afternoon hours but there were some open. Unlike the small shops of the walled city, most were new and well kept up and generally displayed, what I thought anyway, more upscale merchandise that I had seen inside the walls. There were car dealerships, appliance dealers and most of the normal stores you would find in suburban America as well as some off-beat ones. After arriving at the museum, I looked over the building that houses the legislature of the Republic of Cyprus, making note that it was not too ultra modern, but it wasn’t made to look old like most buildings where legislatures meet in the states. I decided to move on and head toward the American Embassy. I thought it would be interesting. What I found was interesting, just not the way that I thought it would be.

The embassy looked like a place straight out of a war movie about WWII or something like that. There were guards at ever corner who would not even let you stop and tie your shoe or look at a map by the gates even after you explained that you were a U.S. citizen. They were so insistent that I move on that they even contacted the guards all around the building to make sure that I did! No wonder we are the target of so many attacks! We are just asking for it.

I moved on to end up making a three-mile loop through Nicosia proper observing a new Ministry of Education building, a couple of other government buildings that did look relatively new, the Swedish Embassy (Which was not near so fortified as the US one had been. . .) and what should have been a stadium. Apparently there was a new one and they were building something in the middle of the old one.

Susannah and I headed back over the Green Line to eat dinner that evening. We found a nice place over by the Khan that served Fish and Chips. We at there after talking to a lady merchant in the Khan, a person who turned out to be the same one that other people had searched out as well. An interesting note from that conversation highlighted something that had separated me from the rest of the group earlier. She used the word ‘Communist’ to describe herself, much as Talat had used the word to describe Christophios. It didn’t affect, of course, my daughter who is only 26, but for me, a person raised in the cold war in American public schools, trained in the nationalist agenda of the time, that word causes instant revulsion! Having realized and considered this already after the meeting with Talat, it didn’t take me as much by surprise, but I noted it as it is significant in the evaluation anyone makes of a society.

We returned across the border with the concern of the Turkish soldiers being only mild, and the Greek guards not even noticing we were walking through.

Day Seven: Kyrenia

It was a later start today as we headed down to have breakfast in the hotel lobby. Brother! I am still amazed that the stupid hotels in the United States try and sell themselves as having a complimentary ‘Continental’ breakfast when they have a few rolls, a couple of packets of jelly, and coffee available. Man, these Cypriots make them look pretty bad with three kinds of eggs, sausage, bacon, beans, corn, the best tasting yogurt ever, and several different types of bread, spreads, and coffee, tea, juice, and probably a dozen other things that I have forgotten. The fish eggs and Harry and Mat from the first day were a telling story. I had already had two bowls of this great strawberry yogurt and had told Mat and the others to have some since it was so good. Mat got some and ate it, got more and then Harry arrived. He told Mat that he thought it was fish eggs; I thought the poor boy was going to throw-up! It was yogurt, and having had Rocky Mountain oysters, loved them, then had it explained what they were and survived, fish eggs seemed no problem if they tasted like yogurt.

We headed across to the Turkish side and waited for Saper at the usual place. He got there and we headed through to the Khan. There we saw a fantastic show from an older gentleman who explained to us that in the old days of Cyprus (When Harry was a young boy : ) ) they didn’t have movie theaters and they instead used to puppet masters that came through the villages and put on a puppet show with these little puppets on sticks made out of the hide of an animal. It was a fantastic show and we learned that both ‘Little Harry’ and ‘Little Saper’ were the artistic types. It seems logical for men who would later devote themselves to peace to be artists.

We then headed over to the Mosque in Northern Nicosia which was St. Sophia. The funny part of that is that it was built as a Cathedral in the early 1500’s with, I believe Catholic architects. It then became an Eastern Orthodox Church with all of the icons painted throughout. When the Ottoman Turks conquered Cyprus in 1571 it was converted to a Mosque by totally plastering over the frescoes in the cathedral with white alabaster. Imagine what lies behind that outside layer! The second funny part, the part that shows how tolerant and non-judging the pre-19^th century Cypriots were, is that it was still known as St. Sophia even though it was really now a Mosque. Sarper said that his mother never called it anything but St. Sophia. It was only in the 20^th century as nationalism hardened attitudes and formed ethnic barriers that there was ever any questions asked. It was a magnificent structure that has definitely withstood the test of time with earthquakes and wars, and now sports two Mosque Minarets where the cathedral towers once were.

Our next stop was the Northern Cypriot struggle museum that shows the twisted way Nationalists shape even history to support their claims. Although the facts that were represented in the history are the same, different dates and in different ways the events are represented cause one to appreciate the other side’s point of view. Although the architecture here was not as striking as it had been at the GC struggle museum, it still pointed toward sanctification of national heroes that struggled against evil supporters of the other side for freedom for her people. Unfortunately for the Turkish Army and Turkish Cypriots, they lost this battle. My opinion of their struggle museum is that they had to stretch the truth a lot more than the Greek side had to stretch theirs. They simply left out the many parts of the story that pointed to invasions and mass killings of Cypriots, both Greek and others, that I believe have shown themselves true from other sources. It seemed far more like propaganda in this museum as there were misrepresented facts consistent throughout. I guess it is the victor that writes the history, only no one has won yet so the story is still in two places and the world can see more plainly the one that lies not only to us, but to their own conscience.

We tried to get water in a store at the museum, but that turned into a funny event. They didn’t take Euros, which upon thinking about it didn’t surprise me much, but it was funny at the time as we all had just Euros and therefore had to put stuff away. We then headed for Kyrenia and the mountains.

On the way to the mountains we passed by the flags that were created on the side of the mountains just to irritate the GC population that could see it plainly. Interestingly, during the last couple of years apparently, our Turkish Cypriot student from the peace movement that we heard the first evening was telling me, many lights and things have been added to give added visibility to the flags at all times. This defies the interest in the peace movement that earlier gripped the people of the North. Perhaps this goes along with the recent announcement by the Turkish foreign minister that stated that better than 50% of the Northern Cypriots no longer desire union with the South but would prefer separation and national status on their own. This was reported in the GC paper the Cyprus Mail.

We continued to the mountain castle that sits 2,275 ft above the port of Kyrenia. Originally it was a monastery built by the Byzantines around 1000 A.D., but the Lusignans built a 1333 ft wall around the monastery and the castle then became the summer residence of the royal family. From the castle at St. Hilarion one could watch over the whole island. The Venetians dismantled it, however, and it is only a mass of ruins. Still, romantically situated on a table top of rock high above Kyrenia it is a most impressive sight to see.

After this we rolled down to Kyrenia where we ate lunch and then took the time to explore the fortress at the Port. Originally Byzantine also, the fortress of Kyrenia is one of the most important ones in Cyprus. Between 1192 and 1211 the Lusignans undertook creating an impregnable fortress. After the Venetians partially rebuilt the fort in 1544, the fort then fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1571 and they used it as a prison. A fascinating relic of the past it has beautiful views of the harbor, the port, and St. Hilarion up on the mountains.

Upon ending our tour we headed back to Nicosia, hopping out in Northern Nicosia and passing through the checkpoint on foot, as passing through on a bus would have been troublesome at best. It being Friday I believe Susannah and I picked a restaurant on Ledra Street and ate dinner there. I believe that we just ate dinner, and I think returned to the shop to buy some more souvenirs for people back home from the friendly lady who doesn’t realize how saying she is a ‘communist’ instantly gives me an attitude about her politics. Then I think we headed back over to the South side and prepared for the next morning and the trip back to Larnaca.

Day 8: Back to Larnaca

Before Andreus returned to pick us up and take us back to Larnaca, I decided that I needed to get some more opinions on the Cyprus Question from common citizens. What better place to do that, or so I thought, than the barber shop. I had seen one in old town in my wanderings and headed back there. There were two gentlemen in there and I strolled in playing the unknowing tourist. To my surprise they were not keen on talking about the question at all. They acted as if it was totally not something they cared about at all. I actually felt like I got the bum rush out of the shop. Someone later told me that they don’t like Americans. I don’t know if that was it, but I am going to think that it was because they just didn’t want to talk about it.

When we were picked up we took off toward Famagusta. Famagusta was a special city in ancient days as it was the city of Amagousta. It owes its importance to the Lusignans who established themselves in Cyprus at the end of the 12^th century. The Lusignans were succeeded by the Genoese, the Venetians, and finally in the 16^th century, the Ottoman Turks. However, those historical dates and the importance thereof is not the issue in this visit to Famagusta.

In 1974, Varosha was the number-one tourist destination in the Mediterranean Sea. It had been built up with hotels and eateries and even had a boulevard named after John F. Kennedy. It was the Greek section of town and the province, Famagusta, and also the most productive part. The old walled city of Famagusta was located a little north of the Varosha. On the morning of 14 August, 1974, 26,400 Greek inhabitants and 4000 inhabitants of other nationalities abandoned their homes and headed south, mostly to Larnaca. 8500 Turkish Cypriots stayed behind. Their homes were left virtually with breakfast on the tables as the Turkish army was advancing so quickly. When they arrived, Varosha was a ghost town, totally abandoned by their Greek owners. Oddly, the Turkish Army set it up as a military reservation, occupying it only with military operations and forbidding even the Turkish Cypriots that lived in Famagusta, the old city from entering. It has remained untouched since this time.

I believe that there are more reasons than are obvious to the keeping of this monument. I think one of them is purely to irritate the original inhabitants who can see the city through binoculars, but cannot enter. It originally was a negotiations bargaining chip, useful for possible concessions from the Greeks during the negotiations. I think, however, its most important reason for the Turkish Armies reluctance to allow it to change at all is purely nationalistic. I believe it is a warning to the Greek Cypriots, the Greek mainland, and the world for that matter, that they are the most powerful Army in the region. If you mess with us, this is what will happen to you, your people, and your cities. Ghosts will be all that is left of your civilization if you come up against the Turkish Nation State.

To my great disappointment, we were only on the Greek side of the Green zone, thereby not allowed to city the ancient walls of old Famagusta. I had asked Saper earlier about those areas and he said that HE was from Famagusta and that he had lived inside those city walls all the while he was growing up. Of course, this made me think that we might be able to see it. Unfortunately, the answer was, ‘no’ since we were on the Greek side anyway.

One interesting note was watching the film that was a news report from 1996 when some young man was ruthlessly shot while trying to cross the fence during a protest rally. Although I agree that someone should have sat on Turkey for what had happened that day, I guess it worked out better as the peace movement really became energized and moved forward a year later in 1997. I just thought that it might have been a little bit overkill to have that tape playing over and over again in the observation room. I personally was able to see very little even through the observation binoculars (Although nothing is approximately what you would expect to see in a ‘ghost town’.) and was disappointed that I couldn’t actually see the city walls.

We left Famagusta and headed back to Larnaca. When we arrived, we checked into our hotel and I headed back out to see more of the city. I don’t remember there being any required activities that evening and Susannah and I watched the Folk Festival instead from our balcony at the hotel. I was really impressed with the different groups that they had attracted representing the different ethnic varieties of Cyprus. There were Russian, Polish, Romanian, Slovenian, several different groups from Arabic countries like Egypt, Iranian and Saudi Arabian. Of course there were also some groups from Greece, Macedonia and a couple of others from Europe, including one from Scotland that did a crazy dance with sticks! It was really amazing they kept from killing one another!

Day 9: Our Final Cruise with the Captain

We met downstairs at breakfast. We headed down to the pier where Paris’s boat is docked and loaded up. Scuba diving and snorkeling at the wreck of a ship are the basis of this trip! I am looking forward to it all!

Paris was a little late, but delightfully, Sarper from the Turkish side had joined us for the trip! It was good to see him and have the chance to discuss in a little more detail some of the things that were in the making on the Turkish side, although we had had a pretty thorough explanation before.

Paris first took us to the wreck of the ship that sank in 1979. This was the ship where Paris, while rescuing another person was injured and spent two years paralyzed from the waist down. Although the nation sent him all over Europe for treatment, it finally came back in the third year. Upon arriving at the wreck Paris told us that scuba diving would not be possible today because the wind had picked up and the currents were too strong, however we would be able to snorkel and see from the surface the ship that is in approximately 40 feet deep water. Sue and I wanted to be in the first group so we were given flippers, mask, and snorkel, and into the water we went!

Getting the hang of snorkeling proved more difficult than I had expected. Both Sue and I ended up drinking a lot of the salt water and I drank enough that upon return to ship I was pretty sick to the stomach. It was worth it, however, as the water was clear and even from the surface you could see everything from cars and whatnot down on the ship. It was the coolest thing ever! Paris had explained the ships sinking was probably an insurance scam, and that all of the stuff had been left on board and that the wreck had resulted in the death of 9 people since its sinking, not from the original crew, but from individuals diving down to it.

After our adventure, Paris moved the boat to secure anchor spot and we sunned, swam, and ate a great lunch, and finally, about two o’clock, returned to shore. It was sad to say goodbye to Paris and crew as they were such good hosts!

Harry had our final debriefing that evening at 6:00 in the dining hall. Before that I had the chance to explore some more territory. One of my most interesting observations was observing the type of automobiles that were present on the streets. Harry said there was a ‘clunker’ program here too and that people had taken advantage of it to trade in their old cars, but that didn’t account for what I saw. What I expected to see were many British, German, and French built cars. What I saw, instead, were a majority of Mitsubishi (Japanese) cars in the largest span of years of manufacture. True, there were quite a few others, but the majority of Renault (French) and Volkswagens (German) that I expected to see, I did not. By far Mitsubishi (Japanese) and Hyundai (S. Korean) were the leaders. There were quite a few BMWs (German) that seemed to be a young entrepreneur, car, and the Mercedes that dominated the TAXI fleets, but other than that it was primarily Mitsubishi and Hyundai that led the pack by far. Third place definitely went to Toyota (Japanese). Fourth was probably tied between Suzuki (Japanese) and Volvo (Ford, but built in Europe), with Renault (French) and Opel (GM, but German), and Ford and Chevrolet following way behind. That I saw anyway, there were not any Chrysler automobiles on the whole island!

What it all meant, at least to me and some preliminary thinking, was that obviously there are no car loyalties here and that it would seem that membership in the European Union didn’t affect the purchasing patterns of the common population much at all. Volkswagens, much as they are for the working class Americans, are too expensive. Mitsubishi, who traditionally has not done as well in the US except when paired with Chrysler, seems to have found a great place to sell here, and maybe in Europe in general. Of course, Chrysler, until recently anyway, had been merged with Mercedes, which considering the partnership between Mitsubishi and Chrysler might explain some of it. It also means that European free-trade feelings, ones that were adopted from the early American free-trade people after WWII, would seem to be in effect here, perhaps even more so than in the US. Certainly little was done to dominate a junior partner in the European Unions trade with foreign nations and cause them to buy more European made products.

Interestingly, when I brought this up at our meeting, Mat, of course the proverbial rich kid (Daddy is a doctor; hmm, now what does that say about the medical profession?) took issue with my attitude toward foreign made products being allowed in Obama’s ‘Cash for Clunkers’ program. Of course, I didn’t say it at the time but my daughter would have agreed with him therefore leading back to my age and childhood training (Nationalistic, of course). Because they were not raised in the age of nations, such things might not occur as prominent to them as they do to me.

During the meeting Harry explained something that I had just read about in my book on Cyprus and that was about the educational system being totally controlled and directed by the ethnic community for over 100 years. Before that there was little in the way of education taking place anyway, so it really didn’t matter. This training, something that my own pre-thinking is guided by (When I was educated in the public schools in the US, our national identity, primarily white of course, was espoused quite frequently. We were AMERICANS FIRST, because AMERICA was the greatest, GOD given nation on earth! Hmm, heard this kind of rhetoric and dedication before? Like in the struggle museum both in Southern and Northern Nicosia?) unless I give myself time to think about it, is part of teaching that has been removed from the younger individuals’ education. My response to Matt and before that to Talat and his use of the word ‘Communist’ is one of programming by a school system that sought to promote unity through Nationalism. The fruits, perhaps, of nationalism’s violent tendencies may have been born out in the sixties and later on in the actions of our ethnic minorities beginning to find a voice for themselves.

The meeting ended and we all set out to find good meals and had the next day’s activities, our last in Cyprus, outlined.

Day 10: Our Last in Cyprus

I started out our last day in Cyprus walking around 2 miles down Grigori Afxentiou, then Georiou Griva Digeni as far as Georgios Kontos Monastery and Church, where the main business avenue becomes a four lane highway. I was specifically looking out for schools, particularly the American School where ‘Little Harry’ went. I arrive right on time, actually, just in time to see not only the kids from the American School go to school, but also the kids from the regular schools go. It occurred to me that I should have had Harry arrange some time for me to spend at the American School. Being a teacher I think that could have been probably more eye opening than any activity for me than anything in Cyprus. Unfortunately, I thought of it way too late for it to happen. I did note that it seems the American School requires uniforms, while the public schools do not. This is similar to the situation in the US as well. I also was able to check out the school for disabled persons. It intrigued me that they were using ‘person-first’ language and English isn’t even their first language!

I checked out a couple of parks along the way that seem to have been dedicated to people, people of course that I had no idea who they were, but I assumed that several were probably revolutionary heroes from the local area. I am not sure but what all of these cities, similar to the US and our naming of main streets ‘Washington’, have a street named after George Grivas. I assume that is who the street I am on is named for.

Later in the day I explored more in what was probably ‘south’ of town, looked at another school, some hotels, and many more cars and interesting living arrangements. The use of these older houses with the huge modern HD 57” full screen TVs just amazes me!

Susannah and I were able to explore the small castle just south of the hotel, and then ate lunch. Eventually we broke up and she went with the group and I stayed and watched the folk dancers for awhile. Then we had some ‘Pizza Hut’ pizza and basically hung out until the folk dancers were through. By then it was time for the Cyprus adventure to come to a close. I was sad to go home and hope that perhaps internship, or maybe even teaching assignment might bring me back to Cyprus someday : )