The Cyprus Problem 3/30/08

In the morning Andrea and I had tea and ate some of the cake left over from lunch the day before. At some time around noon we drove over to the old city where we were to meet up with Alana. Alana is documentary film maker who grew up in Cyprus, and was currently filming a documentary about the events that were currently unfolding between the Greek Cypriots and the occupying Turkish soldiers. From what I gathered, it seems that Cyprus has always been the child of two mother countries, Turkey and Greece. In the 1970's Turkey decided to take back a piece of the old city, so it sent in troops to invade the land and take over the old city by force. There was a bloody war following that lasted only about a week, and ultimately ended with the superior army, Turkey, conquering the city, and posting a massive barracade through the center. Until now people were only allowed to cross by entering check points at certain gates along the barracade (very similar to Bethlehem), but an agreement was recently reached (with a large bit of help due to Andrea) where as of Wednsday the 2nd the part of the wall dividing the main street will be opened up. Shop owners on the Turkish side will finally, after over 30 years, be able to open up and recieve business from the rest of the city.

Andrea and I walked around the city, while she explained a little about the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot conflict to me as best she could. It's hard for someone like me to understand something like Cypriot politicts. I've lived in a bubble for most of my life. My understanding of conflict is mostly limited to aggressor and defender. However, in the Cypriot conflict it seems that both sides are aggressors, and both are victims. It was explained to me that it's a lot like Greece and Turkey were parents who split up and Cyprus is their messed up child that's still being fought over for custody. Andrea and I got some lunch at a salad bar along the main street where Alana eventually met us. The three of us walked along the street to the barracade in the center of the city and Alana took some footage of the construction taking place to clear the area of debris, making the way safe for people to walk through on wednsday. The mood there was like the first conversation after a big fight with your best friend. People seemed relieved to be seeing progress in action. Many people were standing on the Peace Monument, taking pictures and looking over the wall to view the construction. We walked through the "red light district" of the old city, which to me looked pretty desolate, and we took footage of the graffiti on the walls. Alana showed me the place that was called "murder mile" because in the years following the war, anyone trying to get down the street was shot on site.

Later, Alana took me with her as she crossed the border to capture some footage from the Turkish side of the wall. It seemed the Turkish side was a lot more war torn than the Greek side. There were still bullet holes in most of the buildings, and the streets were all but clear of people. Alana said that that was mostly due, however, to the fact that we were there on a Sunday, and most people were home with their families. The streets on this side, she told me, were usually a lot more lively. On the way back to the checkpoint I took some pictures of some areas marked off by the UN that you're not supposed to take pictures of, as well as some really creepy manaquins in some windows of shops. For some reason, Cyprus seems to have more manaquins than people, and very seldom are they even clothed, so I don't understand what they're even doing there. I've never seen anything like it, the manaquins are somehow creepier than normal manaquins, and the shop owners put them in really strange, akward positions, and somehow every store has them. Not just department stores, but retail stores, resturants, coffee shops, places that have no need for a manaquin have them in their windows. I think the real Cyprus problem should be what to do with all these manaquins!

That night Andrea and I stayed in her apartment, ordered an awesome Cypriot Kebab she told me I had to try, and watched an amazing Greek film called "A Touch of Spice." I highly reccomend it. It's such a beautiful film, and it mentions a little of the Cyprus Problem, and portrays the tention between Greece and Turkey.