Sunday, June 2, 2013

The Cyprus Problem-6/2/13

Γεια σας (pronounced yasas, means hello in Greek)!
Today we had our student orientation at the University of Nicosia.  Me and my roommate wandered around campus on our own for a little while before the group orientation.  Here is a picture of me standing at the very top of the outdoor ampitheatre on the university campus!  The University is quite beautiful and you can view more pictures of it on my facebook profile.
However, the focus of today's post will be on the history of the Tukish Cypriot/Greek Cypriot conflict that we learned about in our orientation.  In 1974, the Turkish army invaded the Northern part of Cyprus.  Up until this point, Greek and Turkish Cypriots had lived in mixed fashion in the North and South areas.  However, the Turkish army forced the Greek Cypriots out of the North and many native Cypriots have been refugees ever since the invasion.  For many years, there was a solid, uncrossable border between the North and South of Cyprus.  Only in recent years did the Turkish government open the border.  There are few crossing points and there is a buffer zone of unoccupied space between the North and South.  During our orientation presentation, we learned that Nicosia is the last divided capital in the world.  There is a North Nicosia region, visible from Old Nicosia in the South.  However, the "Green Line" as it is called makes it difficult to see more than the tops of the buildings in the North.  There are large walls and barbed wires, as well as military patrols along the border.  From what information I know, the conflict is hundreds of years old and has deep routes in religion and politics.  Thanos, the GLS leader who gave our presentation, told us that the situation is not solvable by military means.  Greek Cyprus is backed by the European Union, the USA, China, Russia, and the UN and North Cyprus is only recognized as an independent state by the government of Turkey.  We were informed at the orientation that the North part of Cyprus is technically illegally occupied.  We were also told that it is illegal to get our passports stamped when we cross into the North, though you need to show your passport before you enter the North part of Cyprus.  Instead of stamping a passport, the Turkish seal is placed on a separate piece of paper.  Another thing we learned about North Cyprus is that because they are not a legally recognized state, they are not subject to international laws and regulations.  This means there is no true governmental infrastructure for the people of North Cyprus to depend on.  The fact that North Cyprus is not recognized also causes other international conflicts.  For instance, Turkey wants to become of the European Union, but Cyprus is part of the European Union already and Turkey cannot join unless they give up their part of Cyprus.  Furthermore, Turkey is a member of NATO, therefore Cyprus cannot join because Turkey does not recognize the Republic Cyprus, which is part of the EU.  According to the orientation presentation, there was a recent discovery of natural gas and oil reserves in Cyprus that Turkey wants to exploit along with the Greeks. They have not been able to reach an agreement on how to harvest these resources, I believe.
However, despite all this tension, it is the governments of Cyprus and Turkey that are more at conflict than the actual people of Cyprus.  The Greek and Turk Cypriots cross the North and South border freely without much thought, it seems. There is some bitterness amongst the Greek Cypriot refugees who were forced out of their homes during the Turkish invasion.  However, we were told during the presentation that when Turkey opened the border and the Greek Cypriots came to visit their old homes, most their possessions had been preserved by the new Turkish occupants and returned to the Greeks who had owned them prior to the invasion.  The topic of the "Green Line" is a sensitive one for the Cypriots but they seem to be able to get along and there has been no outbreak of violence for over 3 decades.  The fact that the North is now open to the South and vice versa also indicates an improvement in the situation.  Heavy UN presence also prevents the reemergence of conflict/war situations.  Crossing the border is considered a safe thing to do, but we were told to use standard caution in the North as it technically under military rule.  Therefore, breaking the law in the North has more severe consequences than in the South.  So as long as we are in a large group and don't do drugs or something, it is totally safe to travel in the North.
We will, in fact, as a group be crossing into the North on a day trip.  I am interested to see how the Turkish part of the island differs from the Greek part of the island.  The information that was presented to us at the orientation on this subject was intense and seemed quite sad as the everyday Greek and Turkish Cypriots do not have much of a problem with each other.  It is a weird geopolitical issue as Cyprus is a crossroads between the Middle East, Europe and Africa, and therefore strategic and desired by the major powers in the region.  In fact, we learned today that all the major empires in this region at one point had control of Cyprus in order to guarantee their success.
So to summarize, the "Cyprus Problem" as it is called is a stalemate and could take many more centuries to fully resolve.  The divide is visible from Nicosia.  Today, me and some of the friends I have made on this trip traveled back to Old Nicosia to see some more of the tourist areas and to explore some more.  We found a tall building with an observatory on the 11th floor and this is what we saw:
Those two minarets in the background were shown in a different photo yesterday and they are right in the beginning of North Nicosia.  Everything past that mosque is controlled by the Turkish military.  We got some other panoramic pictures of Old Nicosia from this observatory as well:

It was quite the site to behold to see Nicosia from so high up.  The city is beautiful and full of history, good and bad.  I am optimistic that the Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots will continue to work through their differences and relations can definitely improve.  The fact that the Turkish government opened the border shows that peace is possible.  It may be difficult, but I hope to see a unified Cyprus in the news someday.
That was the real focus of the orientation was to explain the conflict in Cyprus and that things have been peaceful for a long time, but some tension remains.  I am interested in learning about how the locals here feel about this issue.  I will perhaps post more about it as I learn more.
Classes start tomorrow, so look for an entry about what the first day of class is like!!  I am really excited to begin my anatomy and clinical skills class and my management of health care class!  
αντίο (andio=goodbye)!!
-Julia

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