A Greek Cypriot uncovered a grave marker in an old Greek Cypriot cemetery in Kyrenia, in Turkish Cyprus.Posted on 04/27/2003 11:18:10 AM PDT by Destro
Greeks and Turks Mingle Peacefully on Cyprus
By MARLISE SIMONS
A Greek Cypriot uncovered a grave marker in an old Greek Cypriot cemetery in Kyrenia, in Turkish Cyprus.
NICOSIA, Cyprus, April 26 — They kept pressing through the narrow checkpoints today, long lines of Greek and Turkish Cypriots, on foot, by car, on motorbikes, winding past the watchtowers and the barbed wire that had kept them apart for nearly 30 years.
A trickle at first, now a flood, Greeks and Turks are crossing to see each other's side of this divided Mediterranean island, rushing as if uncertain the sudden opening will last.
The turnabout began on Wednesday, after Turkish Cypriot leaders abruptly lifted travel restrictions across the dividing line. They opened two checkpoints because, they said, they wanted to build confidence between the two groups of Cypriots.
The move came as a shock to United Nations peacekeepers, the police, customs officials, diplomats and just about everyone else on this island of close to 800,000 people, all of them more accustomed to a heavy diet of mutual hostile propaganda and stubborn politics.
The police said that some 12,000 people had already been given a one-day travel pass and many more were expected during the long weekend when the Greek Orthodox Church celebrates Easter.
"It's a wonderful Easter present," exulted Demetrios Mavros, driving through the final control post in a car crowded with relatives. The family was heading north to a famous pilgrimage site that had been long been off limits, the ancient monastery of Apostolos Andreas.
In the Turkish sector of Nicosia, the capital, other Greek families milled around what was once the medieval St. Sophia Church, now appointed with a large minaret and converted into a mosque. "I plan to light some candles anyway," a woman said kneeling on the pavement.
No one seemed to mind. Along the streets, Turkish Cypriots waved at passing Greek visitors and stood ready to give directions.
The menacing buffer zone, 120 miles long, that has carved up Cyprus since 1974 is still in place, sandbagged positions, watchtowers and all. But little by little, one family at a time, the island is already appearing less divided in people's minds.
"We want to see our country, our whole country," said Mete Oguz, a Turkish teacher who had crossed with his wife and children and was boarding a free bus made available by the Greek government.
"We are Europeans also," he said in fluent English, "even if we were kept isolated."
The Greek and Turkish populations have been kept apart ever since Turkish troops invaded northern Cyprus to halt a coup aimed at uniting the island with Greece.
Diplomats and mediators have tried and failed to reconcile the recalcitrant sides. Last month, the latest talks collapsed when Rauf Denktash, the Turkish Cypriot leader, refused a deal brokered by the United Nations secretary general, Kofi Annan, and already accepted by Greek Cypriots.
But on April 16, the Greek Cypriots signed the treaty to join the European Union on behalf of the whole island, clearly weakening Mr. Denktash's hand. Diplomats believe he may be trying to regain at least part of the lost initiative.
Greek Cypriot officials have been uncomfortable about what they call this week's "unilateral move" and "spectacular gesture" by Mr. Denktash. They said they had never prevented people from crossing over. One official said Mr. Denktash was trying to outmaneuver the Greek side, which had worked out a series of confidence-building steps with the European Union. The official said this "public relations move" was not a substitute for a proper legal and political settlement.
But the excited Greek and Turkish islanders who keep converging on the buffer zone, eager to see the villages of their birth and the landscapes that have loomed so large in family tales, appear to care little about the political maneuvers for the moment. "This is people power," said Emina Oguc, a teacher at the University of Famagusta in Turkish Cyprus, who crossed the Nicosia checkpoint early today.
She said there had already been four enormous anti-Denktash demonstrations in the north because the majority of Turkish Cypriots wanted to join the European Union. Other demonstrations and protests were being planned. "The pressure on him was getting very strong," she said.
Mrs. Oguc and the fellow teachers in her group said the reunification of the island was becoming unstoppable. "This is so amazing, we could not have imagined this one week ago," she said. "Everyone has been so helpful and kind, as opposed to what we were told by our leaders."
Mete Oguz was boarding one of the tour buses for Larnaca on the southern coast. His family had fled Larnaca when he was 5, he said. "Today I'm taking my son, who is also 5, back to Larnaca," he said. "I feel it's a big moment in our family history."
But Mr. Oguz, like the others on the bus, had to respect the present rules, meaning that the border was open only from 9 a.m. to midnight. It did not dampen the joy on board.
"We have to be back at midnight like Cinderella, or the bus will turn into a pumpkin," he said to great hilarity, as the bus set off.
This is the legacy of Turkey past and present--future? Why this "secular" Turkish need to desecrate Christian cemeteries and churches?
I hope the Cypriot Turks have had enough of the Ankara imposed regime and shake loose the fascistic legacy of Ataturk (the Turkish version of the Ba'athists).
It is also typical of the New York Times editorial policy that such statements of converted churches and evidence of desecrated Christian cemeteries are only mentioned in passing.
"FREE TURKISH OCCUPIED KURDISTAN!!!"Turkey has replaced the Soviet Union as the European country with most other countries in captivity.
No one seemed to mind...
Yeah? Christians get along fine with others, it is the Islamics that go balistic when their feathers are ruffled. Convert one mosque into a Church, or try to light candles kneeling IN that converted Church instead of on the pavement and see if "no one minds"
What Crapola. As if the Media does not know the difference. I MIND. In fact people get slaughtered over here almost every day because once a generation ago Jewish land that was converted to Mosques was returned to the Jews. They blow random people up all the time as a clear indication that "SOME ONE FRICKING SEEMS TO MIND!"
ARUGHHHhhh!
Muslims pull this kind of crap elsewhere, too. Bangladesh, for example, where thousands of Hindu temples have been converted into mosjids (mosques) by the local government. And in Pakistan, too. And in India, until a few hundred years ago (i.e. during Muslim rule).
So, I find this very easy to believe. Now, my question is this - is Turkey is so secular, why do this?
In the Soviet times the Communists destroyed or converted synagogogues and churches turning them into stables, warehouses, or just burning them down; With Muslims and muslim Turks we have the same perverted mindset at work - in Cyprus, the Balkans, Africa, in fact every place they infest, they kill, murder, and destroy and always have!
And when the Hindus took one back (in Ayodha), the Muslims went on a rampage and carried out terror attacks (of course, the Hindus rioted too, and gave better than they got).
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