Our Cyprus

Our Cyprus

Εσσι’έναν άστρον
Τζι’έν μιτσίν
Με’στους εφτά πλανήτες.

There’s this tiny star,
Among the seven planets.

— Traditional

In August 2022, I crossed a pseudo-‘border’ at Deryneia, and travelled into the illegally occupied territory of northern Cyprus for one day.
Eight months earlier, a Turkish Cypriot friend and I were talking at work. He said that when I was next in Cyprus, I should go across the ‘border’ and visit the north.
I said, ‘Why would I want to do that?’
He said, ‘I’ll take you to St Andreas monastery.’
That stopped me in my tracks.
Apart from the fulfilling and uplifting time at the monastery, at the Eastern tip of the island, I found the trip to be a bittersweet experience. I was in the company of a friend, and I enjoyed his hospitality. But I was angered at the injustice of legitimate homeowners being prevented from living in their houses, by an occupying force, and strangers transported in from mainland Turkey.

Father Zacharias

When we arrived at Apostolos Andreas monastery, in the early evening, the priest/monk was conducting the Vespers service.
I walked around and took some pictures. The site is being maintained, re-built and developed using UN and Church of Cyprus funding.
After Vespers, I entered the church sanctuary, and greeted the priest.
Me: (In Greek) How long have you been here, Father?
Father Zacharias: Sixty years.
Me: (amazed) You’ve been here sixty years!
FZ: Since July 1962. Until today. (Prepares a wick, to be lit in a hanging lantern.) There’s nobody here. I’m on my own.
Me: Do you have any chanters?
FZ: I toil alone. Unless any happen to drop in, by chance. (Handing me a lit candle). Light this lantern. (I do so.) Your grace, Apostle Andreas. (Then to me) Whatever you desire.

Economics

I asked my friend about the situation within the Turkish Cypriot community. What sustains them? What drives the economy of the occupied northern area? What are the main industries and jobs?
His answer shocked me.
Without hesitation, he said: ‘Casinos, prostitution, drugs. And handouts from Turkey.’
I was expecting the usual Mediterranean answer: agriculture and tourism.
He could have added human trafficking, for which the Turkish occupied zone is becoming infamous, with an established passage from the ‘Stans’ – the former Soviet republics.
I felt sick. This region was developing fast in the early 1970s. It’s now mostly ghost towns. Even the inhabited villages had no vibrancy, no civic presence, no community feeling. Nobody was sitting on their verandas, as they normally do in Cyprus. It’s as if the inhabitants were ashamed to be there.
There is also an unfortunate habit of some Greek Cypriots, to go north to fill their cars with cheaper fuel, and to visit casinos and nightclubs. The traffic in the other direction, by contrast, is Turkish Cypriots coming to the south for legitimate work. The Republic of Cyprus is, after all, a member of the European Union.

Spending

The next day, back in the south, I went to dinner with siblings and cousins. I took some heat for my trip, and was questioned, quite rightly. My beloved cousin, Sophia, said she would never go north in the present circumstances. She could not stomach being asked for her ID card in order to ‘cross over’ – to travel on her own land. Very fair point. Sophia’s brothers Demetri and Yiannaki were especially vociferous in their insults. I can still picture them now, shaking their heads, in unison, at me.
I gave a transparent account of my day’s spending! Had I contributed to their economy?
€75. That’s €5 for coffees (my friend had paid for the fish meze); €20 for fridge magnets at Apostolos Andreas, as gifts. And I gave €50 into the hand of Father Zacharias.
Our island’s true borders extend to the sea.
Our borders are at Kyrenia.

James Neophytou