1974

Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Ξυλοφάγου, GB.03, Cyprus
This is so totally a serious and educational post and you can tell this on account of the lack of shiny pictures of sand or trees and the fact that there's no references to toilet habits or menstruation. See how grown up I am? Anyway, let's get started.

Back in 1964, Cyprus' capital was divided into two by a British general brandishing a green crayon. This line was meant to serve as a cease fire line. In 1974, the line became an inaccessible border; the Turkish Cypriots to the north and the Greek Cypriots to the south. Today, a UN controlled buffer zone stretching across the width of the island has created inaccessible ghost towns and, despite a smattering of border crossings, is still protected by razor wire and men clutching rather large firearms.

The general consensus is that the Turks are a bunch of barbaric cunts that rocked up with no good cause to kick the shit out of the Greeks. They invaded, pure and simple, and now occupy the northern third of the island. This is what the Greek Cypriots believe and is, it seems, what the rest of the world also accept as fact.
It's true that the "invasion" has been declared illegal by the UN, and that the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is a state recognised only by Turkey. The Republic of Cyprus refuse to recognise northern ports, and if you enter the country via one of these ports, whilst you can visit the Republic you cannot then leave via a southern port.
So pretty much no one likes the Turks. But there are two sides to every story; I live on the Greek side of the island so most of my information comes from there. 1974 can be a touchy subject for the Greek Cypriots, especially the older ones that were displaced, losing their homes and businesses in the process, so I pretty much only have the bottle to broach the subject once I've consumed a few Keos after which I slur my questions at them, possibly whilst drooling on their shoes. Clearly I can never remember a single word they've told me.

Anyways, after some idle Googling in an attempt to find an objective view point, or at least the Turkish take on the conflict, here's my understanding on the situation. Make sure you're sitting comfortably and have your Red Bull on hand because some pretty heavy shit is about to follow.

The Greeks call it an invasion. The Turks call Operation Attila an intervention. Epic difference. In 1960, Britain gave Cyprus independence. Ok ok, they kept a little bit of it and called them Sovereign Bases, but essentially they handed it over and it was meant to be governed by the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots as equal partners; the president was Greek, the vice president Turkish. A constitution was drawn up and everything thus protecting the rights of both communities and the government was to be 30% Turkish Cypriot and 70% Greek Cypriot. On top of that, each community was able to decide stuff on its own when it came to issues affecting their people alone but they'd come together to vote on issues affecting everyone.

With me so far? Good. Righto.

Three years later the Greek Cypriots decided they wanted to fuck with shit, they wanted to change 13 things in this constitution effort and the Turkish Cypriots were not happy about it. As far as they were concerned, these amendments would take away their power to run their own communities thus putting the Greek Cypriots in control of the island, rendering them a minority as opposed to the equal partners they were meant to be. Yeah nah I'd be pretty pissed off about that an all.
Then it all went tits up in an epic he-said-she-said battle and the government collapsed in 1963. The Turkish Cypriot leaders said they were forced out of their positions in government; the Greek Cypriots said they left voluntarily to form their own leadership. Awkward much?
Britain, Turkey and Greece stepped in to try and keep the peace during fighting amongst the communities in 1964 and that was when the Green Line was established in Nicosia, the capital.

During the ensuing decade, the Greek Cypriots reckon the Turkish Cypriots migrated to ghettos. By choice of course. The other side of the story is infinitely more sinister and is talked about in a book you can buy in Famagusta called Step By Step Genocide. Sooo that pretty much sums that up then ay. They say that they were driven from their homes in an attempt by the Greek Cypriots at ethnic cleansing. Thousands were killed as they were forced to give up their land and moved to occupy a mere 3% of the island, whereas before they owned 30%.

Now, during British rule, the Greek Cypriots wanted union with Greece. Enosis. Something the Brits kept promising them but never delivered because we're sneaky motherfuckers like that. Clearly the Turkish Cypriots weren't too keen on the idea either; they wanted to either be part of Turkey, or they wanted takism. Partition. When independence was granted in 1960, part of the agreement, along with the power sharing, was that they wouldn't enter into union with either Greece or Turkey, or divide the island.

Epic fail.

1974 was when the shit really hit the fan. Greece at the time was run by a military junta and, long story short, they rocked up to Cyprus with the intention of overthrowing the Greek Cypriot president, the very man who had tried to amend the constitution and force the Turkish Cypriots into exile, and establish the long sought after enosis. Understandably, shit kicked off.
Turkey intervened to protect the Turkish Cypriots, saying it was their right to do so as a Guarantor nation. By the time they could be stopped they'd taken the northern third of the island, tens of thousands of Turkish Cypriots fled or were forced north and twice as many Greek Cypriots headed south, leaving behind their homes and land. Shit loads of Greek Cypriots were killed in the onslaught leaving the country divided and they've been politically bitch slapping each other ever since.

Omg, it's like a fucking soap opera!

And hey, none of this is my opinion, it's just what I've gleaned from various sources after an afternoon drinking beer on the sofa because I couldn't leave the house whilst my only pair of shorts were in the wash. Sources include Wikipedia, the Lonely Planet and this page and to be fair my grasp of politics is shaky at the best of times. I did try to get political once, I bought a copy of the Socialist worker and everything but I'm much better at eating chocolate and drinking Jäger.

Yeah, I should probably just stick to that.
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