Reflections on Peace and Conflict

Reflections on Peace and Conflict

By Costa Constanti

When I came to Cyprus to live permanently in 2006, I was 26 years old. After 26 years in 'exile' in Australia, far from the homeland, in a country that welcomed my family and nurtured them, it was odd and painful to return to the homeland, to repatriate to an island that neither seemed to care that I was there, nor seemed to want to assist me. I rent an apartment in the capital, in the south, the so called free areas, but my heart yearned to live and breath in the places my ancestors are from, Kyrenia. 

I remember the first times I went to my family's home, occupied by strangers, settled in from Anatolian Turkey. They had no place being in my home. They were not related to the island, the environment, the sea, the air... it had nothing to do with them, yet here they were, living in my house, welcoming me into my own home with coffee and treats. I felt odd. At the same time I felt guilty, thinking 'they are human too', after nearly 40 years, how could I uproot them from what they now call 'home'. 

As I looked out from the peaks of the hills over the coastline of Kyrenia, I saw how much development there was, how much life went on, how a new wave of life had filled every corner of this part of heaven. But, still, there was plenty of land, plenty of fields, plenty of room. I too could build a new home, share the air of my ancestors and enjoy the lands that my DNA was created from. I have no problem with people, Turkish or Greek. My problem is with the decision makers, who speak on our behalf, burying our feet further into the ground, in such a negative way. I wish they could grow up and compromise, learn to live together, much as they do in the UK, Australia, Canada etc. Why must they stare at each other across barb wire fences, crossing in designated spots to buy Dixan for their laundries in the north and cheap jeans for their outings in the south.. How ironic it is that I can sit in my mothers cafe sipping coffee with my Turkish Cypriot friends, yet I have to go home, via a long detour to cross the checkpoint, to go 'home' at night. Why when I had a Turkish girlfriend I was frowned upon by so many. Was she not also human like me?

I think the only way forward from here is when the people come out on the street and shout, 'enough is enough'. They should cripple the two sides of the island with strikes. We should take to the streets and say to our so called leaders 'we are tired'. We do not hate. We do not want to continue living in a time bomb. We have suffered, they have suffered. We have all settled somewhere else on the island. With free movement and free settlement, let people live wherever they like. Let one vote count as one vote. May we all be Cypriot citizens, proud of our difference. We are Greek, Turkish, Maronite, Armenian and Latin Cypriots, we should be proud of this, show the world together that this region can live in peace. Grudges only harness psychological cancers. 

The military of Turkey needs to leave, the Cypriot army needs to disband, Turkey must become a partner, not an occupier, Greece can publicly apologise for the coup it staged in 1974, the G/Cs can apologise for treating T/Cs as 2nd class citizens and show them that they are Cypriot too, the T/Cs can stop claiming to be mistreated and start showing some trust in the G/Cs. G/Cs need to have contact with Turkey and start understanding the Turkey of today. We are sick and tired of the politicians talking about the Cyprus problem only. Let's concentrate on the real issues of today.

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