today, my last day in Cyprus, i had a deluding trip to Pila, a village in the buffer zone famous for the cohabitation of greek cypriots and turkish cypriots.
I saw mainly british tourists though, mainly as Pila is fairly close to the sea and a build up area of holidays villas and detached houses for tourists. Quite a soul-less landscape.
I didn’t find the place interesting and i photographed little.

The only interesting part was the main square, where photography is not permitted. There is a building used by the UN, where UN soldiers where hanging their laundry to dry on the roof. Also 2 cafes, one greek and one turkish. As the turkish was closed (i got there very early) I sat in the greek one, where I was alone with a waitress that was from the Philippines. It was quite surreal: so much is said by the cohabitation of the two sides of cyprus in this place, yet the only people i spoke to where foreigners.

There was an interesting conversation with the waitress: as i was in the greek cafe i asked for a greek coffe. Which is the same as a turkish coffe, only that depending on where in the planet I am drinking coffe, it may cause offence which geographical connotation I use to order it. The waitress didn’t understand so i repeated ” i would like a greek coffe” and she replied “do you mean a cypriot coffe?”
So. On the turkish side it is a turkish coffe. On the greek side it is a greek coffe (“hellenica coffe”).
In Pila, in the buffer zone, where the two sides cohabit, they have met in the middle: it’s cyprus coffe.
That made me smile.

Tomorrow heading back to London.
Bye bye borders, i will see you again soon.

“Borders Are” a song by Serj Tankian.
Very appropriate for my project
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k40su7eHgIs

today i went to paralimni very early, at dawn. i walked till the sea and then followed the coast till i reached where the green line meets the seas. i went for a swim under a UN watchtower. I sunburnt my nose. I took photos and walked around and accidentally walked into the buffer zone through a pumpikin field.
Then i walked toward Deryneia, and went to an observation point where it is possible to see into the abandoned part of Famagusta (Varosha), from which both greek and turkish cypriot are banned, as it is controlled by the turkish army. Originally i wanted to go to Famagusta from north cyprus side, but as i didn’t get permission to photograph i decided to avoid getting in trouble…i know myself, if i get there i would photograph no matter what! So better stay out of trouble and continue pursuing a proper authorization.
In Deryneia there is a touching display of images of two guys killed during demonstration in 1996. Very graphic.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solomos_Solomou

european court of human rights
http://sim.law.uu.nl/SIM/CaseLaw/hof.nsf/233813e697620022c1256864005232b7/d2f488922d2313d4c12574710040c343?OpenDocument

video contains violent images, and comments -from both sides- which are angry and offensive (those are not my comments and i do not agree with either side – in particular i don’t agree with the idiot who boast about his grandad killing and raping armenian and greek women…such comment show that there are some really sick people on this planet)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=AU&hl=en-GB&v=SMut7pF8eSc

on Panoramio, photographs by someone who was born in Kato Deryneia, now lying abandone din the occupied area.
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/17769918

tomorrow i am heading to Deryneia and Paralimni

 – a big thank you to Mr Adonis Taliadoros, public relations officer for the government of the Rep. of Cyprus, who has supported my project-

yesterday i met with Mr Taliadoros and an army officer to photograph Lidra Street checkpoint and Lidra Palace checkpoint, the latter i was allowed only a couple of shots at Lidra Palace is th eheadquarter of the UN peacekeeping force and they do not allow photographs to be taken.
Lidra Palace was a luxury hotel back in 1974, today i sheadquarter of UN, with clothes hang to dry on the balconies and bullet hole sstill visible on the facade.
Accompanied by an army officer we have also walked along the green line and Mr Taliadoros gave me a good history lesson with anedocte on the green line and the history of Nicosia. For me it was interesting to hear another point of view on the cyprus situation.

today I met A., a greek cypriot friend of a friend and we went for a walk along the city divide.
She was born in north cyprus and was 13 in 1974 and has vivid memories of the war,  of the turkish invasion and of being a refugee. She has returned only twice to the north to see her house, which settlers from Turkey have taken over. She has the documents to prove ownership and has been recognised by the european court of  human rights as the lawful owner and hopes that if one day cyprus is unified she will get her childhood home back.
She doesn’t like the settlers from Turkey (and from what i have experienced even turkish cypriots don’t like them either!) but then reflects and says that the situation is not their fault but that of turkish government, and that if one day Cyprus will be reunited those people will have put roots in the island and a way to live all together will need to be found. In the last referendum she voted YES to unification in support of the Annan plan (75% of greek cypriots voted NO); furthermore she support the entry of Turkey in the EU because she hopes that once in the EU Turkey will have to respect rules and withdraw troops, and she will get her home back.

We walk along the city’s divide and at some point she brings me in the garden of a friend and then through a very tiny alley…and we are in the buffer zone. in the middle of it. No one can see us, but i can see the flags of both sides. We stay inside a crumbling abandoned house and i took sometime to photograph. We cannot walk far in order to avoid the army of either side seeing us; it is very quiet and nothing moves.
Later we went to the house of another friend, J, an american artist, photographer and traveller. Her garden wall forms the wall of the buffer zone. Her, like me a foreigner, speaks of the buffer zone as a border, which all cypriot refuse to define as such. As artist she understands my need to get to know a place and how slow my project has to proceed in order for it to work. She has lived on the buffer zone since the 90s and has an amazing studio; she points out how many foreigner have settled in these streets, as in the 90s greek cypriots were afraid of living here.

Dipkarpaz is nowhere near the buffer zone. It is located at the very very far end of north cyprus and I went there as it is a village where supposedly Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots live together. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dipkarpaz
The area has got wonderful beaches and a natural park with wild donkeys, and I stayed in a gorgeous guesthouse however the village looks rather poor for an area which has such resourches.
There are next to each other a greek cafe and a turkish cafe. The greek community is extremely small and I noticed how the orthodox churches were in a really bad state of repair, with one completly shut and with rubbish and building materials piling up in front of it. I have seen this situation in some border areas, such as Greece/Turkey where on each side, the monuments of the other culture has been left in a state of abandonment.
Around this area there are various orthodox churches and monasteries, and passing one I noticed how a turkish flag had been put on it: surely a monastery should belong to the believers, not to a government. If the Vatican plonked its flag on every catholic church of this planet there would be a riot.Another thing was the presence of “projects” sponsored by the EU, such as for ecotourism. As “de-jure” the whole Cyprus is part of the EU, the Republic of Cyprus and the EU take care of It, similarly to the part of Nicosia in North Cyprus where all mainteinance and recovery of historical buildings is financed by the EU. Hopefully at some point they will reach fixing those gorgeous orthodox churches?

Furthermore, my turkish-cypriot friend pointed out how almost no one living in the village was actually from cyprus, even the turkish speakers were not turkish cypriots but from mainland anatolia. The government of Ankara promotes immigration toward this area to establish a stronghold and ensure that,  low population rural area can become turkish.
This is the paradox of Cyprus: Nicosia is a city divided in half, yet crossing over the divide does not present a big change. Yes, the language changes, but the streets, the way people dress, the way people look remains roughly the same. Dipkarpaz on the other hand felt like another country: geographically still mediterranean and cypriot (very similar in landscape to certain area of sicily) but inhabited by people from anatolia.

Some interesting links on the greek and maronites living in north cyprus:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleni_Foka
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rizokarpaso_Primary_School
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kormakitis

Today I have walked about 15km and shot 3 rolls of film.
I left early afternoon to visit the village of Deneia, approx 300 inhabitants. Deneia is one of the 4 villages situated inside the buffer zone http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deneia.
I went by bus – and cursed this choice, promising myself that i need to find the financial means to take a loooooong period off work (i hope my boss does not read this) and phisically walk the lenght of this border.
Bus travel: the driver had no idea as where Deneia could be. I knew it is near Kokkinotrimithia, itself approx. 20km from Nicosia. The driver stopped in the wrong place, far out from Kokkinotrimithia, telling me to change there for a minibus. Then i found out the minibus did not pass through there and i was 5km away fromwhere I should have been. So i walked. 
I love walking and my idea is to walk as much as i can, as my photography is based on casual encounters. 
However it was getting late and I was worried i may not have enough time/light to photograph. 
In Kokkinotrimithia a stroke of luck: i managed to catch the minibus. Inside 2 women so suprised to see a foreigner in that area that they invited me in one’s house. So i spent a good hour chatting to them, and also one’s elderly mother. All in greek, which i don’t speak, but i am good at talking with hands…so border-hand-talking. One thing I understood: they are born there, they have been there for many many generations and they have stayed there, no matter what the political situation was.
Then i had a walk in the village and then i walked back -6 or 7km- to Kokkinotrimithia, took a wrong turn and walked few extra km.
The weird thing is, Deneia is technically inside the buffer zone but I had to look for signs of it: watchtowers in the horizon with a flag of Turkey, a small army base and a sign that said “no photos”.

Thursday evening i met with Yiannis Papadakis, author of “Echoes from the Dead Zone :Across tthe Cyprus Divide” to discuss the current situation in Cyprus.
The book is written in a very personal style yet surprisingly objective. The author research does not take “sides” but questions everything and everyone from both sides. Practically a “borderlands hero” as he crossed the divide in 1996 when the border was totally closed; the book has been published in both greek and turkish – a testimonial of Papadakis’objectivity and honesty on the subject.
During the evening he made a very interesting comment about the north-cyprus society and its relation to turkey: turkish compose the highest and the lowest ends of society. Turkish occupy the higher positions, due to the stronghold of turkey on north-cyprus. Furthermore there is the influx of workers from turkey, which constitute cheap labour and the poorest part of society. This is very unique, as in most society a specific group occupies a specific position, but in north cyprus turkish occupy the higher and the lowest.