to find a map of the whole Nicosia, i had to go through various shops and finally i bought one. The one above depicts the “old city” surrounded by the Venetian walls. The green area that cuts in in half is the buffer zone.
On each side of the divide, free maps are given out to tourist. Here i took a map from each side and tried to put them together, to gain an idea of how Nicosia could be.
Yesterday I crossed on the turkish side. The “old city” is similar on both sides. Same architecture. Same old big wood & metal doors at the entrance of buildings. Same stray cats.
Actually the cats are allowed to cross the buffer zone as they please.
On both sides, same small dingy streets that all of a sudden are stopped by the walls of the buffer zone.
I walked from one side to the other. I sneaked some photographs. At the turkish checkpoint the police asked me about my hasselblad and laughed. He had clearly seen me sneaking a shot but kindly decided to let me go. When i walked back late in the evening the greek-cypriot police guards were drinking coffe and didn’t bother with opening my passport.
I spent the evening with a turkish-cypriot friend, born and raised in a divided Nicosia. She told me how she has grown up used to the idea that her city finishes where the wall starts. How she does not like that Turkish Cyprus is so dependednt from mainland Turkey and how she would like to see her country being recognised on international level but without having turkish army and without having to use turkish currency.
She also expressed her dislike for Turkey sending over so many people from mainland: in order to increase numbers, mainland Turkey supports the immigration to northen cyprus. But my friend, like many others, does not identifies herself as Turkish. She identifies herself as Cypriot who speaks a turkish dialect (different from mainland Turkey! she is keen to specify!). I look at hear and yes, she doesn’t look turkish. She looks like…like girls on the “other side”.
She would like to see the island unified but says it is not possible until the greek cypriots will start consider the turkish cypriot as equals rather than a minority. She told me “You live in England. When you will have children in England, if people call them “minority” they will be upset and suffer. No one wants to be a minotiry. We want to be equal”
Curiously my friend does have a Republic of Cyprus passport, therefore she is a EU citizen. After 2004 when Republic of Cyprus joined the EU, everyone who is born in cyprus has the possibility to have a passport, as well as they can travel to the south to obtain free health service. Because one part is “under occupation” it is still considered part of the southern republic. However people who from mainland turkey have put roots on the island do not have the right to a passport from the southern part, no matter how long they have been on the island.
