Cyprus plus 50

This month marks the fiftieth anniversary of the division of the island of Cyprus between Turkish Cypriots in the north and Greek Cypriots in the south. The events leading up to this division made nearly all of my paternal relatives refugees in their own country. It also pushed me into the study of political science during my second year of university following one year as a music major.

After half a century of division, ordinary Cypriots have grown accustomed to what has hardened into a protracted stalemate. When I first wrote about the issue in graduate school, only a few years had passed since Turkey’s military had forcibly partitioned the island. It still seemed reversible. Most of the city of Famagusta, where our family had lived, had become a UN-patrolled buffer zone. Its Greek-speaking inhabitants could still return home if Turkey would only permit it.

Today, that seems decreasingly likely. Famagusta’s once thriving streets and buildings have fallen into decay, and billions of dollars would be required to restore it to habitable condition. Ankara still controls 37 percent of Cyprus through its proxy regime, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Nevertheless, for just over 20 years the border between the two sides has become more permeable. Turkish Cypriots now routinely head south to apply for passports from the internationally recognized Cyprus Republic. Cyprus’ membership in the European Union gives holders of this passport an entrée into Europe, where opportunities are greater than in a small semi-insular micro-republic recognized only by Ankara.

Furthermore, the gap between Greek and Turkish Cypriots has never been very wide. My father grew up with Turkish Cypriots, one of whom, named Abdullah, remained a treasured friend until his death a year before my father’s passing.

Distant cousins

Several years ago, I had my DNA analyzed. To my surprise, I discovered that we have distant cousins with such names as Abdul, Huseyin, Ibrahim, Mehmet, Murat, and Mustafa – remarkable evidence that Greek and Turkish Cypriots are a single genetic community. By contrast, we share no genetic markers with Greece itself.

I’ve sometimes wondered what would happen if Cyprus could be reunited. Would people leave the lives they’ve built for themselves in their respective halves of the island and return to their now dilapidated properties on the other side? By now those who remember a united island are becoming fewer every year. Those under 50 have no personal experience of a unified Cyprus, and the goal of unity may seem like their parents’ and grandparents’ dream.

Although it’s difficult for me personally to admit that Cyprus’ formal division may not end, if ordinary Cypriots can manage to put aside past grievances while continuing to travel back and forth across the dividing line, a semblance of unity is still possible