Cyprus bereidt zich voor op EU-voorzitterschap in 2012 (en)
EUOBSERVER / NICOSIA - The 'open livingroom' is just 200 metres away from the checkpoint. Inside, amid various bits and bobs, vases, artsy chairs and tables, a laptop is playing Bob Marley songs. Outside, on a self-made terrace with wooden benches and flower pots, three of his friends are basking in the sun and having a beer.
They call him Fidel, but his real name is Mustafa Kemal Yoldash and he calls himself a Communist and anarchist. The 50-year old says he is a "Turkish speaking Cypriot", not a Turk. For over two years now, he has been unable to cross over to the southern part, because of a police restriction order put on him after he joined protests against the government in Ankara.
"The Turkish government is oppressing Cyprus as a whole, Turkish and Greek speaking people alike. They have invaded Cyprus and all the current problems are because of that," Fidel argues.
Even though he cannot travel himself, Fidel admits that for most Turkish Cypriots living in the divided city of Nicosia, going back and forth to the southern side has become a banality, with the opening of more border crossings since 2003. But the very existance of this border is "a plain stupidity." "Borders are for those who are unable to think," he says.
The scars of the inter-ethnic conflict and the subsequent invasion by Turkish troops in 1974 are still part of everyday life: UN troops still camp in the Ledra Palace, once the most beautiful hotel of Cyprus, barb-wire, armed patrols and checkpoints are all in place.
And the reality of the two "countries" is striking, within the same city: on one side, posh cafes, terraces and Orthodox churches, Greek and English-speaking signs everywhere and the euro as currency. On the other side, within walking distance, streets are dustier, shops shabbier, the Turkish lira and the British pound are the main currencies, with Turkish flags and mosques dominating the horizon.
Within the buffer-zone, which runs through the very centre of the Cypriot capital, having the empty houses repopulated with conference centres or restaurants seemed like a crazy idea, just a few years back.
But on Friday (6 May), the Cypriot president and his (non-recognised) Turkish Cypriot counterpart jointly opened a "Home for co-operation" for teachers, history educators, peace activists and students for both sides to discover the two very different versions of recent history taught on the island.
"This project is unique in Cyprus, it is the first time there is a home, a meeting place for both communities to meet on neutral ground. So the buffer zone was an obvious area when we tried to find a house for this kind of project," says Ingrid Schulerud, who heads the Norwegian funding scheme Norway Grants which in 2008 awarded €750,000 to a Greek-Turkish NGO, the Association for Historical Dialogue and Research.
Please visit a slide show of the opening.
Speaking to the EUobserver, Chara Makriyianni, the chairwoman of the association said that she hopes "there won't be only one home for co-operation, but many. There is a lot of buffer zone to fill."
Her Turkish Cypriot colleague, Meltem Onurkan Samani, said she was hopeful that the "buffer zone will transform from being a place symbolising division to a place of co-operation and dialogue."
That no political solution has yet been found, despite all the hundreds of meetings between the leaders of the two communities has also something to do with the understanding of the problem itself.
To the leaders of the Turkish Cypriot community, following the line of Ankara - the narrative is that there is no problem, as it was ended in 1974 with the "happy peace operation by motherland Turkey" - which the Greek Cypriot side refers to as a "barbaric invasion."
Dervis Eroglu, leader of the self-proclaimed independent republic of Northern Cyprus - only recognised by Ankara - said on Friday that he believes "reconciliation between the two sides" can be achieved and that history teaching is part of it.
Reunification was not something he touched upon at all, unlike his Greek Cypriot counterpart, Demetris Christofias. "Partition is a catastrophy for the people of Cyprus, just as much for the Greek Cypriots as it is for the Turkish Cypriots," he said.
In his view, the solution would be a "federal Cyprus", "free and reunited" and which could be a "constructive presence in the EU."
Tough EU presidency ahead
One year ahead of the Cypriot EU presidency, efforts to re-unite the country are now focusing on people-to-people contacts and joint history teaching in the buffer zone, rather than a grand political solution.
That Cyprus will be holding the rotating EU presidency from 1 July 2012 seems as much of a crazy idea as the establishment of the "Home for co-operation" in the buffer zone.
But according to the head of the EU representation in Cyprus, Androulla Kaminara, "the magnitude of the challenge of holding the presidency is well realised by everybody", with Christofias recently setting up a taskforce of ministers chaired by himself to prepare the presidency.
Kaminara admitted, however, that there are worries that Cyprus is a small country and doesn't have the administrative capacity to deal with this task. "And of course to have the presidency in the context of the Cyprus problem not being solved, that is added complications," she said.
On top of that, the EU representative noted that during the Cypriot presidency, the most difficult dossier - that of carving up the EU budget from 2013 on, will have to be sealed. "That's a huge task," she said.
As far as the EU funding goes, €264 million have been used so far for upgrading the economic infrastructure of the Turkish Cypriot community and for "measures promoting re-unification."
In practice, some of the money went for fixing roads and buildings and allowed for more crossing points to be opened.
One beneficiary of EU funding, Phokias Hadjioannou, has opened a posh restaurant and cafe called Chateau Status, also within the buffer zone, right next to the House for Co-operation inaugurated on Friday.
The restaurant - being the only one in the buffer zone - is often used by diplomats and politicians when meeting in Nicosia.
Germany's cultural outfit, the Goethe Institute, and the US Fulbright Foundation also have offices on that same street. Hadjioannou says that will the opening of the Norwegian-funded Home for co-operation he hopes that "especially for 2012 when Cyprus will have the EU presidency, this street becomes a huge conference place, with different 'rooms'."
Asked if didn't feel it was a paradox that a place still symbolising war and division for many people, is now turning into a meeting place, the Greek Cypriot said: "It is a conjuncture allowing diplomats who pass through here to meet - not so many people pass his road, so it's a place where people who are interested in a solution in this area."
Hadjioannou said that he has already heard many times that the two leaders were close to a solution and still, nothing happened. More than 40 years after the Turkish invasion, he says, "nobody has the right to tell a 35-year old Turk, for instance, who was born here, to leave."
"What I would feel sorry for is if everybody gets comfortable with this situation. We need a solution. But it should be between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots, nobody else, not Turkey, nor Greece. And the British, especially," Hadjioannou said.