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Port of Call |
LAST UPDATE July 12, 2005
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| July 20, 2003 |
Limassol, Cyprus – Visit to the Green Line and exchange with Greek and Turkish Cypriots |
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| Participants Walking the Green Line at Nicosia |
The 20th of July is a sensitive day for Cyprus on both sides of the UN enforced buffer zone that separates Greek and Turkish Cypriots. The Greek community holds a memorial to remember those who died in the Turkish invasion of 1974, while the Turkish north holds military parades to celebrate their incursion into the south. However, while tensions still run high at this time, April this year saw some real progress in the push toward coexistence with the opening of the border between the Turkish north and Greek south for the first time in nearly 29 years. Peace Boat participants travelled from Limassol to the capital, Nicosia, to see the UN controlled Green Line that separates the two communities. When participants arrived at the line, UN soldiers were patrolling the street, which sits in the buffer zone that divides the two communities. Due to the timing of the visit, it was advised that the study tour shouldn't cross the line. Although crossing from one side to another is now permitted, there are restrictions and curfews enforced by fines, so while the start of the journey toward reconciliation has been made, the road ahead is still long. |
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| Greek Cypriot women protesting for information on the whereabouts of family members missing since 1974 |
Many participants spoke with the Greek Cypriot women who have been demanding to know the whereabouts of their missing family members who disappeared in the invasion of 1974. The women demonstrate, hold a permanent vigil outside the entrance to the buffer zone where they hand out pictures and letters, telling of how their loved ones have never been accounted for. They will not accept a presumed dead conclusion, and insist that detailed information on what happened to their missing relatives is made available, saying that "as human beings, mothers and wives" they have the right to the truth. |
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| Greek and Turkish Cypriots eating with Peace Boat participants at the International Tavern |
The International Tavern in Limassol is a place worthy of its name. Owned by a Turkish Cypriot originally from Nicosia who fled to England, only to return two years later to find his wife and 16-year-old daughter murdered by paramillitary forces. He again left, this time coming south to start a new life, opening the tavern. Since its doors opened, the International Tavern has been a meeting place for communities of the north and south who are seeking a refuge from sectarianism and for ways to move toward peace and reconciliation. Peace Boat participants travelled back from Nicosia to the Tavern to meet the Greek and Turkish Cypriots who would be taking part in the exchange.
fter an early dinner of traditional Cypriot food, members of both communities stood and spoke to the Peace Boat participants on their long and difficult journey to bring peace to Cyprus. Iman, the Turkish-Cypriot owner of the Tavern, said that "Cyprus belongs to Cypriots", and that "Turkish and Greek Cypriots can live together" as they did before 1974.
Local peace activist, Nicos Anastasiou, spoke of how Greek and Turkish Cypriots were usually kept apart on the 20th of July, but "have come together for the event with Peace Boat." Nicos stressed that both sides needed to look more closely at the conflict, and it wasn't simply a black and white situation with defined sides of "barbarians and angels". |
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| Peace Event on the port at Limassol |
Back at the port, Peace Boat participants and the members of the Greek and Turkish communities who had been at the International Tavern, prepared for the dock side "Peace Event". Earlier in the day, participants had practiced a Japanese song with the lyrics acted out in sign language. After this performance, members of the crowd joined with the participants and band onstage to sing John Lennon's famous anti-war song, "Imagine".
Cruise Director, Takashi Yamamoto then took the stage to thank Cyprus for its "wonderfully warm welcome" on what is a difficult day for, and to convey Peace Boat's aim "to build links of peace and friendship around the world". Describing the gathering and steps toward reconciliation and re-unification as "a strong seed of hope for the future", they said that Peace Boat would take "the spirit of this gathering" and share it with other people on its travels, in the hope that they will learn and benefit, and will "join the movement to create a better, more just and peaceful world." |
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| Local peace activists, Nicos and Iman, receiving a map of Cyprus decorated with paper cranes by Peace Boat participants |
Once more, Iman emphasized Cypriot autonomy saying that people and not the big [foreign] powers must determine Cyprus' future, and Nicos thanked Peace Boat for its contribution to the work for peace in Cyprus, and its presence as a "powerful ambassador of the values of peaceful coexistence between different races, religions and nationalities"
Before the crowd observed a minute of silence, to mourn for all the people who lost their lives in the years of conflict on the island, Nicos again stressed that it is a time for both sides to acknowledge each other's pain, and "share the hope for lasting peace in Cyprus". To conclude the night's events, Nicos and Iman received a map of Cyprus joined by a rainbow of paper cranes handmade by Peace Boat participants. |
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