Cyprus-Forum.com

[halil]

while i was searching at net to find cyclist programs i came crossed with below page.this article was very interesting for me . i bet it will be interesting for u as well. it will be very interesting tosee and hear others observations than Cypriots.

http://www.bikebrats.com/mideast/trcy.htm
I’d anticipated this day since our arrival in Cyprus. My imagination went into overtime. I gathered that we’d have to jump through hoops, spit nickels, be strip searched, interrogated, embarrassed and cajoled in order to pass the border. In execution it turned out to be markedly easier than getting information about ferry schedules in Athens. We simply walked to the border, registered on the Greek side, passed immigration on the Turkish side, bought our visas and walked across the green line.

There were a few remarkable sights along the way that did leave an impression. First many of the buildings just before the border on the Greek side had undergone trauma. Their blemishes and wounds ranged from gunshot induced chips in plaster to roofs ripped off from mortar fire. Many had anti-Turkish graffiti including intellectual barbs like "suck my Greek dick you murdering Turkish pigs." Huge billboards decorated the Greek border with graphic color photos of bloodied bodies of innocent Greeks. One was beaten to death on the Turkish side leaving a pregnant wife. Strangely there was no detail as to why a hoard of Turks might have decided to beat him to death or the circumstance of his visit to the Turkish side, leading us to question their propaganda.
After crossing the Greek border and passing menacing tangles of razor wire we entered the UN buffer zone, strangely the first building we came to was the German Cultural Center. I wondered to myself about many visitors they receive in this location. Next, a formerly glamorous hotel, its carved limestone facade pockmarked by gun and mortar fire now house a contingent of UN peace keepers. Leaving the propaganda-free zone (the UN buffer zone) passing yet another nest of razor wire and a dozing robin’s egg blue hatted UN guard we entered the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus (TRNC). Immediately we were greeted by display cases with black and white photos showing atrocities committed by the Greeks. Frankly they were better propaganda vehicles than the flashy Greek ones. Their matter of fact presentation clearly detailed the who, what, when, where and why’s of the situation.

After the drama of the crossing the rest of the visit seemed largely anticlimactic. The north side of the city was much sleepier than the south. Apparently few Turks live on this side of the city. Underscoring this fact is that the Turks have imported Anatolians from the mainland to inhabit the city. The first thing that struck me was the civility of the traffic compared to the south. I found myself marveling at how quiet the streets were and how calm the drivers were. We encountered only a few cases of BCS (Big Car Syndrome – where the owner of a fancy vehicle imagines that he bought the road and the right to maim along with his expensive car) while in the TRNC. We did encounter lots of the same friendly, easy going, honest and clean Turks like the ones we’d met in Turkey.
Unfortunately our sight seeing would be limited to the outside of many buildings. We’d come to the TRNC on a very special day, the anniversary of the death of their revered deceased leader Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey. We arrived at the one gate through city walls on the Turkish side to see a massive gathering of army personnel and civilians commemorating this day. Huge banners proclaiming their relationship with the "motherland", Turkish flags and balloons decorated the square. We listened to the military band play "taps" and the crowd sob while the flag was lowered and raised again in Ataturk’s honor.

From the demonstration we walked down the main street to an eight story hotel in the center of town. There we went to the top to see the view of both sides of the green line from above. From this vantage point you could see the disheveled buildings in the buffer zone decaying from disuse. Among them is rumored to be a warehouse full of "new" 1974 Toyotas and Nissans. They were supposedly rushed to their resting place there from Famagusta as they were partitioning the country. They were thought to be safer here than in the new Turkish port there.

Further wanderings revealed architectural curiosities like the massive Venetian gothic churches that were hastily converted into mosques. Their bell towers converted to minarets and their worship spaces re-oriented to face Mecca.

Somehow I couldn’t find a single smelly, dirty, mean and violent Turk that I had been warned about. What we did manage to find was a very tasty pide (Turkish pizza). Crescent shaped, filled with goat cheese and lamb sausage, it made a yummy picnic in front of the cloisters of one of the gothic mosques. Strolling along the green line of the TRNC we saw no armed soldiers as we had on the other side. We speculated that they were either much more lax about the patrol of the border, or that everyone was celebrating Ataturk’s holiday. In any case we were afforded many opportunities to photograph the green line from this side.

Even though the day in the TRNC had gone without a hitch, I approached our crossing back to the Greek side with trepidation. I worried about the photos we’d taken of the line and confusion about our digital camera. In actuality the trip back was even easier than the trip there. We simply walked through the border largely unquestioned by either side except to view our passports.

[phoenix]

while i was searching at net to find cyclist programs i came crossed with below page.this article was very interesting for me . i bet it will be interesting for u as well. it will be very interesting tosee and hear others observations than Cypriots.

http://www.bikebrats.com/mideast/trcy.htm
I’d anticipated this day since our arrival in Cyprus. My imagination went into overtime. I gathered that we’d have to jump through hoops, spit nickels, be strip searched, interrogated, embarrassed and cajoled in order to pass the border. In execution it turned out to be markedly easier than getting information about ferry schedules in Athens. We simply walked to the border, registered on the Greek side, passed immigration on the Turkish side, bought our visas and walked across the green line.

There were a few remarkable sights along the way that did leave an impression. First many of the buildings just before the border on the Greek side had undergone trauma. Their blemishes and wounds ranged from gunshot induced chips in plaster to roofs ripped off from mortar fire. Many had anti-Turkish graffiti including intellectual barbs like "suck my Greek dick you murdering Turkish pigs." Huge billboards decorated the Greek border with graphic color photos of bloodied bodies of innocent Greeks. One was beaten to death on the Turkish side leaving a pregnant wife. Strangely there was no detail as to why a hoard of Turks might have decided to beat him to death or the circumstance of his visit to the Turkish side, leading us to question their propaganda.
After crossing the Greek border and passing menacing tangles of razor wire we entered the UN buffer zone, strangely the first building we came to was the German Cultural Center. I wondered to myself about many visitors they receive in this location. Next, a formerly glamorous hotel, its carved limestone facade pockmarked by gun and mortar fire now house a contingent of UN peace keepers. Leaving the propaganda-free zone (the UN buffer zone) passing yet another nest of razor wire and a dozing robin’s egg blue hatted UN guard we entered the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus (TRNC). Immediately we were greeted by display cases with black and white photos showing atrocities committed by the Greeks. Frankly they were better propaganda vehicles than the flashy Greek ones. Their matter of fact presentation clearly detailed the who, what, when, where and why’s of the situation.

After the drama of the crossing the rest of the visit seemed largely anticlimactic. The north side of the city was much sleepier than the south. Apparently few Turks live on this side of the city. Underscoring this fact is that the Turks have imported Anatolians from the mainland to inhabit the city. The first thing that struck me was the civility of the traffic compared to the south. I found myself marveling at how quiet the streets were and how calm the drivers were. We encountered only a few cases of BCS (Big Car Syndrome – where the owner of a fancy vehicle imagines that he bought the road and the right to maim along with his expensive car) while in the TRNC. We did encounter lots of the same friendly, easy going, honest and clean Turks like the ones we’d met in Turkey.
Unfortunately our sight seeing would be limited to the outside of many buildings. We’d come to the TRNC on a very special day, the anniversary of the death of their revered deceased leader Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey. We arrived at the one gate through city walls on the Turkish side to see a massive gathering of army personnel and civilians commemorating this day. Huge banners proclaiming their relationship with the "motherland", Turkish flags and balloons decorated the square. We listened to the military band play "taps" and the crowd sob while the flag was lowered and raised again in Ataturk’s honor.

From the demonstration we walked down the main street to an eight story hotel in the center of town. There we went to the top to see the view of both sides of the green line from above. From this vantage point you could see the disheveled buildings in the buffer zone decaying from disuse. Among them is rumored to be a warehouse full of "new" 1974 Toyotas and Nissans. They were supposedly rushed to their resting place there from Famagusta as they were partitioning the country. They were thought to be safer here than in the new Turkish port there.

Further wanderings revealed architectural curiosities like the massive Venetian gothic churches that were hastily converted into mosques. Their bell towers converted to minarets and their worship spaces re-oriented to face Mecca.

Somehow I couldn’t find a single smelly, dirty, mean and violent Turk that I had been warned about. What we did manage to find was a very tasty pide (Turkish pizza). Crescent shaped, filled with goat cheese and lamb sausage, it made a yummy picnic in front of the cloisters of one of the gothic mosques. Strolling along the green line of the TRNC we saw no armed soldiers as we had on the other side. We speculated that they were either much more lax about the patrol of the border, or that everyone was celebrating Ataturk’s holiday. In any case we were afforded many opportunities to photograph the green line from this side.

Even though the day in the TRNC had gone without a hitch, I approached our crossing back to the Greek side with trepidation. I worried about the photos we’d taken of the line and confusion about our digital camera. In actuality the trip back was even easier than the trip there. We simply walked through the border largely unquestioned by either side except to view our passports.

Halil . . . No mention of TCs whilst they were in the "TRNC" . . . Have they all been replaced by Turks ?

[halil]

Phoenix,
leading us to question their propaganda. (Greek)
read all of the cycling report about Cyprus.
İt doesn't matter if Dutch men says Turk or TC's.İt does matter what the people are thinking for eachother. This is the most important part of the Cyprus problem.
Trust and Security. İt applys for both sides.

[phoenix]

Phoenix,
leading us to question their propaganda. (Greek)
read all of the cycling report about Cyprus.
İt doesn't matter if Dutch men says Turk or TC's.İt does matter what the people are thinking for eachother. This is the most important part of the Cyprus problem.
Trust and Security. İt applys for both sides.

Halil, I have read it and it would appear to me that these two young men where more interested in appraising people for reasons other than necessarily political . . .

"At the bar we met a young and handsome soldier with a clear picture of his mission in the army."

. . . and as such their opinions are just that . . . and of little consequence as to the desirability of whatever is on offer up in the "TRNC" . . . unless the offer was to remove the Turks and allow the Cypriots to have their land back.

[DT.]

Phoenix,
leading us to question their propaganda. (Greek)
read all of the cycling report about Cyprus.
İt doesn't matter if Dutch men says Turk or TC's.İt does matter what the people are thinking for eachother. This is the most important part of the Cyprus problem.
Trust and Security. İt applys for both sides.

Halil you have the nerve to post the death of Isaak during the demonstration as GC propaganda instead of hanging your head in shame for the live on TV beating that your compatriots and police gave him while he was trying to get his friend out of the barbed wire?

YOU'RE USING THIS?????????

[halil]

Phoenix,
leading us to question their propaganda. (Greek)
read all of the cycling report about Cyprus.
İt doesn't matter if Dutch men says Turk or TC's.İt does matter what the people are thinking for eachother. This is the most important part of the Cyprus problem.
Trust and Security. İt applys for both sides.

Halil you have the nerve to post the death of Isaak during the demonstration as GC propaganda instead of hanging your head in shame for the live on TV beating that your compatriots and police gave him while he was trying to get his friend out of the barbed wire?

YOU'RE USING THIS?????????

DT,
i am not using anything .Also i am not supporting anybody to kill anybody.There must be ways to do demonstrations.
Read it again above writing (including everything in the web link ) what some people are saying about us to tourist men . these kind of allegations we are hearing everyday against us. many samples are even on this forum.anybody wants to come to see or visit north how most of the forum members are attacing them.
Many time u personally asking where is the isolations ? this is the basic part of it.
why and why u are scaring any contacts we do with outside world . u are yelling. we have rights as well to communicate with rest of the world.

[MR-from-NG]

Phoenix,
leading us to question their propaganda. (Greek)
read all of the cycling report about Cyprus.
İt doesn't matter if Dutch men says Turk or TC's.İt does matter what the people are thinking for eachother. This is the most important part of the Cyprus problem.
Trust and Security. İt applys for both sides.

Halil you have the nerve to post the death of Isaak during the demonstration as GC propaganda instead of hanging your head in shame for the live on TV beating that your compatriots and police gave him while he was trying to get his friend out of the barbed wire?

YOU'RE USING THIS?????????

The beating to death of Isaak and the fatal shooting of the chap on the flagpole should never have happened. Those responsible should be brought to justice.

As for the giant images on walls they should be removed. They've been up there long enough you made your point. If we are all for reunification and want some form of reconciliation then the wall must be cleansed of these images.

[StuartN]

Phoenix,
leading us to question their propaganda. (Greek)
read all of the cycling report about Cyprus.
İt doesn't matter if Dutch men says Turk or TC's.İt does matter what the people are thinking for eachother. This is the most important part of the Cyprus problem.
Trust and Security. İt applys for both sides.

Halil you have the nerve to post the death of Isaak during the demonstration as GC propaganda instead of hanging your head in shame for the live on TV beating that your compatriots and police gave him while he was trying to get his friend out of the barbed wire?

YOU'RE USING THIS?????????

DT,
i am not using anything .Also i am not supporting anybody to kill anybody.There must be ways to do demonstrations.
Read it again above writing (including everything in the web link ) what some people are saying about us to tourist men . these kind of allegations we are hearing everyday against us. many samples are even on this forum.anybody wants to come to see or visit north how most of the forum members are attacing them.
Many time u personally asking where is the isolations ? this is the basic part of it.
why and why u are scaring any contacts we do with outside world . u are yelling. we have rights as well to communicate with rest of the world.

I was in Bellapais a couple of months ago - a tourist coach from the South drove up and a load of Brits got off. As a couple of more elderly ones were looking over the parapet towards Kyrenia I clearly heard one say to the other.. ' and to think... all those houses have soldiers living in them'

I know exactly what you mean Halil.

[Nikitas]

"the Turks have imported Anatolians from the mainland to inhabit the city."

From the mouths of babes and fools.... This one is a gem, thanks for posting!

[Andros]

MR From NG Said:
"As for the giant images on walls they should be removed. They've been up there long enough you made your point. If we are all for reunification and want some form of reconciliation then the wall must be cleansed of these images".


Try removing the huge embarrassing NAZI-FACIST sign as soon as you enter the border that says "How proud to be a Turk", or at least replace it with, "How proud I am to be a Turkish CYPRIOT". Or, would the controllers from Turkey in your TRNC seriously object to your declaration of Independence as a Turkish-CYPRIOT people?

I am not arguing with you, but merely stating that I would be very embarrassed as a Turkish Cypriot if I had to read that everytime I decided to cross over the border. This nationalistic policy must come to an end, especially if you want to one day promote unification or be a part of the EU family of countries.