Cyprus-Forum.com

[Nikitas]

I lived in Famagusta, considered a city in Cyprus in the 50s and 60s, but which is more like a town than a city. We frequently visited the family in our village in the Morphou area. My memories of the village are quite vivid and detailed.

Basically Cyprus had a subsistence economy back in the 50s. THe big change to a cash economy came in the 60s. Along with this big change came electricity and running water in every home and paved streets. I can understand the romantic notion of the "good old days" but they were not always so good. Just imagine walking in pitch dark muddy streets while being harassed by a pack of 20 stray dogs and ask yourself if this is what you call "quality of life".

If you want more info just let us know.

[Gasman]

Along with this big change came electricity and running water in every home and paved streets.

I've hear that that's what the 'Brits did for you'.

Anyway -

Richard B said:

A New Thread!!!!

We'll need a new forum

What a good idea! Perhaps we could incorporate into it one of Lady Orifice's ideas from the past - that you could designate the names of three posters you don't want posting on your thread lol!

[denizaksulu]

I am from Anglisidhes. Born in 1946. That does not make me the youngest on the forum, but one that has memories of the times you wish to know.

Our village was a mixed village. We had Pano and Kato Anglisides. The Turkish Cypriots lived in Kato Anglisides. Even though the numbers of TCs living in our village was small, my grandfather was the Moukhtar of the village (kato Angl) . Pano ANglisides always had a GC moukhtar.
I grew up with Greek and Turkish speaking kids. We communicated very well without even realising whether we spoke in Greek or Turkish. It was something that puzzles me to this day. Two years ago I found a few of these GreekCypriots boys (now owners of an empire) and they assured me they knew no Turkish. Therefore I draw the conclusion that I knew some Greek. Mind you I remember very little now.
The relationships between the two communities was very cordial. We attended each others weddings, greeted each other at easter or bayrams (moslem festivals). Travelled all over the island to attend Panayiris/ Kataklysmos too.

There was no electricty in the village then - that came after 1963.

The games we played were pirilli/marbles, lingri and on rainy days it was andres. When older it was tavli/backgammon and draughts.
Springtime we would take our lime sticks (with my GC neighbors) and tried our luck with pulya/ambelopoullia/blackcaps. We would treck down to one of the part time rivulets where the little souls would perch for a drop of water. Thats where we would set the limesticks. We had built an igloo shaped hide so as to observe that evenings dinner.I still have not forgiven myself for this terrible method of hunting.

Other free times were spent on roaming the hills and valleys picking wild asparagus and wild mushrooms.

Approaching the years 1956/57/58 there was signs that polarisation was taking place. Boys going to towns attending various Gymnasia, the American Academy/Larnaca refused to acknowledge our greetings. This however did not affect the adults attitude.

Till the day the TCs left the village, the friendships were very strong even to this day.

There were intermarriages between TCs and GCs. A large number of our villagers are the children and grandchildren of mixed marriages.

[YFred]

I am from Anglisidhes. Born in 1946. That does not make me the youngest on the forum, but one that has memories of the times you wish to know.

Our village was a mixed village. We had Pano and Kato Anglisides. The Turkish Cypriots lived in Kato Anglisides. Even though the numbers of TCs living in our village was small, my grandfather was the Moukhtar of the village (kato Angl) . Pano ANglisides always had a GC moukhtar.
I grew up with Greek and Turkish speaking kids. We communicated very well without even realising whether we spoke in Greek or Turkish. It was something that puzzles me to this day. Two years ago I found a few of these GreekCypriots boys (now owners of an empire) and they assured me they knew no Turkish. Therefore I draw the conclusion that I knew some Greek. Mind you I remember very little now.
The relationships between the two communities was very cordial. We attended each others weddings, greeted each other at easter or bayrams (moslem festivals). Travelled all over the island to attend Panayiris/ Kataklysmos too.

There was no electricty in the village then - that came after 1963.

The games we played were pirilli/marbles, lingri and on rainy days it was andres. When older it was tavli/backgammon and draughts.
Springtime we would take our lime sticks (with my GC neighbors) and tried our luck with pulya/ambelopoullia/blackcaps. We would treck down to one of the part time rivulets where the little souls would perch for a drop of water. Thats where we would set the limesticks. We had built an igloo shaped hide so as to observe that evenings dinner.I still have not forgiven myself for this terrible method of hunting.

Other free times were spent on roaming the hills and valleys picking wild asparagus and wild mushrooms.

Approaching the years 1956/57/58 there was signs that polarisation was taking place. Boys going to towns attending various Gymnasia, the American Academy/Larnaca refused to acknowledge our greetings. This however did not affect the adults attitude.

Till the day the TCs left the village, the friendships were very strong even to this day.

There were intermarriages between TCs and GCs. A large number of our villagers are the children and grandchildren of mixed marriages.

Deniz, I forbid you from telling them about my real GC cousin, you hear?

[denizaksulu]

I am from Anglisidhes. Born in 1946. That does not make me the youngest on the forum, but one that has memories of the times you wish to know.

Our village was a mixed village. We had Pano and Kato Anglisides. The Turkish Cypriots lived in Kato Anglisides. Even though the numbers of TCs living in our village was small, my grandfather was the Moukhtar of the village (kato Angl) . Pano ANglisides always had a GC moukhtar.
I grew up with Greek and Turkish speaking kids. We communicated very well without even realising whether we spoke in Greek or Turkish. It was something that puzzles me to this day. Two years ago I found a few of these GreekCypriots boys (now owners of an empire) and they assured me they knew no Turkish. Therefore I draw the conclusion that I knew some Greek. Mind you I remember very little now.
The relationships between the two communities was very cordial. We attended each others weddings, greeted each other at easter or bayrams (moslem festivals). Travelled all over the island to attend Panayiris/ Kataklysmos too.

There was no electricty in the village then - that came after 1963.

The games we played were pirilli/marbles, lingri and on rainy days it was andres. When older it was tavli/backgammon and draughts.
Springtime we would take our lime sticks (with my GC neighbors) and tried our luck with pulya/ambelopoullia/blackcaps. We would treck down to one of the part time rivulets where the little souls would perch for a drop of water. Thats where we would set the limesticks. We had built an igloo shaped hide so as to observe that evenings dinner.I still have not forgiven myself for this terrible method of hunting.

Other free times were spent on roaming the hills and valleys picking wild asparagus and wild mushrooms.

Approaching the years 1956/57/58 there was signs that polarisation was taking place. Boys going to towns attending various Gymnasia, the American Academy/Larnaca refused to acknowledge our greetings. This however did not affect the adults attitude.

Till the day the TCs left the village, the friendships were very strong even to this day.

There were intermarriages between TCs and GCs. A large number of our villagers are the children and grandchildren of mixed marriages.

Deniz, I forbid you from telling them about my real GC cousin, you hear?

Do you meant the Gatsoura's. Dont worry, I wont say a word. But they are my cousins too.
Yfred.............we are cousins............OMBG

[YFred]

I am from Anglisidhes. Born in 1946. That does not make me the youngest on the forum, but one that has memories of the times you wish to know.

Our village was a mixed village. We had Pano and Kato Anglisides. The Turkish Cypriots lived in Kato Anglisides. Even though the numbers of TCs living in our village was small, my grandfather was the Moukhtar of the village (kato Angl) . Pano ANglisides always had a GC moukhtar.
I grew up with Greek and Turkish speaking kids. We communicated very well without even realising whether we spoke in Greek or Turkish. It was something that puzzles me to this day. Two years ago I found a few of these GreekCypriots boys (now owners of an empire) and they assured me they knew no Turkish. Therefore I draw the conclusion that I knew some Greek. Mind you I remember very little now.
The relationships between the two communities was very cordial. We attended each others weddings, greeted each other at easter or bayrams (moslem festivals). Travelled all over the island to attend Panayiris/ Kataklysmos too.

There was no electricty in the village then - that came after 1963.

The games we played were pirilli/marbles, lingri and on rainy days it was andres. When older it was tavli/backgammon and draughts.
Springtime we would take our lime sticks (with my GC neighbors) and tried our luck with pulya/ambelopoullia/blackcaps. We would treck down to one of the part time rivulets where the little souls would perch for a drop of water. Thats where we would set the limesticks. We had built an igloo shaped hide so as to observe that evenings dinner.I still have not forgiven myself for this terrible method of hunting.

Other free times were spent on roaming the hills and valleys picking wild asparagus and wild mushrooms.

Approaching the years 1956/57/58 there was signs that polarisation was taking place. Boys going to towns attending various Gymnasia, the American Academy/Larnaca refused to acknowledge our greetings. This however did not affect the adults attitude.

Till the day the TCs left the village, the friendships were very strong even to this day.

There were intermarriages between TCs and GCs. A large number of our villagers are the children and grandchildren of mixed marriages.

Deniz, I forbid you from telling them about my real GC cousin, you hear?

Do you meant the Gatsoura's. Dont worry, I wont say a word. But they are my cousins too.
Yfred.............we are cousins............OMBG

We are Dunur's how about that. My poor cousin Katsura? what ever next. Do you know there are about 100 Katsuras in the village and London.

[denizaksulu]

I am from Anglisidhes. Born in 1946. That does not make me the youngest on the forum, but one that has memories of the times you wish to know.

Our village was a mixed village. We had Pano and Kato Anglisides. The Turkish Cypriots lived in Kato Anglisides. Even though the numbers of TCs living in our village was small, my grandfather was the Moukhtar of the village (kato Angl) . Pano ANglisides always had a GC moukhtar.
I grew up with Greek and Turkish speaking kids. We communicated very well without even realising whether we spoke in Greek or Turkish. It was something that puzzles me to this day. Two years ago I found a few of these GreekCypriots boys (now owners of an empire) and they assured me they knew no Turkish. Therefore I draw the conclusion that I knew some Greek. Mind you I remember very little now.
The relationships between the two communities was very cordial. We attended each others weddings, greeted each other at easter or bayrams (moslem festivals). Travelled all over the island to attend Panayiris/ Kataklysmos too.

There was no electricty in the village then - that came after 1963.

The games we played were pirilli/marbles, lingri and on rainy days it was andres. When older it was tavli/backgammon and draughts.
Springtime we would take our lime sticks (with my GC neighbors) and tried our luck with pulya/ambelopoullia/blackcaps. We would treck down to one of the part time rivulets where the little souls would perch for a drop of water. Thats where we would set the limesticks. We had built an igloo shaped hide so as to observe that evenings dinner.I still have not forgiven myself for this terrible method of hunting.

Other free times were spent on roaming the hills and valleys picking wild asparagus and wild mushrooms.

Approaching the years 1956/57/58 there was signs that polarisation was taking place. Boys going to towns attending various Gymnasia, the American Academy/Larnaca refused to acknowledge our greetings. This however did not affect the adults attitude.

Till the day the TCs left the village, the friendships were very strong even to this day.

There were intermarriages between TCs and GCs. A large number of our villagers are the children and grandchildren of mixed marriages.

Deniz, I forbid you from telling them about my real GC cousin, you hear?

Do you meant the Gatsoura's. Dont worry, I wont say a word. But they are my cousins too.
Yfred.............we are cousins............OMBG

We are Dunur's how about that. My poor cousin Katsura? what ever next. Do you know there are about 100 Katsuras in the village and London.

I doooooooont belieeeeeeeeve it!!

[YFred]

I came across these words from a very young member of the YFred clan.

Birleşik bir Kıbrıs'ta doğmadım!!

Çocukken bana okulda Rumların benim düşmanim olduklarını öğrettiler.. Kimse bana
söylemedi ki Kıbrıslı Rumlar benim kardeşlerimdir.. Kimse bana söylemedi ki Türkler de
hatalar yaptılar!! Ama gerçekler yavaş yavaş ortaya çıkıyor..

Benim düşmanım sadece emperyalizm.. milliyetçilik..faşizm..
Amerika,İngiltere,Türkiye,Yunanistan, faşistler... KİMSE barışa engel OLAMAZ!!
Çalsalar da ekmeğimizi, kapsalar da toprağımızı, bu vatan bizim..bu yürekler boyun eğmez..
bu yürekler gücümüz ve yüreklerimizi sana adadık Kıbrısımız.. bunları hesaba katın!!
Ne olur olursa ben Birleşik bir Kıbrıs'ta öleceğim!!!

Perhaps somebody can translate it for our GC cousins.

The younger generation is awake.

[denizaksulu]

I came across these words from a very young member of the YFred clan.

Birleşik bir Kıbrıs'ta doğmadım!!

Çocukken bana okulda Rumların benim düşmanim olduklarını öğrettiler.. Kimse bana
söylemedi ki Kıbrıslı Rumlar benim kardeşlerimdir.. Kimse bana söylemedi ki Türkler de
hatalar yaptılar!! Ama gerçekler yavaş yavaş ortaya çıkıyor..

Benim düşmanım sadece emperyalizm.. milliyetçilik..faşizm..
Amerika,İngiltere,Türkiye,Yunanistan, faşistler... KİMSE barışa engel OLAMAZ!!
Çalsalar da ekmeğimizi, kapsalar da toprağımızı, bu vatan bizim..bu yürekler boyun eğmez..
bu yürekler gücümüz ve yüreklerimizi sana adadık Kıbrısımız.. bunları hesaba katın!!
Ne olur olursa ben Birleşik bir Kıbrıs'ta öleceğim!!!

Perhaps somebody can translate it for our GC cousins.

The younger generation is awake.

Perhaps we can learn from the young.

[YFred]

I came across these words from a very young member of the YFred clan.

Birleşik bir Kıbrıs'ta doğmadım!!

Çocukken bana okulda Rumların benim düşmanim olduklarını öğrettiler.. Kimse bana
söylemedi ki Kıbrıslı Rumlar benim kardeşlerimdir.. Kimse bana söylemedi ki Türkler de
hatalar yaptılar!! Ama gerçekler yavaş yavaş ortaya çıkıyor..

Benim düşmanım sadece emperyalizm.. milliyetçilik..faşizm..
Amerika,İngiltere,Türkiye,Yunanistan, faşistler... KİMSE barışa engel OLAMAZ!!
Çalsalar da ekmeğimizi, kapsalar da toprağımızı, bu vatan bizim..bu yürekler boyun eğmez..
bu yürekler gücümüz ve yüreklerimizi sana adadık Kıbrısımız.. bunları hesaba katın!!
Ne olur olursa ben Birleşik bir Kıbrıs'ta öleceğim!!!

Perhaps somebody can translate it for our GC cousins.

The younger generation is awake.

Perhaps we can learn from the young.

Here is the translation.

I was not born in a united Cyprus.

As a child when I was at school, I was taught that GCs were my enemy.
Nobody told me that they are my brothers/Sisters. Nobody told me the Turks made mistakes too. But the truth is slowly slowly coming out.

My Enemy is not just Imperialism, Nationalism, Fascism,
America, England, Turkey, Greece the fascists None can prevent peace.

Even if they steal our bread, grab our land, this land is ours, our hearts will not bow,
These hearts our strength and we donate to you our Cyprus, take this into account.
When ever happens I will die in a united Cyprus.

The boy who wrote these words is called Barış/Peace which is the second child in the clan called that. The first one belongs to another clan member and devotes all his free time to fight for justice in custody deaths.