Until approximately the turn of the century [the twentieth century], intimate relations between Muslims and Christians appear to have been a fairly common, if not unproblematic, feature of life between the communities.
There are no estimates of the numbers of such relations, but in British reports of the time one often finds conversions for the purpose of establishing relations : a girl who converted to Islam to become the second wife of her father's friend, a policeman, or another, much younger girl who wished to convert to Islam after being sent by her family to work as a servant in a wealthy, Muslim household in Nicosia. These were cases that appeared in the legal reports only because the parents complained and the incidents were investigated.
If she is right, then this is the explanation.
