Well I am sleepy! There is a 7 hour time difference and while you are probably just starting to enjoy your evenings, its almost midnight over here. Adjusting hasn't been difficult minus the fact that I'm tempted to stay awake and wait for everyone to settle in so I can chat with my fellow Americans. Did it last night and went to bed 6am my time. Not a good look when you have orientation class in the morning.
Today's morning class was dealing with "The Cyprus Problem," and most of our classes have somehow discussed this problem at some point because it is a MAJOR issue.
Here's my version of the story... Don't quote me!
The problem in Cyprus is that in 1974 the Turkish government decided that their inhabitants should be able to indulge in the beauty of living on the island of Cyprus and with an army of 70,000 they proceeded to invade from the northeastern coast. Long story-short, the
Cypriot army of 20,000 was no match for the Turks and they successfully managed to capture 37% of the land, forcing the inhabitants to leave their homes and causing them to become refugees in their own country. Over 200,000 Cypriots were displaced, 1,619 are still missing and 370 were killed. To make matters worse, the Turks are STILL here. The UN basically sanctioned there stay by drawing a line across a map of Cyprus, dividing the island in half, one side for the Turks and the other for everyone else. The line is referred to as the Green Line and it got its name from the green marker that was used to draw it.From my balcony I have an excellent view of the beginning of the Turkish territory. There are rolling mountains about 3 miles away and the Turks have audaciously painted large scale murals of their flag and the crescent moon star symbol on the side. Nicosia (where I live) is not too far away from the line and on Saturday
I actually was 2 ft away from it looking at a Turkish Army lookout post. The line cuts right through the old capitol, Lefcosia, and you can see how carelessly the division was made because it cuts through peoples property. The tour guide told us that most people fled the city in fear of being harassed by the Turkish soldiers.Personally, I feel like if the Cypriots got together and built up their military power they would be able to fight the Turks for their land. Each professor that has spoken with us and even the natives have mentioned that the U.N. is doing what it can to mend the Cyprus problem in a diplomatic fashion. But its been over 40 years of diplomacy and nothing has been accomplished. They have to draw the line somewhere (no pun intended) and take an aggressive approach to obtain whats rightfully theirs. I am far from a supporter of bloodshed but I take serious issue with people being helplessly subjected to injustice. Turks have an entire country to themselves just north of Cyprus and there is no reason they should be infringing upon the human rights of Greek Cypriots for the sake of empowering Turkish Cypriots.
How do you think the Cypriots should handle this problem?
Here's a link to a detailed explanation of "The Cyprus Problem."
