Cyprus

As you know, I work for clients and spend some of my time on site with them, when we're not in any kind of lockdown and since 2018 my main client has been in Cyprus.

People join the project to work with me and I wrote the following as background to try and help us all think about, and be sympathetic to Cypriot culture.

I have also added a page to the site with some of my photos from the last 3 years working there.

The island is made up of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, about 1.1million people, a small island culture with large interconnected families. Average wedding attendances are in the hundreds of people.

Ex-British colony, independent from 1960. Some parts of the island remain British military bases which are used as a close staging point into the Middle East (for the British, US and Nato military) the island is known as the unsinkable aircraft carrier, one that is uniquely positioned, historically for the British to protect the Suez canal and trade routes to India and China, and now within air striking distance of 3 continents and very close to oil in the Middle East).

The struggle for independence from the British was violent and was fought by the parents of the generation we are dealing with in the project.

The father of one of our Cypriot colleagues was arrested by the British when he was 16 for terrorist offences and was due to be hung, until the nationalist outcry from the British hanging a group of 18 year olds was so great it was decided it was better not to hang children!

Although historical tensions with the Turkish population have always been there, the way in which Independence was handled by the British probably did nothing to reduce ethnic violence or help settle matters in a peaceful way. (Lawrence Durrell: Bitter Lemons of Cyprus is a memoir from this time).

An attempted coup d'état by Greece in 1974 was followed with an invasion by Turkey. On the face of it this might be something that the US and Britain would not have wanted to happen, especially given that it was between two NATO members, but arguably, a Turkish invasion and therefore continued occupation of military bases by the British protected the southern flank of Europe from communist influence during the cold war and perhaps strategically this might have been seen as acceptable.

Lots of men, women and children remain missing from the 1974 conflict (on both sides) and the issue remains sensitive. You probably won't find much sympathy from Greeks towards the Turkish and even visiting the Turkish side may not be viewed well by some as its perceived as 'acknowledging and helping the enemy'. It is not a light hearted subject to the islanders as it might be for tourists. Only in the last couple of decades has shots across the UN Green zone stopped.

The Island remains partitioned broadly into Greek and Turkish sides with the UN controlling the green zone border between the two. The EU recognises the whole island as being within the EU, but in reality, the Turkish side is not recognised by any country internationally except Turkey who control it, in practice it is outside of the EU which includes passport rules, Covid rules, mobile phone charges, diplomatic protection and currency (but all boarder towns accept Euro).

Tensions rise along the green zone mainly between young men on the main Muslim holidays and other celebration days. UN patrols increase on these days, otherwise may not be noticeable. The UN foot patrols are generally unarmed.

Cyprus is an external EU border and this is noticeable on the island. The border attracts a lot of inbound migrants to the EU. This is the front line of the EU migrant crisis, along with a number of other Greek islands in the Med.

The global banking crisis led to an EU led bailout of Cyprus which may have felt to some Cypriots as yet another coup d'état with the EU being the real people in charge rather than the democratically elected Government of Cyprus or its people. (Yanis Varoufakis: Adults in the Room touches on this from the Greek perspective with side mentions of the treatment dished out to Cyprus by the EU).

In 2019 some stray Russian missiles from Syria landed on the island.

The Island remains nervous about the military intensions of Turkey. Turkey has started drilling for oil in Cypriot waters. A serious subject for the islanders who probably feel on the front line compared to other Europeans!

The Greek Cypriots we work with are crystal clear that the whole problem is caused by the Turkish and are worried about the expansionist ambitions of Turkey. To them, the north is the 'occupied north'. They will not refer to Turkey and do not accept the situation imposed by Turkey on the island.

Greece is not in a position financially or militarily to support Cyprus. Military support can only come from the US and maybe the EU and Britain. Turkey can probably get military support from Russia if oil was involved.

Cyprus joined the EU in 2004 and the Euro in 2008 (€ = Ctrl + Alt + E on most UK Windows keyboards) prior to which they used the Cypriot Pound - £ or CYP.

They are 2 hours ahead of the UK and due to the heat they typically work 8 - 3 local time, returning to their family. There is no presenteeism culture or after work drinking culture as there is in the U.K. The small 2 hour time difference feels much larger than it should on return to the UK.

Summers are always over 30 degrees with some weeks closer to 40. Forest fires threaten parts of the island in these conditions and people die every year as a result. Sometimes that’s locals, often its Illegal immigrants hiding in forests.

Strangely the island seems immune to the culture of recycling, and this may be due to the lack of water, so giving up bottled water is not an option but plastic bags and over packaging seem normal for some reason.

The Greek Cypriots and British call the capital Nicosia, as it was called under British rule. The Turkish call it Lefkosia yet all road signs on the Greek side from the airport to Nicosia show Lefkosia, I don't know why this is.

There is no public transport on the island bar some local buses in Nicosia. Transport to and from the hotel is by taxi or hire car. There are are no trains on the island.

The Greek and Turkish history, history of conflict and occupation, proximity to the Middle East, being on the dividing line of Christianity and Islam as well as being close to Asia, and many other factors mean the culture and business culture feels different to British clients.

It might also be true that learning a second language gives you an understanding of the other culture, and equally, not knowing the other language gives you a level of ignorance about the other culture of which the other side is fully aware of.