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Oncenupon a time, a fair island in the lovely waters of the MediterraneannSea was home to both Greek and Turkish people. The two groups hadndifferent languages and religions, but they lived and workednside-by-side peacefully for many years.
Oncenupon a time, a fair island in the lovely waters of the MediterraneannSea was home to both Greek and Turkish people. The two groups hadndifferent languages and religions, but they lived and workednside-by-side peacefully for many years.n
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nnAndnthen the British took over the island, Cyprus, and began to pit thengroups against each other (according to some), and also teachings innschools and churches and mosques began to emphasize separation andnnationalism. Struggles and fights began to break out between the twongroups, and both sides have done senseless, violent acts. From thenfirst killing in 1955, the two ethnic communities began to pull morenand more apart.
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nnWhenna Greek nationalist group staged a military coup and threw out thenCypriot president, in July of 1974, people were killed and jailed,nand Turkish people were rightly upset by the horrible behavior of thenGreek group….
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nn…andnthen violence was used to “stop” violence. On this date in 1974,nTurkey invaded Cyprus in what was called (by Turks) “the 1974 PeacenOperation.” This operation was supposed to safeguard the republicnbut ended up dividing the country. n
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Myndaughter has been to Cyprus and said that it was so odd to be in cutenlittle tourist shops in the capital city of Nicosia and then tonsuddenly come upon the “buffer zone,” sometimes called the GreennLine: a barbed-wire fence with warning signs, abandoned houses andncars and streets, and armed soldiers on patrol. n
Myndaughter has been to Cyprus and said that it was so odd to be in cutenlittle tourist shops in the capital city of Nicosia and then tonsuddenly come upon the “buffer zone,” sometimes called the GreennLine: a barbed-wire fence with warning signs, abandoned houses andncars and streets, and armed soldiers on patrol. nn
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nShensaid that people unlucky enough to have lived in the area now insidenthe buffer zone lost everything that they hadn’t grabbed in theirnhasty fleeing of the violence during that long-ago July. I’m surenthey didn’t imagine having their stuff still sitting there,ninaccessible to them, almost 40 years later!!!
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nnAsnNorth Cypriots get out their Turkish and North Cyprus flags andngather to watch military parades today, ready to celebrate Peace andnFreedom, we would be wise to consider that these people had more ofnboth before any of this violence started, when the two ethnic groupsnlived side by side as “just” Cypriots. When voices on the radionand talking heads on TV, and people on Facebook and even friends andnrelatives try to stir up fear and hatred of other ethnic groups, evennif they are saying that they are just looking out for your safety andneconomic best interests, try hard to hold onto a more tolerant andnneighborly perspective!
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nAlsonon this date:
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MoonnDay (here and here)
MoonnDay (here and here)n
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