A Diverse Village

Dipkarpaz to some, Rizokarpaso to others

We spent one night in the village of Dipkarpaz/Rizokarpaso. This is a village in the far north where some Greek Cypriots were allowed to stay after 1974. Our 15 hours in this beautiful village was well spent.

We first met Christina, a resident of Rizokarpaso since she was born.

She has always lived among Turkish Cypriots and knows there is no problem with the two living in harmony. Since her husband passed away five years ago, the Turkish Cypriot people of the village have been very kind to her and lend a helping hand when she needs it. “Whether you pray to our God or their Allah, it’s the same thing. The same God.”

I was feeling a little scruffy so I got a shave from the Turkish barber. The barbershop was awesome. A boys club in the village where they served coffee and hung out. And although I could not understand the language, banter amongst the boys that seemed friendly continually bounced about the room.

Before…

After…

We also met Tassos, a Greek Cypriot man who was born in Rizokarpaso. He was in Rizokarpaso visiting for the weekend. In July of 1977 at the age of eight, he and he family were forced to leave.

“The Turkish military expelled us from here. From our home. ” Tassos said with a tone that reinforced his frustration for the events that took place; the effects of which he still feels today. “My father had 100 ‘skales’ (1 Skala = 14,400 sq. ft) of farmland. It is gone. I can’t go to my father’s home, the home where I was born. Someone else lives there. It’s not right…My father still lives in the south. He is 73. He won’t come here to visit. He can’t go to his home, he can’t go to his fields. What’s he going to do here? He will just get mad, so he stays in the south.”

Tassos believes that a solution is possible. But he believes that the Turkish government should take back all of the immigrants it sent to Cyprus and give the occupied land back to the rightful owners.

I asked if he was okay with me writing what we had discussed, he replied.

“Write it. I’m not afraid. I don’t have a problem with it. I am a Greek. A Greek Cypriot.”