Kibkom North Cyprus Forum

"Nicosia: Everyday Past and Present"
Date : Thursday, July 5th
Time : 18:00
Venue : Home For Cooperation, Ledra Palace Buffer Zone

Discussion on urban everyday life in the past, centred on the commercial life in the old Ermou marketplace, and on today’s walled city today. In the past, the city maintained its welcoming nature towards diverse populations in Cyprus even during a period of troubled relations and in spite of a political solution, enabling interaction and the continuity of necessary everyday practices centred around trade and commerce. While the city has now lost Ermou Street as a platform for exchanges, are there other pockets in the old city today that enable the city to function as a complete unity - as a whole rather than two separate halves part of Nicosia: Topographies of Memory - from the Ermou Marketplace to the Buffer Zone.

https://www.facebook.com/events/198895933572301/

Blow it. I missed it. I was at Hamur and wanted to walk over to The Home, but I had my dog with me and it was too hot to leave her in the car. So I missed out and i wanted to see the exhibition Nicosia Topographies of Memory.

so did you go at 6p.m.???/ any news????

Hi Marion,

Yes I went. I'm glad I attended, but I can't relay any real "news" to you. The debate was chaired by Giannis Papadakis; a social anthropologist from the University of Cyprus, and the panel consisted of Ali Rustem; son of the bookshop owner, Petros Siammas; an anthropologist involved in the "Occupy the Buffer Zone" protest, and Anita Bakshi; whose original reasearch on the mixed community market places led to this debate.

Anita told us pleasant, somewhat twee, stories on how the two communities used to mix in certain areas of the city, particularly along Ermou Street, which is now within the buffer zone. But how with the intercommunal violence, the interaction lessened after the late 50s. Ali Rustem, who was born in 1971, commented on the suburbanisation of northside Nicosia from late 70s, and that it has only been since the opening of the Ledra Street crossing that this trend has been reversed. An American from the audience later commented that suburbanisation is also an issue southside. The "Occupy the Buffer Zone" guy then read a poem on the immorality of a divided city.

In short, it was all very much as one would have predicted. I suppose though I am somewhat cynical of these endeavours to bring the two communities together - the Turkish army invaded/intervened in 1974 to protect the TC minority and to liberate them from the ghettos to which they were confined. Who would ensure the safety of the TCs with the relaxing of any crossing controls? Whether or not the Turkish army should still be here in such numbers, since 1974 there has been no intercommunal violence.

I was probably most interested in comments, made by someone in the audience, who said there were plans first proposed almost ten years ago, for a common municipality building in the buffer zone, with adjoining offices for the two mayors. Sounds great in theory, but would it work in practice ... perhaps.

Marion, maybe I wasn't the best person to report back on this - as I wrote above I'm too cynical as to what the "Occupy the Buffer Zone" protestors and other assorted apparent do-gooders can do to help

thanks Ian. Very interesting. i wish I had been able to go, but I reckon my thinking may well have been the same as yours. I spent a while today with kudret ozersay and listened to his idea,s but i think I am a bit old and cynical too. But maybe all these dorps in a bucket might come tosomething later, but don't seem to be moving anthing along too quickly. But better something than nothing.
as I say, very interesting - but I don't cope too well with the 'twee'