Home Truths #1 Christians and Muslims in Cyprus once coexisted in harmony

It wasn’t until I began interviewing elderly Cypriots from my parent’s generation for Tales of Cyprus when I soon realised just how I ignorant I was about the past. You see, my research for Tales of Cyprus helped me to receive an education about my ancestral homeland and to learn about topics that were often discussed and documented inaccurately. This education would shatter all my pre-conceived views and opinions about the past and would help to raise my awareness about what life was really like on the island during my parents’ time there. The truth they say, would set you free – and it has for me. It has been very liberating.

My education about the past had compelled me to write a series of articles for Tales of Cyprus which I called my ‘home truths’ to try and dispel some of the myths that had been circulating in Cypriot households for decades, especially since the 1950s.

Today, I would like to present my first home truth which I titled, ‘Christians and Muslims in Cyprus once coexisted in harmony’. This was first published online in July 2016 to wide and critical acclaim. It was then updated and republished in June 2019. Today will be the third time I am posting this article online. I hope you like it. I will be very keen to read your comments and feedback. As always, please feel free to share this post.

Over the coming days, I hope to share my other home truths with you.

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HOME TRUTH #1

CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS IN CYPRUS ONCE COEXISTED IN HARMONY.

It may interest you to know that in May, 1974, I briefly attended a school in the village of Arsos. I remember how the teacher kept reminding the class that the Turks were our enemy. One fine day, I gained the courage to question his ideology – in front of the whole class. At first, he flinched and seemed to wobble a bit. Then he glared at me with an expression of total disbelief. “We are Greek,” he shouted. “We belong to the motherland.” After class, I was surrounded by a few boys who took turns defending their teacher and trying to teach me the truth – as they understood it. I ran to the kafenion (coffee shop) to tell my father what had happened to me at school. I remember he just sat there quietly and listened. He didn’t say much, probably because he felt uncomfortable discussing this topic in front of others.

Over the years, I have witnessed firsthand the negative effect that homegrown politics and homespun discrimination can have on young impressionable minds. As a teacher, I have met students with very fixed opinions about the past and the world around them. Some of their views are disturbing to say the least.

One of my main objectives with Tales of Cyprus is to try and dispel, as many myths about my ancestral home as possible beginning with the myth that purports that Muslims and Christians on the island did not get along and were quite different in culture, background and character.

I have interviewed over 250 elderly Cypriots so far for Tales of Cyprus. When I asked them to express their views and opinions about Turkish / Greek relationships during the British era, they usually announce quite convincingly and proudly that Muslims and Christians were always friends. “There weren’t any problems,” they tell me. “We lived together peacefully and in harmony. We were like brothers and sisters.”

After conducting many interviews with both Greek and Turkish Cypriots, I soon began to see a clearer picture emerging about my parent’s generation. This was quite a revelation for me. I have had a steady queue of people throughout my life trying to convert me to accept their ideology or version of the past. Thankfully, I have never subscribed to the opinions of people who lack personal experience or any real evidence to support their claims.

For me, the living memories of my interviewees are pure gold. I wasn’t around in the first half of the twentieth century and therefore did not witness the way of life they describe; therefore, I can ONLY base my views on the recollections of the Cypriots who were actually there. After, what can be better than an eye-witness account.

I hope in time, when assessing the truth about the past, more people will rely on the evidence supported by the living memories of those who were actually there rather than believing the unsubstantial claims of the ignorant few who weren’t.

The following transcripts are taken from video interviews conducted by my friend Huseyin Halil for RIK2. Huseyin and his film crew travelled around the island interviewing elderly Greek the Turkish Cypriots to find out how the two communities co-existed before 1950. I am grateful to have been allowed permission to translate some of these interviews into English for Tales of Cyprus.

Needless to say, I am not surprised to hear the many heartfelt confessions by these elderly Cypriots who recall a time of bliss and unity. The one common and resounding ‘truth’ revealed by each person was that there was once a time in Cyprus when Muslims and Christians co-existed without malice, prejudice or discrimination. “We were like brothers,” is a reoccurring statement.

Anyway, enough from me – I’ll let you read these living memories for yourself.

(Please note: The word Turk or Turkish in these transcripts refers to Cypriots who are Muslim).

OURANIA PETROU PELOPITHA FROM ANOGYRA VILLAGE, LIMASSOL.

“I remember when Afet was getting married and she chose my sister Vasiliki to be her ‘koumera’ (maid of honour). On the day of her wedding she was bragging to the whole village that it was the Christian girls who dressed her. We were so close, so close. It pains me to think about those days; such a shame.”

ANTHOULLA LOUROUTSATI FROM LURUCINA VILLAGE, NICOSIA.

“When I was a child we played with all the children in the neighbourhood. Not one person would care or distinguish whether you were Muslim or Christian. It was never discussed. As far as we were concerned, we were all the same. Everyone spoke Greek you see. After school we worked in the fields together, I would sew and embroider with the Turkish women. My friend Ayse would bring her machine to my house. We got along extremely well.”

NICHOLAS HADIGIVANAKIS – AKAKI VILLAGE, NICOSIA.

“Don’t believe what anyone says – we didn’t have any problems with the Turks. We lived together, we worked together, and we celebrated together. We were like brothers. I remember the Hoja in the next village had a general store and everybody would come from all around to shop there. Everybody. I’m waiting and I’m praying for the day when we can all live together once again; the way it used to be.”

TROFAS IROTHOTOU – LEFKE VILLAGE, NICOSIA.

“I remember Enver son of Naim. We were together from sixteen years old working for Yianni the painter. Enver’s father had an orange grove and once a week Enver would bring me a sack of oranges. At the market you would pay two shillings for sack this size and here was my friend Enver giving me one sack every week. We loved and cared for each other very much. We didn’t have any problems with the Turks in the village. At the coffee houses we were always together. We played cards together, mupa (football) together, baseball – whatever it was we were always together. I feel like crying when I think about it because actually we didn’t have a problem.”

NIKOS KONSTANTINOU – AMARGETI VILLAGE – PAPHOS.

“Honestly the only trouble I can remember was when one of our Greek girls in the village fell in love with a Turkish boy. The problem was that this girl was already married but did not like her husband so she ran off with the Turkish boy. After a few stones were thrown things settled down and the girl eventually went on to marry the Turkish boy and had a family. That was the only incident that occurred in our village that I can remember. Of course we are talking before 1953.”

CHRISANTHOS XENOFONDOS – AMARGETI VILLAGE – PAPHOS.

“By luck I was born in a house opposite an little orphaned Turkish girl who was the same age as me. We played together every day. I would go to her house and she would come to my house. We played together, every day until we were six years old. The point I’m making is that we were allowed to be together. My father always worked alongside the Turks in the village.”

CHRYSTOTHOLOS LOIZOU – AMARGETI VILLAGE – PAPHOS.

“Five, six Turkish boys that I knew – we played together. They would come to my house and I would go to their house. My father was a farmer, we were quite poor and these boys would come and help us with threshing and what ever was required. My mother would always arrive with something hot to feed us all in the fields.”

ANDREAS KAIZER – AMARGETI VILLAGE – PAPHOS.

“Our church and the Tzami (mosque) were opposite each other. When the Turks were celebrating Bayrami the school children and the people at the kafenion would go over to wish them a good Bayrami. When it was our Easter they would come over to us to wish us a ‘kalo paska’ (Good Easter) and we would give them flaounes and sweets. We lived together peacefully and we worked together peacefully. We strived to help each other with everything; with the flour milling; with the threshing; with the grape picking; whatever needed to be done. Religion didn’t come into it. We went to church they went to the mosque. I remember on Good Friday the Turks in the village would line the streets to bear witness to the procession of the Epitaphios (Επιτάφιος). There was respect for one another and our own religious rites.”

ANNA KATSOURA – ANGLISIDES VILLAGE – LARNACA.

“We went to each other’s wedding. We would loan each other tables and chairs for the reception and helped with the food and drink. We danced and sang together all night and then we even slept all together. Doesn’t that sound nice?”

SOPHIA MICHALI – ANGLISIDES VILLAGE – LARNACA.

“All the neighbours around us were Turkish. But we didn’t refer to them as Turkish back them. There was Yusef over there, Huseyin across the road. We didn’t distinguish them as Turkish. We were all the same. They had Muslim names and we had Christian names.”

ANDREAS MICHALI – ANGLISIDES VILLAGE – LARNACA.

“Kemal was my best friend. He was a great guy. I remember his father was rather tight-fisted and wouldn’t give him any money so I would help out where I could and buy him cigarettes and stuff that he wanted. Kemal had the first bike in our village. He taught me how to ride. We would roam the countryside together. We were such good friends. One evening he said to me ‘Andrea, let’s ride to Scala.’ So off we went; it was night-time; eighteen miles each way. He was such a great friend.”

ANDREAS PAPANEOPHYTOU – FROM STRONGYLOS, FAMAGUSTA.

“During those times there was no difference between the Turkish and Greek inhabitants. We were all Cypriots. We worked together, we danced together and we sang together. At many of our weddings whoever had Muslim friends they would invite them to attend. After all, our dances were the same and when we sang our voices were the same. Our primary concern was to see how we might be able to help each other with our work and the jobs of the village.” I remember playing mupa (football) with my friends Mustapha, Andreas, Ahmet and Giorgos. We played together, we went to each other’s house and there was never a reason for us to be separated. Our parents approved and the community was as one. Even when our priest would walk down the road all my friends, Muslim and christen alike would offer him the same respect and courtesy. I remember one day when Mustapha was racing around the village on a rather large mule. He was a zizanio (cheeky) like me and he loved to race his mules. Unfortunately, something happened and the mule tripped and Mustapha was thrown from the animal and crashed onto the stony path. His hair was pulled back from the skin to reveal a bloodied scalp. He was hurt very bad. The Mukhtari who had the only vehicle in the village drove the boy to the doctor. The mother of Mustapha besotted by grief for her son grabbed some oil and rushed straight to our church to light a candle and pray to the saint Agios Spyridonas. The boy was saved and when he returned to the village, his mother made a point of tell everyone that it was the saint that saved his life.”

DIMITRIS DIMITRIOU – LAPITHOS VILLAGE

“When I was growing up I couldn’t tell the difference between the Turkish and Greek Cypriots in the village. We were all the same. We grew up as one family. One family. We were poor, and we all worked hard. Our parents were illiterate so they worked hard to send their children to school.

I made friends with Muslims. I remember my classmates Memet, Adnan, Ertan Oz and Salih. These were my friends. If they had Bayrami we went. When we had Pascha they came to ours. We were always together. We went to each other’s weddings too. No one said or cared if you were Christian or Muslim. I am Dimitri: you are Sait. That was the way it was.”

LOUKAS ANDRONIKOU – DROMOLAXIA VILLAGE, LARNACA.

“My football team had some great players. We had Nazim Ali, Huseyin Alaman, Zekai and Mustafa. We played together united as one big happy team. There were no issues. My friend Nazim Ali once played in a Greek theatrical play and he was so committed to his role that he was able to learn his lines and spoke them in perfect Greek. They loved our traditions and we loved theirs. We were the same.

My father used to tell me that in the olden days there was a little kafenion that belonged to the Hala Sultan Tekke and they had coffee, sugar and a coal-based stove that was always alight. The kafenion owners allowed Christians any time to come and use the stove to make their own coffee without any discrimination. There was such open φιλοξενία (hospitality) back then.”

NINA ANDRONIKOU – DROMOLAXIA, LARNACA.

“I was born in the Turkish Mahala (neighbourhood). I grew up amongst the Turkish Cypriots until I was twenty years old. We got along so well, I mean extremely well. I didn’t think to go and play with the Greek Cypriots in the village. All day I was with the Turkish girls: to play, to run. It was a joyous time for me. What can I tell you? We were never apart. I remember them all even today. There was Hatice, there was Neriman, and there was Havva. We were together all day – all day. I remember going to their weddings. We would all sit together in a large room – all women and the violinist would play his tunes. The violinist had to be blind. He wasn’t allowed to see the women. It was a room full of women and the bride would be there all dressed up and looking beautiful. There were women painting her the bride’s with henna. We stayed in that room for three days. Each night the bride would wear a different dress. The first night her dress was rose coloured, the second the dress was blue and the last night her dress was white. The men were separated from the women. They would all be celebrating at the kafenion with their brass instruments and their drums.”

PANAYIOTA SOLOMI – KOMI KEBIR VILLAGE, FAMAGUSTA.

“From the time we were toddlers we used to pay together with the little Turkish children in the village. My friend was Serife. My father worked with Ibrahim and they were like brothers. We never had a problem. We never – we never had any ill feeling towards our Turkish neighbours.”

PANAYIOTIS KKLOS – INIA VILLAGE, PAPHOS.

“I finished primary school in my village of Inia in 1945. My mother, who was a widower raising seven children could not afford to send me to the gymnasium (high school) in Ktima. I was destined to become a shepherd. My papou Haralambos however (God bless him) felt pity on me and arranged to send me to a Turkish school in Arodes. So barefoot with my donkey we travelled together to Arodes where we met the schoolteacher Mustapha. The schoolteacher accepted me into his classroom without any hesitation. He sat me at the front of the class next to a boy named Ahmet. At that time, Greek language was not allowed to be taught in Turkish schools but the teacher would still translate the lesson into Greek just for me. Little by little I was able to speak Turkish and was able to complete all my lessons with high marks. My classmates had accepted me from the start and they all loved me as I too loved them.”

NICOS CHRISTOU – PENTAKOMO VILLAGE, LIMASSOL.

“We lived together very well indeed. We didn’t have any problems. If anyone visited the village they couldn’t distinguish who was Turkish and who was Greek. I’m telling you – we looked and acted the same. They spoke our language the same as us; exactly the same. There was no difference. We were like brothers.”

KOSTAKIS PANAYI – PENTAKOMO VILLAGE, LIMASSOL.

“We were always together. At no time did anyone distinguish whether you were Christian or Muslim. We drank together, we celebrated together, we went to each other’s weddings; to each other’s coffee houses together and we played cards together. We were like brothers.”

STELIOS CHRISTOU – PENTAKOMO VILLAGE, LIMASSOL.

“I had many Muslim friends. There was Kemal, Turan, Beyzade and Hasancik. With little Hasancik we used to play-wrestle for the amusement of the elders. We would all sit in large holes in the ground, eating together, talking and even sleeping together in the great holes with our flocks of sheep nearby.”

KATERINA PATSALOU – PERISTERONA VILLAGE, PAPHOS.

We were no different. Whenever the Turkish women had milk they would bring me fresh anari (ricotta style cheese). When they had watermelons they would always give us some. We got along very well. When my neighbour was baking bread, she would call me to her house to eat with her. We were the same. We shared so much together. At night if I were walking with other girls along a narrow path, the Turkish men would lean against the wall to allow us enough room to walk past them without difficulty. No, no my friend we got along very well. I didn’t meet anyone back then who had a problem with the Turks.”

KYRIACOS ELETHERIOU – PERISTERONA VILLAGE, PAPHOS.

“My father used to build houses for the Turks in the village. At that time there was no money and he was struggling to buy equipment and materials. A Turkish friend by the name of Mümtaz loaned my father 200 pounds to buy a machine that he needed. With the amazing generosity of the Turk, my father was able to continue to build his houses. Two hundred pounds was a lot of money back then. My father would have had to sell a property or go into debt to get that sort of money. Thanks to Mümtaz however he did not need to do this.”

CHRYSTALLA LOUKIA – ASOMATOS VILLAGE, LIMASSOL.

“Let me tell you a story. When I was very small my parents became very ill and were sent to hospital. My eldest sister who was ten at the time had to look after the four of us children. It was our good neighbours Abdullah and Hatice who stepped in to help us. They killed a rabbit and helped my sister to prepare a meal to feed us. You can’t forget these acts of kindness.”

GIANOULLA VRONTI – AMBELIKOS VILLAGE, LIMASSOL.

“We got along extremely well with our Turkish neigbours. I remember as a child going to watch the Karaghiozis puppet theatre at the kafenion. We all sat together, Christians and Muslims. You couldn’t separate us. There was no other entertainment in those days. It was only later when we would discover the cinema.”

AFRODITI ARISTARHOU – KALAVASOS VILLAGE, LARNACA.

“We got along ‘mια χαρα’ (fine) with our Turkish neighbours. There was so much trust between us. My father’s friend Halil would place my sister and I on his donkey to accompany him to his fields whenever he was sowing or threshing. Two little girls on a donkey. He brought his bulgur wheat so we could cook for him.”