Reuters World News - Coffee and politics at the 'traitors club' in a divided Cyprus

Episode Date: August 3, 2024

The ethnically split island of Cyprus is a persistent source of tension between Greece and Turkey, which are both partners in NATO but are at odds over numerous issues. Their differences are laid bare in Nicosia, the world's last remaining divided capital city with a buffer zone controlled by the United Nations. Agreement between Turkey and Greece is seemingly a long way off, but that hasn't stopped residents from forming friendships.  Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter here. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast here. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The sound of sirens echoing across the Mediterranean island of Cyprus in late July. Their presence, a reminder of a moment in history that has left the island divided for half a century. Lying about 40 miles south of Turkey, Cyprus is a popular tourist spot for Europeans, boasting tall mountains, fertile valleys and sandy beaches. But in 1974, the Turkish military invaded part of the island. in response to a brief Greek-inspired coup. But in the heart of this city, split in half, unusual friendships have started to come about

in the hope of finding peace. On this episode of Reuters World News, we visit Nicosia, the world's last divided capital city. We hear how that division impacts people today, why an island only 160 miles wide is of such strategic importance. and we meet an unlikely group of friends trying to bridge a divide between the two communities. I'm your host, Tara Oaks, in Liverpool. In 2003, the border that split Cyprus was open for the first time in decades.

Since then, an unlikely mix of Greek and Turkish Cypriots have been getting together every weekend in a cobbled courtyard in Nicosia. Our Cyprus reporter, Michelle Cambus, has been to meet them and find out more. about this group. They jokingly call themselves the Traitors Club. They've been meeting every Saturday morning

for the past 20 or years in a place called the Buyukhan. It's a 16th century Ottoman inn on the northern part of Nicosia. It's a very, very informal setting.

This looks very much like a traditional Cypriot coffee shop where there's small cups of Turkish coffee. They drink Airan, which is a yoghurt drink. Anyone is welcome.

They make strangers feel exceptionally welcome. They actually get a lot of foreign visitors who have heard about them, including diplomats. The camaraderie between them is amazing. You can tell that they are all exceptionally close.

When one person walked in, they all broke into a happy birthday for this person who had just turned 70. and they sit and chat about everything. Obviously they do discuss the Cyprus problem, but they also discuss their grandchildren, their kids. We are all friends, and along with our coffee,

we discuss politics, the latest developments. We have become such good friends that for us, coming here every Saturday, is part of our lives, is part of our weekly routine. This particular group started when one man crossed over soon after the checkpoints opened. Andreas Paralikis, he was a Greek-Sypria on a mission to find an old Turkish-Sipriac-Classmate and encountered a complete stranger instead. He went into one particular store where he encountered Hassan Chirakli.

We had a coffee and then a couple of days later on he came again. And then I called some of my friends and then the group grew. And this place has given us the opportunity to have some hope for the Cyprus problem, to show people that Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots can be friends and live together. It never occurred to me that 50 years later we would be talking about reunification of our country. We thought it was a political problem that was going to be solved. sooner or later, this anniversary that it's 50 years since the invasion, for us it's very, very painful.

So for us, meeting our friends, Turkish Cypriots, friends, and having coffee and also dinners and also trips outside Nicosia, for us is a small part of bringing the two communities together. Despite my huge disappointment, with our politicians, north and south, I believe that one day there will be a solution. So, Michelle, what's the significance of the Traitors Club? We have to recall that from 1974 until 2003, when the checkpoints opened, these two communities, the Greek Cypriot community and the Turkish Cypriot community,

had virtually no contact whatsoever. So feelings of distrust run very, very. very, very deep. And that's why it is good to see virtual strangers reach out to the other across the divide and are still going strong 21 years later. A short drive from where Andreas and Hassan meet, along with other members of the Traitors Club, is a once-bustling hub of Nicosia International Airport. But for 50 years, it has stood deserted. An old Trident airliner riddled with bullet holes sits abandoned on the cracked tarmac. Inside the derelict terminal building is like a museum,

a moment in time from 50 years ago. There are wooden passport checks and rows of old seating, where passengers once excitedly travelled to the ends of the world, as one 70s advert on the wall puts it. Now, there are piles of rubble and dust, and only pigeons travel through the building. It sits on a hill in the western outskirts of Nicosia. This is where we meet Alim Siddique,

spokesperson for the United Nations. peacekeeping force in Cyprus. This airport has been closed since 1974, when we saw some of the most heaviest fighting between the sides. And it was in 1974 that the United Nations Force Commander at the time declared the area around the airport, a UN protected area, and it has remained under the control of the United Nations ever since. It's actually frozen in time.

And the world of aviation, the world of airports have moved on since then. Although there were several attempts over the years by the sides to reach an agreement, to see the airport being reopened, restored, rehabilitated, the sides were unable to reach an agreement. There are tens of thousands of people who live and work inside the buffer zone. There are villages, there are factories, there are homes. And where we are able to allow people access to their land or to their business or their property, without it affecting the status quo,

we play a key role in facilitating civilian access to the buffer zone. So we want the buffer zone to become like a normal area of land, essentially, while at the same time protecting its special status, separating the two sides. Greek Cypriot President Nikos Christodouladis calling for a reunification of the island on July 20th this year, the 50th anniversary of the Turkish invasion. Although it's been decades since there was any violence between the two sides, the mood to mark 50 years since the invasion is very different in the north and south. Greek Cypriots gathered in a cemetery to remember 3,000 people who died.

Among them, Andrula Aristodemu, holding a banner of a number. with photos of people missing since 1974, one of her relatives among them. On the same day and just a few miles north, in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, President Tayyip Erdogan is in town for what is a celebration of its military operation. The different moods highlighted how the ethnically split island

is a persistent source of tension between Greece and Turkey. Both are NATO members, but at odds over numerous issues. Tuvan Gumruku is our anchor-based foreign policy correspondent. Tuvan, what is the view in Turkey about how the dispute in Cyprus could be resolved? Where do President Tayyip Erdogan and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar stand on the issue? The Cyprus issue is actually a national matter for Turkey and Turks. It's one of the very few issues that all political parties can agree on and don't compromise about ever. So for many years, actually, both the Turkish side and the Greek side, in coordination with the UN, have been discussing a bisonal, bi-communal federation on the island with representation from both sides.

But in recent years, the Turkish side, so both the Turkish Cypriots and Turkey, have been offering to establish a two-state solution based on the equal status and recognition of the two Cypriot communities. But Turkey firmly dug itself into this new position and says that it will not agree on any new round of negotiations unless the equal status of both sides on the island are recognized by the international. national community. And from Ankara's perspective, it's really hard to see the talks yielding results in the near future because they believe that as an EU member, Cyprus does not have the motivation to share the sovereignty of the island with the Turkish side. How does this stalemate impact Ankara's EU ambitions? On paper, EU membership still remains a strategic goal for Turkey. But of course, I mean, the Cyprus issue will emerge as a problem no matter what. So without the resolution of the Cyprus issue, it seems very difficult for Turkey to make significant progress in the direction

of membership. And what about relations between Athens and Ankara? Greece and Turkey are both members of NATO, but in the background, there are odds over Cyprus and their respective stakes on the island. There's always been a host of issues between Turkey and Greece that have remained unresolved for decades now, many stemming from the historical bad blood. But the issue that lies at the heart of all of these and poisons the relationship is the Cyprus issue. So while at the moment these two NATO allies are currently focused on a positive agenda and on improving their strain ties, there's no solution to the Cyprus issue in the horizon, and all of their steps to improve ties will therefore fall short of achieving a final definitive result. Cyprus remains a highly

sensitive issue over which they refuse to back down or compromise. So in the short term, Turkish Greek relations may reach new heights, but they will remain on thin ice as long as the Cyprus issue remains unsolved because for both sides, it's a national matter that involves their ethnic kin. Cyprus is roughly the size of the state of Rhode Island. but it plays a strategic role in the region. Britain has two military bases there, highly secretive intelligence facilities,

and from where it has launched airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. So how does Cyprus fit into the bigger international picture? Back to Tuvan for more on Cyprus's regional significance. Cyprus is the key player in the Eastern Mediterranean and the region. It sits right between Turkey, Greece, and of course, all of the northern African countries and further to the East Israel and Lebanon. And in fact, when they were celebrating the 50th anniversary in northern Cyprus, President Erdogan mentioned the idea of maybe building a Turkish naval base in northern Cyprus.

Turkey's military presence is already an issue, so that would obviously exacerbate some of the concerns around the island. But more recently, for example, we've had the logistics base that was built on Cyprus to take aid and logistical materials into Gaza. that was something that Turks were really unhappy about, not only because it would pin Cyprus as kind of like a hub for these operations, therefore increasing its importance and increasing its communication and relevance within the world, but also because Turkey believes that any kind of military presence on the island, especially on the Greek Cypriot side, poses a threat to the Turkish

Cypriots and to Turkey. And the eastern Mediterranean is an area with considerable energy potential, right, with Cyprus at the juncture of resources including hydrocarbon and natural gas. How does all that impact Cyprus? The issue with Cyprus is that it sits at the heart of a competitive triangle between Turkey, Greece and Cyprus itself. And countries have tried to operate there. But obviously every single attempt causes friction with Turkey, Greece and Cyprus because of the conflicting claims there. Turkey's refusal to recognize the Republic of Cyprus obviously impacts what areas they view as areas on what areas they can allocate to private companies or to their own drill ships.

And likewise, the fact that the northern Cypriot government there is not recognized also causes friction because the countries or private companies wanting to operate their have to then essentially get permission from a non-sovereign country. Thank you to Michelle and Tuvan for their time and insights. You can read more about the 50th anniversary of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus on Reuters.com or on the Reuters app. Reuters World News is produced by Gail Issa, Jonah Green, David Spencer, Christopher Waljasper and me, Tara Oaks. Sound design, music, composition and engineering are by Josh Summer.

Our regular host is Kim Vinal. Carmel Crimmons is our senior editor and our executive editor is Leila de Kretzer. We'll be back on Monday with our daily headline show. And to make sure you never miss an episode, subscribe. And your favourite podcast player, we'll download the Reuters app. Thank you.