Hot Head

By Sanjay Kapoor

Ledra Street is the major shopping district of Cyprus's laid-back capital Nicosia. Its quaint buildings, cafés and small shops selling curios and souvenirs superficially represent a typical tourist destination where visitors lazily walk through its alleys in search of good bargains. Ledra Street is not just a simple street; it's a lot more. It defines, in its own way, the physical and political contours of an island state that has been a battleground for competing ambitions of its more powerful neighbours and even bigger powers.

When the Cypriots were fighting for independence from the British army in the 1950s, it was called: ‘The Murder Mile'. Cypriot snipers holed themselves up in the buildings and shot dead soldiers of the British army. Ledra Street was later partitioned, like the rest of Cyprus, after the Turks responded adequately to a Greek-sponsored coup to take control of the island nation.

History seems to speak from the brick-laden pathways and the wall that divides Ledra Street between the parts controlled by the Greeks and the Turks. For 44 years, the street was partitioned, till the new president, Dimitris Christofias, representing the Leftist Akel party, decided to embark on an audacious reunification programme with Turkish Cyprus. On April 3 this year, a short passageway was opened on the northern side of Ledra Street that went through the UN-controlled buffer zone. Ecstatic columnists compared this to the demolition of the Berlin Wall. Peace activists spontaneously converged to give meaning to the brave effort of their president by lighting candles. "We want peace to return to this land. We want the two parts to be reunified," exclaimed an excited student to this writer who visited the street a day after it was opened.

President Christofias may have symbolically removed the last physical barrier that separates the two, thus giving freedom to people from both sides to move back and forth -- albeit with some restrictions -- but it's still a long way before he can remove the partition that has seized the minds of his people. Greek Cypriots still lament the fact that the Turks came and partitioned their lovely island. Forty four years of separation has hardened attitudes and created negative stereotypes.

If a visitor asks a local in Nicosia about what can be found on the Turkish side, the stock reply is: the Turkish part is not developed. They would also hint at the fact that as the Greek area is part of the European Union (EU), it is more advanced. A short trip to the beautiful Kyrenia, which is under the control of the Turks, revealed that the other half is not doing too badly. Kyrenia's idyllic setting, that includes an ancient harbour and a castle, is a favoured destination for British expatriates who want to sun themselves at a discount. There are a lot of people who cross over to Kyrenia from Nicosia to work everyday, but there are many who just don't want to go there lest it gives legitimacy to the Turks who violently tore their country apart. The raging debate over a preponderantly Muslim Turkey joining the EU has acquired both nationalistic and religious overtones in Greek Cyprus. Many in Nicosia do not share the enthusiasm of their Leftwing president to shed the baggage of the past and reunify. They want the Turks to be punished and keeping them away from the EU is one way of doing it.

This deep-rooted partition in the minds of people is more difficult to bridge than just opening up borders. Deeply divided societies like Sri Lanka are a good example where the Sinhalas refuse to trust the Tamilians. The Tamil Tigers' fight against the Sri Lankan State is largely sustained by the hatred that the two ethnic groups have for each other. India and Pakistan, even after 61 years of partition, have not reconciled to it. They have fought wars and even after many rounds of negotiations and attempts at normalising relations, they still suffer from serious deficit of trust. So what's the way out?

Break the walls. Let people meet and do business with each other. It worked in Berlin. And surely, it can work in Ledra Street and elsewhere in the world

By Sanjay Kapoor

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