The eternal beauty with stains… Sevgul Uludag Τel: 00 357 99 966518 00 90 542 853 8436 What is it about this country that makes us fall in love with it so desperately, so much that it hurts? Is it the colour of the sky, such a blue that reflects our sea? Is it the stars we look up at night, the moon that shines on us, the sun that touches us, burns us and yet gives life to everything? Stops us from staying depressed for a long time since so long there is the sun shining, we forget the misery, the rains, the storms, things that had upset us and find the energy to carry on… Is it the waves telling us stories from centuries ago about how pirates used to attack, how ships used to come and go, how everyone wanted to get hold on to this land and how they came and how they remained and later became part of us? All their remnants are here in the form of historical remains or names in our geography, words we use – sometimes well hidden and yet if you look close enough, ready to show its colours and tell you its stories… Is it the olive oil, so clear and so beautiful made of our olives collected from trees that had been here for centuries standing in the fields, offering us their olives and their leaves to burn and pray against the evil eye? Is it the food, a mixture of Turkish-Ottoman-Greek-Arabic-Middle East-English-Italian-French, the story of centuries of people coming and going from this island and leaving with us such a taste that can't be found anywhere else? Is it the food we cook with so much love and care and offer to family and friends in order to celebrate life? Is it the smell of the kleftico, the shish kebab, the juicy lamb, the smiling chubby tomatoes that had acquired so much sun to turn red and give us all its juice and taste of the sun? Is it our oranges and tangerines with a distinct smell, offering us all their energy that they got from the earth? What is it that makes us love this country so much as we love nowhere else on earth like this? Is it the seashore that I walk on, the turquoise colour of the water, the frothy waves, the smell of salt and the rocks I climb on here at Agia Irini, behind me the forest, under me the ancient tombs, in front of me the waves telling me they had always been here and welcoming me, whispering to me, the wind caressing my hair? Is it the tiny purple flowers, the colour purple spread out in dots above the green? Is it the green fields very quickly turning into yellow, being born and reborn again and again for so many centuries? Is it the Kochino Gremmo and Aspro Gremmo hills above Agia Marina village that takes your breath away when it's springtime with its purple and pink and yellow tulips (laledes), wild artichokes and asparagus, offering the best view overlooking the Morphou Bay? What is it that makes us love this country more than anywhere else on earth? So much that it hurts sometimes and yet puts a smile on our lips and our heart pounding with each new discovery of eternal beauty of this land… I go to Agia Irini in search of the `missing persons` and this place mesmerizes me… I discover a beach untouched, under protection, a beach where sea turtles come to lay their eggs between June and September… It stretches for around eight kilometres with nothing but emptiness and beauty, an untouched corner of Cyprus not yet spoiled by buildings or tourism… It stretches all the way from Cape Kormakiti to the Bay of Morphou – in the summer, I am told, sand lilies blossom on the beach turning it to a dazzling white, elegant flowers that grow naturally on the sand here… In winter I am told, the sea takes the sand away and all you can see are cobblestones but as summer approaches, the sea that has hidden the sand gives it back so the beach becomes sandy – otherwise the sea turtles could not come to lay their eggs if there was no sand here… I discover a restaurant on the beach, the only one, built like a rotund, a round building with wood and glass called `Caretta`… It serves fresh fish from these shores – there are only two or three fishermen around here and they catch the Milekopi to serve cooked on charcoal, a delicious fish for me to taste… I take my husband, and then a Greek Cypriot friend who had come for holidays from Germany, and then an Armenian Cypriot friend Nouritsa, a Greek Cypriot friend Christina and a Turkish Cypriot friend Ferah… I show them the beauty, the reason why we love Cyprus so much and can't ever leave and even if we leave, we seek it in our dreams and everywhere, missing it, longing for it and eventually finding a way to come back to it… I want to show this eternal beauty to everyone I know, to share it so that they can become happy like me… We sit to look at the sea and let the breeze caress our hair… This whole area is under protection just like Karpaz. An assault is already underway from building roads and hotels in Karpaz and environmentalist groups are trying to defend the natural beauty and the historical heritage of Karpaz… In about ten years, after they have finished with Karpaz perhaps they will turn their eyes and their greed on Agia Irini (Akdeniz) area and this eternal beauty will turn into something that you can find on any seashore in the Mediterranean, an ordinary place with hotels and peripteros and kiosks and bungalows and fast food and we might forever lose its natural beauty… The village itself is unique in the sense that no outsider lives here – all who live in Agia Irini (Akdeniz) are the local villagers – originally a mixed village until 1974, Agia Irini had Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots living together here… In 1974, there has been bloodshed in the village and two Turkish Cypriots, Erdogan Mustafa and Fikret Mehmet Kalyoncu have been killed and taken and buried on this beautiful beach by some Greek Cypriots and they are still `missing`… Some other Turkish Cypriots have also been killed in 1974 in this beautiful village by some Greek Cypriots. There have been excavations here for the two `missing` Turkish Cypriots but not yet with any results and the excavations continue… In 1974, Vasilou Piperari, Charalambos Kelepeshi, Christodoulos and Maria Tylliros have been killed in the village by some Turkish Cypriots and they too are still `missing`. Although with the help of my readers from this area we had shown some possible burial sites and there have been some excavations, nothing has been found yet – perhaps they changed their burial site and reburied them elsewhere… There are still some possible burial sites that we showed that have not been excavated yet so we will see what might come out… There are three other `missing` Greek Cypriots, taken from Kormakitis area to this village and killed in Agia Irini by some Turkish Cypriots. They are Andreas Siekkeris, Christakis Panteli and Pantelis Hadjichristoforou, again all civilians… We have shown with the help of my readers some possible burial sites for them – we know now that their burial place have been changed not only once but two times and with the help of a reader from the area, we have shown to the Cyprus Missing Persons' Committee this third possible burial site – there has not been excavations here yet so we wait to see when they excavate whether their remains will be found… The dilemma of this island is that despite such beauty that makes us love this country, there are such tragedies within the picture that hurts… Places like Agia Irini are very rare to find on earth with such natural beauty and yet the humans have managed to spill blood over it… What a shame that we could not protect our beautiful country from such tragedies – perhaps that's why loving Cyprus also hurts our hearts… Perhaps one day we will realize that we don't need anything but only each other as Cypriots living on this land in order to protect this unique island from all sorts of evil, greed and conspiracies… Perhaps one day, we will realize that the only thing we need to do is to protect our historical heritage stretching for centuries back, waiting to be shown to the whole wide world –sitting in the centre of the Mediterranean we have harboured so many civilizations and our historical heritage and our natural beauties are more than enough for our grandchildren to survive on this island, doing nothing else as in the words of a dear friend… Perhaps one day we will realize that spilling each other's blood has brought nothing but pain and has stained our homeland and learn to avoid conspiracies and manipulations at the click of fingers of some who have used both communities to their own ends… Perhaps one day our great grandchildren will enjoy this eternal beauty without feeling hurt inside that is if anything remains of it for the future… 29.5.2013 Photo from Agia Irini-Akdeniz… (*) Article published in the POLITIS newspaper on the 23rd of June 2013, Sunday. |
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