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I have just read your page and found it very interesting.
My father comes from a village very near to Famagusta, and he attended school in Varosi. In 2003 we were finally able to cross the so called “green” line and visit the place where my father and grandmother grew up. It was really very fascinating.

Walking along the beach and seeing the ghost town in the distance was a very strange feeling, I just hope that one day Cyprus will be one again. 
The “Cyprus” problem is such a complicated subject, but it is often portrayed in such a black and white way. Greek-Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots were fighting so obviously couldn’t live together. I have leaned so much about the problems in Cyprus, for instance the involvement of the British who fuelled the so called ethnic “mistrust” by there divide and rule policy, the Americans who’s plans for the Island was Partition, as well as the involvement of Turkey, (Who would not have got involved if it wasn’t for the British) and Greece and the part the cold war played.
The fighting that broke out between the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriots is often used as an excuse for the division of the Island, but people on both sides were manipulated, bombs were planted by certain organisations and blamed on others to fuel anger. And the violence that did occur was often exaggerated for propaganda purposes, I’m not saying that violence didn’t break out, but it was mainly committed by extremists who were like pawns in a game of chess for stronger political powers. People have to remember that Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots lived in harmony for such a long time before all these problems occurred.

You have to look at the village of Pila in the south that contains both Greek and Turkish Cypriots who live together quite happily.
EOKA has also been mentioned, even though one of the wants of EOKA, which at that time reflected the opinion of “the people” did want Enosis, becoming joined with Greece, it’s main aim was independence from the British. I am sorry to have made my comment so political, and there are bound to be people who disagree with me which is what makes us human after all.  The Turkish Cypriots when we went to the north were fantastic, so helpful, kind and friendly.
We went to my great-grandfathers allotment, and we came across a Turkish Cypriot farmer who was so friendly, he even gave us some vegetables which made my nans day. As well as that we met the Man who now owned the land and again to my nans delight we found out that he was the son of one of my great-grandfather’s best friends! As well as that in the old town In Famagusta we met and spoke with an old Turkish Cypriot man whom we found out was stationed in the same regiment as my grandfather in WW2.

Unfortunately because of it’s strategic position in the Mediterranean, Cyprus has always had outside interest, especially recently, making it’s inhabitants, whether they be Turkish Cypriot, Greek Cypriot, maronites, Armenians, Latins….etc, Puppets in an extremely large World show. I really hope that Cyprus will be once again joined together, with all it’s people’s living as one, as it should be!!. (P.S, sorry if I have offended anyone, it was unintentional! (“,))        

C.Sergi
c.sergi@btinternet.com

 

Was in Southern Cyprus with my family in April this year and we met Thiakos Zissis whilst we were at his coffee shop.  He is a very nice and gentle man as it seems are the Greek Cypriots.  The same cannot be said of the Turks as you only have to look at their human rights record which tells you everything.  It's an absolute disgrace what Turkey has done and continues to do to Cyprus.  I will never visit Turkey I could never go to a Country that I don't respect.
LORRAINE
loz@limegroveestates.com

 

Hi, I am a journalist who is interested in finding out more about Famagusta and how it is possible to gain access to the city for journalistic purposes. Please contact me at activista79@hotmail.com...I would really appreciate any leads you might have, to find out more information about the city. Thank you! -Orli
Orli <activista79@hotmail.com>San Francisco, CA USA -

 

So sorry to see what has been done to your people and beautiful country.Have just come back from holidays and was sad to see a divided city and the people that suffered at the hands of the turkish goverment.
emmanuel connolly <e.connolly3@ntlworld.ie>Dublin, IRELAND -

 

Cyprus will be free!!
Anette Gustafson <anette.gustafson@comhem.se>Göteborg, Sweden -

 

I visited the the viewing tower about 3-4 years ago, this was the 1st i had heard of this. I feel for all the people, as i think this is a very sad tragedy to happen to anyone. I think that the UN should keep helping out until this comes to an end. Alot of people have suffered through this and have lost alot in their lives. They all have my deepest sympathy.
Marie Herriman <Marieherriman@aol.co.uk>UK -

 

I have visited Southern Cyprus once and only when I arrived did I find out about the atrocities of 1974. I went to a viewing tower on the border where U.N. troops were patrolling (with their guns armed and ready to fire at invaders) and we could see clearly the town of Famagusta. The silence was terrifying when people saw the town. I stared in awe and interest with the cranes still erect 30 years old, 70's style clothing on washing lines that dried in 1974, food still on tables half-eaten, car doors opened from drivers fleeing the battle-ground..... I am disgusted at the Turkish because Cyprus is one country not two. I hope one day this will be resolved and the country given back to it's rightful owners. Are the Turkish not happy with a country that they have already got? With 60million people living in it? What difference would the 800,000 Cypriots make to the Turkish?
Paul Rostron <paul.rostron1@ntlworld.com>Manchester, UK -

 

I have been to the south of island seven times and i am booked to go again. I have also been to the North (Kyrenia/Girne) and find both to be fantastic and welcoming. The unfortunate thing is that although i have several Greek Cypriot friends i find it very sad that the Greek side choose to say all the bad things started in 1974. Anyone who research's the truth and reads The Genocide Files by an non-cypriot British man (Harry Scott Gibbons) will see there is far more to it than just a Turkish Army invasion. But as they say two wrongs don't make a right and i truely hope both sides can find a suitable agreement that will let them all live in peace. I have also driven down the back of Varosha and find it amazing such an area can be just left fenced off with no one using it and just the very loud sound of grasshoppers to be heard. The City of Farmagusta is actually a busy and beautiful town though. The saddest thing i saw in the North though had to be what has happened to the church's though. I am not religious but they are mostly falling down, the ones that aren't have been turned into 'Icon Museums' which has totally ruined there character (St. Mama's and St. Barnabus Monastry to name some). But the saddest of all was the St. Panteleimon monastery which looked very big but was behind army fencing and looked in a terrible condition. But as i said every story has two sides.
Peter Preece <pipreece@aol.com>Manchester, UK -

 

I was born in Australia,and my parents are from Cyprus. My roots are from Cyprus and this current situation of North & South is wrong. Cyprus MUST go back to ONE Island. Chris.
Chris Pallikaros <karos@bigpond.net.au>Melbourne, Vic Australia -

 

Regrettably we have been obliged to remove some of the more abusive & provocative posts from this guestbook - and we will continue to remove them if they reappear.
We discourage political posts but in the interest of balance we will not delete them at this time.
Information on Cyprus matters can be obtained from The United Nations Force in Cyprus website.
A source we can describe as being reasonably free of bias.
Thank you - Inhostage Admin. -

 

The most beautiful holiday island and hospitable people that you could wish for, hence we return year after year. Our first visit happened to be to the 'south' and that is why and where our loyalty lays. Cant help but remain fascinated and saddened by Famagusta. Surely, hopefully this town will one day once again be enjoyed by the people who have every right to live and work there.
Alan Buss <alanbuss@hotmail.com>

- "Non-political"? Give me a break: all the comments here are pro-Greek. Before taking sides, you British tourists who think the Greeks have been so badly treated, do a little research into the events of 1970-1972. And try googling for "EOKA".
Neil Hoskins <neilh.net@boltblue.com>Nottingham, UK -

 

Hi Neil - please note that the posts on the page are from members of the general public on-line and as such if their opinions are "pro Greek" then they still have a perfect right to express them.  Admin

 

Just come back from a Lads holiday in Ayia Napa Cyprus, but took time out to visit Famagusta and found it extremley interesting and very sad. I hope one day this town gets given back to its rightfull owners, i cnever forget the quiteness,calmness,motionless sight i saw that day for a long time.It felt like a timewarp stepping back in time looking at Famagusta,andwhy,because it looked stunning in the early days.I hope someday the people of Famagusta can return to their birth places,and the rest of northern Cyprus.
D.REA
CO.ANTRIM, N.IRELAND -

 

My wife is originally from Varosha(we now run a travel agency in Paphos) but I am here in England until July as our son is studying at college.Obviously,I visted the north many times since we came back to Cyprus to live in 1979 so your site is of great interest to us and of course my wife has been over there too after the border was opened last year.How old are the photos on this site?I was actually lucky enough to be allowed a very short visit to the Edelweiss where the U.N. have an observation post back in the early 1980's but was not allowed to take any photos or go and explore anywhere else,including our own house which is about 15 minutes walk from there! By the way, the B.B.C. crew that was allowed in a few years ago made several hours of film, but only brief extracts have been shown on CYBC t.v-do you have any information about it?? Best regards, Martin.
Martin Standage <cymarprestige@hotmail.com>York, England -

 

my wife and i along with our friends went to the viewing point to look at the now pityfull town of Farmagusta and we were all saddened and moved at what we saw. I do hope that one day the town will be returned to its rightful owners, and once again become the jewel it once was.
Nigel Shields <n.shields@bmhconstruction.co.uk>Herts, England -

 

My wife and I spent a great deal of our early holidays in the Greek Islands and particularly Crete, which we found delightful. We have visited Southern Cyprus on three occasions and were struck by the blatant commercialism and outrageous sprawl of cheap hotels for the low class market. The majority of the Greek Cypriots were welcoming but their attitude to the visitor seemed to be money driven and influenced by the large number of mainland Greeks who seem to control the "seedier" side of things.

Our experience has confirmed to us that Southern Cyprus is not a place we wish to return to. Earlier this year we visited Northern Cyprus and stayed in a first class hotel in Girne (Kyrenia). Our reception could not have been more different; the people were friendly, happy and quite obviously had a good standard of living.

We felt our welcome was not driven by money and nowhere were the prices inflated because we were visitors. We visited the church in Famagusta, which was photographed in another piece written on the web as evidence of the Turkish desecration of the Christian faith. The actuality was quite different.

The church had been converted to a mosque some centuries before and the Christian tombs had been carefully and respectfully preserved and were proudly shown to us. The "Church" appeared empty "apart from a few rugs" because this is how the inside of a mosque appears. (Visit the mosque of Mohammed Ali in Egypt or the Buddhist temple in Cumbria to see the difference between Christian and other churches)

I am sure the division of Cyprus had rights and wrongs from both sides, but as an Englishman I am well aware of the tactics of EOKA in the 1960s when the Greeks were pressing their case. I am all for re-unification of Cyprus but let the Island remain divided into Turkish and Greek Cypriot sectors as the old tribal differences will never heal all the time their is external influence from Mainland Greece and Turkey.
Chris Edgecombe <edgecombe_chris@hotmail.com>UK -

 

this site is what ive been looking for for over two years now. it is very sad, a terrific injustice, we love cyprus,so much that we are marrying there this july, 2004.i congratulate the author for his work here on the site, it is a monument to all famagusta victims, we hope that soon the island may be re-united,but....... only if the land and property is returned to all rigtful owners.i feel that the media coverage of the recent vote does not do justice to the greek cypriots.
darren&gina <shadzz@ntlworld.com>oldham, england -

 

i just got back from cyprus and whilst i was there i took a look at the green line that went throught the middle of the town and it was very sad indeed. we went to the top of woolworths and you could see the turkish flag up on the mountains.
dionne <dionne_cusden@hotmail.com>england -

 

i like this site a lot. please keep on going.
siakoulis serafeim <seraphs69@yahoo.gr>

vagia , greece - looking for Zacchaeus xenophontos, or family members. Wonderful site, that underlines the mass suffering the 'powers that be' continually do to the meek.
joseph joyner <JOEJOYNER@HOTMAIL.COM>CANADA -

 

I was 15.5 when on August 14 1974 my family and I fled from the advancing Turkish troops - for a couple of days we thought. That was nearly 30 years ago. Thanks to a Turkish friend I was able to revisit in November 2002 and walking on the beach again was an incredible feeling. In the words of Stelios Chiotis (the songwriter) in his song Ammohostos roughly translates from Greek "Soil that I have walked on, land that I miss, soil that has resurrected me, (that is) Ammohostos"...
Alexis Hadjisoteriou <alexis@stenasoft.com>London, United Kingdom -

 

 i STAYED WITH MY PARENTS IN THE LORDOS ETOILLE COURT NEXT TO THE SANDY BEACH HOTEL IN SEPTEMBER 1973.i WILL TRY FOREVER TO GET INSIDE THE FORBIDDEN ZONE FOR DESPITE THE LOOTING AND VANDALISM LIES THE ECHOES OF GOOD GREEK AND TURKISH CYPRIOTS WHO WERE DONE A GREAT INJUSTICE BY THE TURKISH MILITARY.IF ANYBODY HAS ANY PHOTOS PAST OR PRESENT FRO M THE JOHN KENNEDY AVE AREA PLEASE SEND TO MIKEOG007@NTLWORLD.COM I PRAY FOR A SOLUTION INMAY THAT WILL BENEFIT BOTH GREEK AND TURKISH CYPRIOTS. MIKE
mike <mikeog007@ntlworld.com>manchester, ENGLAND !!!! -

 

This years I was for the third time at your beuatifull island. I was in teh area of Derynea. Visiting the 'Famagusta-centre'I was impresses about the emational pictures I saw and the stories they told me. I t is unbelieveable that such a green line exist in 2003. Even more unbelievable that things had happende in the seventies. I hope, I wish that there will be one Cyprus.
Jan LGJ Morsink <m-inter@home.nl>Borne, The Netherlands - J

 

ust returned from Cyprus went to Nicosia saw how the City was Divided and on a boat trip to View Famagusta, such a vast place so sad that the people that built and lived in the Town were made to leave, we all hope that very soon North Cyprus will be given back to the Rightfull Owners And Everyone can return to there Homes.
lesley jenkins <lesleyjenkinsuk@yahoo.co.uk>redditch, uk -

 

Thank you Thiakos for providing these pictures inside Famagusta. With my family we left Famagusta to escape the 2nd invasion by the Turks only to never return again.

At the time I was 12 years old and was injured by a stray bullet during the coup. Although some people have gone and seen their homes recently I'm still unable to see my house as it's inside the part of Famagusta which is held hostage to this day. In fact I was able to see my street in a photo of the cemetary gate and fence.

If only the photographer turned around, exactly behind him he would of captured a photo of the Police flats which we used to live in until 1974. I clearly remebered most of the sites appearing in Thiakos website and I have once again shed a tear by remembering my home town, Varosi. Philip Koumides
Philip Koup Koumides <philk@vbc.vic.edu.au>Melbourne, Vic Australia -

 

I'm looking for my old friend, Andreas Loutsious from Famagusta. Please have him contact me 847-480-0131, 2125 Vale in until 1974. I clearly remebered most of the sites appearing in Thiakos website and I have once again shed a tear by remembering website and I have once again shed a tear by remembering my home town, Varosi. Philip Koumides
Philip Koup Koumides <philk@vbc.vic.edu.au>
Melbourne, Vic Australia -

 

I have just come back from cyprus it being my 5th visit to this beautiful country where the people are so friendly last year i went on a boat trip from Protaras to view Famagusta from a distance , this year however we learned via a trip we were actulay allowed to access onto the beach and view the sad sights of this once beautiful thriving area it is a absoloute disgrace what Turkey has done to this place and i shed a tear of anger and pity for these poor people who fled from thier houses and buisnesses for no apparent reason i bathed in the sea and walked along the coastline as far as i was permitted as it is barracaded off with wire also being watched by a turish soldier in his sentry box ,the now discarded empty and falling down hotels are indeed a sad sight to see , i wont visit Turkey at all but thats my own personal choice the cypriot people are the warmest welcoming people you could wish to meet and did not deserve for this terrible ordeal to happen to the town of Famagusta which is now a deserted ghost town and anyone who is visiting or plans to visit woud be well worth the effort on going on this trip as it brings home to what these people must have suffered well worth   listening to the actual story on what happened in the 70's , my heart goes out to these people , so sad
XdiamondgalxX@aol.com

 

I came 2 times to Cyprus and I will be back soon - my heart belongs to a Turkish Cypriot girl.
I went to Famagusta - this place is heavy with history, I felt ill-at-ease seeing that.
 I came as neutral in this north/south problem. Looking at websites,articles and other documents... and what is said about the 'turkish occupation'. what goes out from all my researchs is that Greek Cypriots have a bigger voice but not a white role in the story.
 People should know the whole truth. Why don't we talk about EOKA? Turkish cypriot genocide? Nothing happened without reasons. Greeks have a big responsabilities in this story, Turkish have their part too. No one is all black or all white.  No one is innocent.
 Only cypriots people: the victims of few people madness and sellfishness.  Both parts are guilty, both parts have suffered, both parts are in pain.
 I can tell that people in the south are very kind people ! Very helpful and nice! And in the north : the same! (but maybe lazier workers,:-) ) But they are also very kind and welcoming!
The food you eat is very similar, the music you listen looks like each others,your angers and fears are also similar ...
I believe it is time for childrens to grow up. It is time old brothers drops the hate and forgive each others...

 

 lewsor@gmail.com

 

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