Stories of `property` and the smell of the jasmine.
(*)

Sevgul Uludag

Back in 1974-75 whole villages were moving from the
south to the north. People from Limassol, Paphos,
Larnaca were moving to the northern part of the
island. Population was being `exchanged` based on the
new `division` of the island.
Around 200 thousand Greek Cypriots had left the north
and the total population of the Turkish Cypriots was
not more than 120 thousand. Greek Cypriots had left
behind factories, shops, houses. Land, beaches and
hotels. This was being distributed to Turkish
Cypriots.
Whole villages were settled in empty villages. Some
did not like it: perhaps they had spent all their
lives by the seaside and now were put in the dry
plains of Messaoria. Perhaps they were used to working
in the factories of KEO and now they were settled in
Karpaz. Some moved once again: Those who were settled
in Akathou village moved to the Kyrenia area. They
were used to towns, not remote villages.
You think that people must be crazy not to be able to
fit 120 thousand persons in the houses that 200
thousand had left? But of course! This wasn't a race
of equality and equity. It wasn't about sharing what
was left. It was about who could get what, who could
get more, who could get all! And don't forget please,
that there was another policy pursued by the regime in
the north, together with Ankara: that `settlers` were
brought in to raise the population and to put in the
empty villages and houses that the Greek Cypriots had
left behind.
So there began a huge problem that was extremely
difficult to solve and which got more and more
complicated over the years. First of all, in this part
of the earth, that is the northern part of Cyprus,
there was no `international law`. It was `beyond`
international law. What did it mean than, in real
life? It meant that some would get a lot and some
would get nothing. It meant that those who were
well-off in the south could become very poor
overnight. It meant that some got a house for
themselves, one for their daughter, one for their son,
one for their mother-in-law. Perhaps they had left a
small house in the south but that did not matter.
Because perhaps they had a close relative high-up, who
could overlook the fact that they had almost left
nothing in the south but could get more than their
`share` in this `sharing of the property`.
Greek Cypriots did not only leave houses, they had
also left furniture, books, clothes, jewellery,
photographs and cars. In the beginning it was simple
`looting`. I remember a police commander who was not a
refugee, had never been a refugee but truckloads of
furniture would be sent to his house: his wife threw
out the old furniture, to replace it with the
furniture left behind by Greek Cypriots. Perhaps this
had happened in some villages back in 1963 and 1974 to
Turkish Cypriot homes as well. A Turkish Cypriot
family had told me that when they had left their home
in 1963, their washing machine and television were
stolen from their homes. Later they saw these in one
of the Greek Cypriot neighbor's house. War meant
looting, war meant getting what you did not deserve.
War meant the spoiling of values and those who got
`things`, got `spoilt` as well. You could see this in
their behavior. They were pretending to be something
they were not.
The regime set up shops to sell the `surplus
furniture` - you could go and check what was there.
Armchairs, tables, carpets. Bookcases, cupboards,
vases. Anything and everything you could think of. In
those days, such places were packed with people.
Turkish Cypriots who were refugees from the south
could not bring their furniture with them - they had
left behind the beds they slept in, the sheets woven
by their grandmothers, their curtains, family albums,
clothes - everything you need in the house. So they
had to recreate the `home` they had left behind,
because of force of circumstances.
Until 1985, the property was only distributed to those
who were refugees from the south. But after that date,
a `new system` was created. Now, even if you were not
a refugee, you could get property. If you had been a
soldier, you were given a certain amount of points.
According to the number of points you had, you could
get Greek Cypriot property. Soon a `new market` was
created for buying and selling these points. The
property you wanted to take, say a house by the
seaside would be calculated as worth `500 thousand
points`. If you had only 300 thousand points, you
could buy, in the market the rest of the 200 thousand
points and get the property. The property you had left
in the south would be valued at a certain number of
points. Perhaps the house you left in the south would
be worth 300 thousand points and say, you got a piece
of land, worth only 100 thousand points from the
north. You still had 200 thousand points: you could
get some Greek Cypriot property by these points or
sell these points in the market to make some money!
In the beginning, people were not given `title deeds`
but only a document saying that they were getting the
property in return to the property they had left
behind in the south. But over time, the regime changed
that as well: people would be given `title deeds` and
could now buy or sell Greek Cypriot property.
In the beginning, the Turkish Cypriots who moved into
Greek Cypriot houses were very cautious: for many
years, they would not even paint the houses or make
any changes. They looked at the situation as
`uncertain` and were not sure if they would have to
move again. But over time, with the policies pursued
by the regime in the north, they became more
comfortable living in their houses in the north.
Gradually they started painting, repairing, planting
trees, making changes or adding a room or two. Life
did not stop, children grew up and needed a new room
or two or maybe the family got a car and needed a
garage.
Life did not stop: it moved on. The jasmine trees
would blossom, young people would fall in love and get
married, children would be born in this part of the
earth. The grapes would be ripe in the middle of
August and crickets would sing their song on hot
summer days. On the weekends, it would be suflakia
time and shish kebap would be cooked for the whole
family. People would go to picnics and eat and drink
and be happy for a day, putting aside the big question
that was like a shadow following them wherever they
went, even when they slept. The big question was: What
will happen tomorrow? Will the Cyprus problem be
solved? Will there be at last, certainty on this
island and shall we continue to live in uncertainty?.
It was like waiting for Godot to come - but the Red
Riding Hood had long ago ran away with Godot, as my
friend Murat said and they were not coming back,
despite repeated calls. But people waited and waited
as life continued and they looked for a way out of the
deadlock called `The Cyprus problem`.
Over time, there was no more Greek Cypriot property
left to be distributed. But then, the Annan Plan came.
Perhaps the Turkish Cypriots felt that the Annan Plan
was the Godot! Godot had at last decided to come to
Cyprus to replace uncertainty with certainty, the
illegality with legality and perhaps it would bring
more democracy, more freedom, more opportunities.
Perhaps Godot was the EU membership and people who had
lived through wars and displacement and whose children
had gone abroad and did not want to come back saw
something - a light at the end of the tunnel where at
last, they could breathe more easily. Perhaps their
children and their grandchildren would return to
Cyprus if there would be a settlement and more
opportunities on the island. Perhaps, the big question
following them like a shadow would go away at last and
some even thought, `If there is a settlement, I can at
least die in peace, because I would know that my
children would live a better life.`
But the Turkish Cypriots were only thinking of
themselves, just as the Greek Cypriots did. No one was
thinking of both! Greek Cypriots were busy with their
own problems, their own concerns. Turkish Cypriots
could not see what was bothering the Greek Cypriots.
No one was discussing, `What shall we at last, get
from this plan?` but rather, `What will the Turkish
Cypriots get?` or `What will the Greek Cypriots get?`
The question in the south was framed in such a way
that it was a `losing game`. The question was, `What
will the Greek Cypriots loose if we have the Annan
Plan?`
Soon after, a new wave of `sharing the property` began
and we all know the story right? The northern shores
began a craze of building and selling - no tree was
left untouched, no stone unturned, no shinya uprooted.
Now was the time to sell because Godot will not be
coming for a long time.  Perhaps it would be better to
turn it into money rather than wait for Godot to be
convinced to fly to Cyprus? And it wasn't just Turkish
Cypriots involved - it was the British, the Israelis,
the `settlers` as well. The northern shores turned
ugly and bruised, bleeding from the suffocation of the
earth.
Life continues. Last night my heart-comrade gave me a
handful of jasmine:
`Look! This is the first jasmine of the summer!
Smell!`
We smile at each other and settle down to talk about
what's happening to Turkish Cypriots. The `occupation`
is not visible for them nowadays because they are busy
with the `new regime` and how to get their son or
daughter a job or how to get promoted. A new wave of
chauvinism against Greek Cypriots is waged by the
regime and there is only talk of `how bad the Greek
Cypriot regime is` and `the intransigence of
Papadopoulos and AKEL`.
I smell the jasmine - summer is almost here. Instead
of Godot, perhaps the smell of jasmine will unite us
one day. Something genuine and pure, something from
nature, something that does not pretend what it's not.
If we have time to stop and think and try to see the
whole picture, instead of just `our piece`, perhaps
complicated issues will become simpler to solve. Only
if we do not pretend but be sincere, as the smell of
jasmine.

(*) Article published in the ALITHIA newspaper on the
22nd of May, 2005.




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