“It’s a fine line when you try to define the finer points of politics. Politics being a latin word, poly here meaning ‘many,’ tics meaning blood sucking butt lumps.” - Shane Koyzcan - This Is My Voice https://youtu.be/FHczVzGfyqQ Politics may just be the least enjoyable part of travelling. We live in the era of Westphalian nation-states - international actors with the legitimized monopoly on the use of force within agreed upon geographical limits. The governing bodies of individual nation states create limitations that are imposed on members of other nation states with regards to the movement of third-party nationals in their domain. The fact that I am not a member of the in-group leaves me at the mercy of the rule of law regarding aliens in each of the countries outside of Canada that I visit. That is just the world we live in. I have been meticulous in my planning of this trip to ensure that most, if not all, of the countries I visit do not require visas for Canadian travellers. Those who possess a Canadian passport are able to benefit from visa-free travel to a great number of countries, if not visa-free, very low barriers to entry. The most difficulty I have had thus far in gaining entry into a country was in entering into Turkey - but even then I only had to pay fifty euro which would allow me up to 90 days of travel with the flexibility of multiple entries in needed. Many people of other nationalities do not have the same ease of movement. When I was in Edirne I met a man from India who was trying (unsuccessfully) to get into Europe. Mind you, his reason for wanting to enter Europe was to gain employment and eventually sponsor his family to come to Europe as well, but still! Before coming to Cyprus I did my best to make myself abreast of the political realities of the country. Wikipedia and the Lonely Planet are truly lifesavers. I even did my best to explain the situation to my temporary travel companion, Mathieu, after he was accosted by a shopkeeper in Nicosia on our first day in the country, for making a lighthearted comment on the strange dynamics found in the world’s last remaining divided capital. A quick history lesson for those who aren’t familiar with the politics in Cyprus. For nearly all of human history Cyprus has been lost and won by just about every major power. Greeks, Romans, Persians, Arabs, British, Venetians, etc, have all controlled the island at some point in its tumultuous history. More recently, Cyprus was under Turkish(Ottoman) control until the late 1800s when the British re-inserted themselves. After the Ottomans came into WWI on the side of the Axis, the British formally annexed Cyprus and later compensated the newly formed Turkish state for their loss in the 1920s. In 1960 Britain relinquished control and the modern state of Cyprus was born. Fourteen short years later a Greece-backed group of Greek Cypriots staged a coup with hopes of becoming part of Greece. The coup failed and the Turkish Military came to the aid of ethnic Turkish Cypriots. If I remember correctly the Turkish military stopped fighting momentarily, then resumed in the latter part of 1974 to take control of approximately 39% of the island. The UN sent peacekeepers and established a demilitarized zone (the Green Line) which still exists to this day. In 1984 the leaders of the Turkish North declared themselves to be the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus - a nation state that is only recognized by Turkey. In the aftermath of the fighting thousands of people lost their lives, many still remain missing, and tens of thousands of people were displaced. A population exchange occurred which saw Greek Cypriots from the north sent to the south, and Turkish Cypriots in the south sent to the North. Emotions still run high in the divided country - the border between the Republic of Cyprus and the occupied Turkish north was actually impassable until 2003 when it was selectively opened for the first time since the 1974 conflict. The Republic of Cyprus considers the entirety of the island to be their domain but considers any persons entering into the country through the north to have entered illegally. Time appears to have softened this rule in practice, but the rhetoric remains strong. Over the past two weeks I have been able to cross between the two sides five times at several different crossings without anyone taking issue of the fact I came to Cyprus by ferry to Kyrenia in the Occupied Turkish North. It’s like crossing any border, you show your passport on one side to leave, then again on the other side to enter. I was caught completely off-guard when I tried to re-enter the Republic of Cyprus after making a day trip to the Turkish north on Monday. I left my apartment in the morning and cycled ten kilometers to the north west in order to cross the Green Line at the Ayios Nikolaos checkpoint, a crossing managed by the British Ministry of Defense as part of one of the two Sovereign Base Areas held by the British even after granting the Cyprus independence in 1960. After visiting the ancient ruins of Salamis and briefly cycling past the Venetian castle and ruined gothic churches in the center of Famagusta, I made my way back to the border so as to get home before it got dark. When I got to the border I was told by the two MoD personnel that because I had entered the country illegally I was unauthorized to enter the SBA and continue on to the RoC. They told me that I would have to return to Nicosia (the nearest RoC controlled border crossing, 70km to the north west) and try to enter the country there. Even though I had gained entry into the RoC three times before in the preceding 10 days without incident, the British military would not let me through their base and into the RoC. I found it incredibly strange that these MoD personnel were upholding a precedent set by a nation-state that doesn’t even enforce their own rhetoric. I got lucky, the two men from the MoD let me through after I explained that I was staying at an apartment in Paralimni, and because I was only wearing trackpants and a t-shirt and the sun was already beginning to set. Before leaving I was warned not to try to regain entry through that checkpoint as, under normal circumstances I would be forced to enter through Nicosia. While I did see a fair bit on my brief visit to Famagusta and Salamis on Monday, I still wanted to see more, to actually visit some of the ruined churches and so on. I tried to reach out to the wisdom of the the internet through reddit on Tuesday morning to see if any user could help to no avail. I got a couple good suggestions including reaching out to the Canadian Government, but in the end it appears I only stirred up disagreement among different users. Some saw my decision to entry via Kryenia as “not nice,” while others appeared to be ambivalent to my point of entry. I even had one person say that my entry into Cyprus via the Occupied Turkish North was an implicit acceptance and approval of their occupation. So, it seems like I am stuck in the south unless I am willing to make the ~150km detour through Nicosia to return to my apartment in Paralimni - the thought of which seems completely absurd when the as-the-crow-flies distance between the apartment and Famagusta’s city center is less than ten kilometers. This is really a shame because I feel that there is a lot left to see in the Famagusta area that would be ideal to see on day trips out from my current location in Paralimni. I don’t know what to do about the accusation that my entry via the north is an acceptance their claim to legitimate monopoly of force, especially when I hold it in contrast with environmental concerns that emanate from the fact that the only “legal” means of entering Cyprus from continental Europe is by airplane. One need only look up radiative forcing related to air travel to understand why I choose to limit my airtime. I also believe that my Mennonite ancestry has imbibed a strong penchant for frugality that sees air travel as much too expensive! As things currently stand, I have entered into the Republic of Cyprus through an unauthorized point of entry in an occupied territory. Further, I have crossed into the Republic of Cyprus illegally as a result of the kindness of two members of the British military. Politics.
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