Dear Friends,

Greetings from Cyprus!

We departed Israel early on our 66th day headed for the beautiful and partitioned island of Cyprus. Saint Hagit took us to the Tel Aviv airport at 3:30 AM…a friend until the end!

Upon arrival in Cyprus, we were greeted by our host, Sarah Talcott, former youth coordinator for United Religions Initiative (URI) and now living in Cyprus. Sarah generously put us up in an adjoining apartment in her building in the town of Paralimini, on the Greek Cypriot south eastern end of the island. Although it was a mere 800 meters from the Mediterranean sea, it was right on the edge of the green zone that had been previously mined, seriously hindering any strolls to the beach! But from our balcony, we could clearly see a large abandoned city on the shore-line. This was our first indication that Cyprus was not the paradise it appeared to be.

Cyprus is a beautiful island with lovely weather but has been politically divided for the past 32 years with the Greek Cypriots living in the Southern part of the island and Turk Cypriots in the North. Several very difficult issues have prevented the island from reunifying. Again, there are two sides to every story.

A very simplified background is that the Turkey army invaded in 1974 in response to an attempted coup that it was believed would have resulted in joining the Island with Greece. To prevent this, the Turkish army purportedly invaded to protect the Turkish citizenry. The Turks ended up by occupying about 35% of the island and caused massive displacements of citizens, on both sides of the dividing line. This ended up in tens of thousands of Greek and Turkish Cypriots relocating, some losing all their property while others received some compensation. Thirty-two years later, shells of buildings still remain in virtual ghost towns.

Issues run deep and a comprehensive, fair resolution has eluded the island.

It is estimated that less than 20% of the population is Turkish, both original Cypriots and an ever increasing number of Turkish settlers. To complicate the problem, confiscated land on both sides is being sold while proper title is still under dispute. What a mess…but the border between them was opened three years ago and people-to-people reconciliation seems to be taking hold. Religious leaders seem to have some political influence on both sides of the line.

In this environment, we felt it could be quite beneficial to try to get the Greek and Turkish religious communities to use the International Day of Peace Vigil as an opportunity for some inter-religious bi-communal events.

We were told over and over again that the people want to live in peace but that the governments prevent this.

Our first meeting was in Nicosia (a 90 km drive from our apartment in

Paralimini) with the Rev. Fr. Momik Habeshian, the Bishop of the Cyprus Armenian Church. After a frank and informative discussion about the role of religion in Cyprus, he assured us that he would participate in any IDP Vigil efforts.

The following day, we drove the 90 km to meet with Andrew Russell, program director for the United Nations Development Programme’s "Action for Cooperation and Trust". He was quite enthusiastic that the IDP Vigil could be beneficial in helping to bring the communities together and pledged his support. After helping us to understand the complicated political situation, he also recommended several other Greek and Turkish Cypriots to see.

Sarah proved to be an exceptional host and had built an excellent schedule of meetings with religious and other leaders. On Thursday, we again journeyed the 90 km to Nicosia to meet with Bishop Nikiforos of Kykkou, head of interfaith relations for the influential Greek Cypriot Church. The Bishop is an important influence in the Cyprus religious and political scene and it is rumored he is in line to become Archbishop of the island. He spoke of his involvement in interfaith affairs and of the political injustices of the present Cypriot situation. He also assured us that he and his diocese would be a part of any IDP Vigil event.

Our next stop was with the Parliamentary Representative of the Maranite community of Cyprus, Mr. Antonis Haji Roussos. The Catholic Maranites still have four communities in the Turkish north, including their primary church.

It was a sad tale to listen to personal stories of displaced persons. It gave us a sense of how badly and sadly war affects the common people.

Next we met with Nicos Anastasiou of Youth Encounter for Peace and an economic professor at the American Academy of Larnaka. His grassroots perspective of the last twelve years was quite enlightening, although not surprisingly, quite discouraging. Many youth, he believes, are losing faith that the island will ever be reunited. He did become enthused that the IDP Vigil could provide an impetus for some good bi-communal cooperation and visualized a candle-lit locking of hands around the old town wall. He agreed to work with other organizers to make a special event happen.

The next day, a long and beautiful drive across the middle section of the Island took us to the small town of Evrychou and a visit with the Bishop of Morphou, Homeros Massouras Neophytos. He is a very young Bishop (43 years) with a commanding presence who has been in that position for seven years.

His diocese is in the Turkish section and he has personally experience the effects of the partition through the loss of his church, family roots and 30% of his diocese. He is dedicated to return to his homeland and has been active in establishing communications and interfaith contacts with the Turkish North. He too believed that a joint IDP Vigil event would be good for the situation.

We returned to Nicosia to meet with the recently assigned United Nations’

Special Representative of the secretary-general and Chief of Mission, Mr.

Michael Møller. George had previously worked for Michael while at the UN and he had always been a big supporter of the Vigil. At this, and a subsequent meeting, Michael helped us understand the complexities of Cyprus and also expressed optimism that the Vigil could help bring the communities closer and pledged his support to make it happen. We were then interviewed by the Mission’s public information officer, Ann Bursey, for an article in the UN Mission’s magazine.

Our last meeting of the day was with Fr. Umberto Barato, Attachè of the Nunciature and the Patriarchal Vicar General of the Latin Catholics in Cyprus. His church and residence is right on the Green line so he is intimately familiar with the hardships of partition. He would present the Vigil idea to his parish.

Saturday we spent touring the towns and beaches of the Turkish North. We were struck by the beautiful topology and beaches of the North. Our overall assessment is that the North is gaining in economic stature and signs of an improving economy are quite evident. The problem of land entitlement still looms over the island. We were also struck by the terrible situations of "ghost towns", villages that were overrun by the Turkish troops in 1974 and have completely deteriorated. This is not only a blight, it presents a land entitlement problem that continues to haunt the prospects of a comprehensive peace settlement.

Sunday held a special treat for us as we again crossed the green Line to travel north to be met and hosted by a very senior and respected Sufi Muslim leader, Sheihk Nazim. After a most gracious and delicious lunch, we were invited to attend the Muslim prayers presided over by Sheihk Nazim. He graciously held the service in English because of our presence. His message was quite simple and completely in line with our mission. It was summed up in two words: "God" and "Love". From this, derives all inner and outer peace. We then met with him for an hour in which he emphasized the need for tolerance, love and understanding among religions and peoples. A truly amazing holy man.

That night we packed our suitcases once again for another early flight, this time destination Rome via an eight hour layover in Athens. Just long enough to do a tour of the Acropolis. What a special treat!

Sarah turned out to be the perfect host. Special thanks to her and to URI for their continuing field support of our mission.

Again, thank you for your continued interest and support.

In peace and friendship,

Jack and George