Entering Northern Cyprus

This will be a quick post which I hope will be useful. Entering Northern Cyprus is not a very easy task, and there are not that many options. The only airport in the Northern part is Ercan airport, which is not recognized internationally and is only recognized by Turkey, which means all the flights to and from Northern Cyprus have to stop in one of Turkey's international airports. 

There is ferry and sea buss services, again from Turkey to the ports in Cyprus between Mersin-Taşucu and Kyrenia and Famagusta. The only other way would be having the visa for the southern part and entering the country from on of the availbale airports or harbors in the south and then crossing the borders to enter the northern part.

Citizens of most countries, other than Armenia, Nigeria and Pakistan can get their visas upon entering the country. The three mentioned country need to visit one of TRNC offices and get a visa in advance. The procedure is fairly simple, once you tell the immigration officer the reason why you want to enter the country and justifying the number of days you want to stay they will stamp your passport and indicate the days that you are allowed to stay, which is maximum 90 days. For a longer duration, the immigration office in the city of residence should approve. 

A final tip, the airport and other entrance points to the country, offer the option of stamping a separate paper and attaching it to your passport temporarily rather than stamping the passport itself, which is useful for people who are planning on getting the southern parts' visa in a near future. Most passports holding the stamp of the Northern side are not eligible to apply for a visa of the southern part of the island. 

Being a Cypriot

In the time that I have had here in Northern Cyprus so far, I got the chance to talk with many Cypriots and I always asked my favorite question from them; "How do you define being a Cypriot?" 

I asked this question from the residences of both sides, and mostly received the same answer, "people who were born on the island and also who shares the Cypriot culture." I heard different variations of this response many times and most of the time I tried to ask about their points of views on being a Turkish-Cypriot and Greek-Cypriot, I received the response that we are all Cypriots and although we have differences but share more in common. There were a few people who did not like this idea and wanted a clear line between these two concepts! They did not however seemed to hold the majority.

Most of the people on the island are tired of the international interventions and just want to have their peaceful island back to themselves. Again, some people do not share this idea and actually do want the island to stay separated, but their ideas are being pushed away further and further everyday. Citizens of both sides seem to be ready to get back together and finish the rivalry that existed for a long time, long before the island was divided.

Some people are really idealist and they want the whole problem to be solved over night, but the realists know that this is not possible and the process is a lot harder than the separation. Most probably, if there is going to be any solution, it will be a federal system, rather than a complete unity, but again most of the realists agree that this is way better than the alternative, which is keeping the island divided and even fully recognizing this division. 

Going through many different groups and discussions, the Facebook group, Cyprus without borders, https://www.facebook.com/groups/1374660429530839/ , seemed to be the most democratic one and the message of the Cypriots were clear. Let the olive branch, global symbol of peace and an inseparable part of Cyprus, do its magic and let the peace come back to the last divided capital of the world.

On a personal note, I wish the best for this island and I hope they can find the solution that they want as soon as possible.

Zivania

Since the 15th century, zivania has been the island's local drink, used by both Turkish and Greek Cypriots. Grape pomace and local dry wines are mixed together and go through the production system to create a very unique and strong alcoholic drink. It's alcohol volume is usually 45% but different versions vary and some home-made versions get to more than 60% and are not very safe.Fun fact, when the presidents of both sides for the very first time went through the borders together, they had coffee in the North and then finished almost a bottle of Zivania in the south. 

It is usually drank as shots and in groups, served with fruit. 

Zivania has many uses other than just being an alcoholic drink, it is used to treat colds, sore body parts are massaged with it, cleaning wounds is another use and it is also used even for toothache. 

"For personal reason a brief part of the article before the ways of making Zivania is not available in the online version"

Finally, this is how zivania is made;

"In order to produce zivania of the highest grade, mature healthy grapes of the best quality are used. The grape must used for the fermentation should be of less than 13° Baumé, in order to get complete fermentation. As soon as the fermentation process completes (i.e. producing less or equal to 0° Baumé reading) the wine and pomace mixture is transferred to the main container of the distillation apparatus, called kazani (Greek: καζάνι) and the distillation process begins. The first zivania that comes from the distiller has the highest alcohol content, while the last taken out of the apparatus has a low alcohol content and it is called porakos (Greek: πόρακος). Depending on the pre-distillation mixture, different qualities of zivania are produced:

Zivania produced by using only wine the distillation

Zivania produced by using wine and pomace for the distillation

Zivania produced by using pomace, water and weak zivania" (retrieved from Wikipedia)

The following video is a demonstration of one of the methods;

Cypriot Wedding

After the pre-wedding ceremony, I got the chance to go to a wedding, interestingly, not the one for the same person :) I was told that the wedding was semi-Cypriot as there were some differences between the usual ones and the one that I got to attend. Apparently, Cypriot weddings are celebrated in an open air saloon and without serving dinner. We were sitting inside, mostly because of the high number of Turkish participants, and for the very same reason food was served, but I was told that everything else is as Cypriot as it gets.

We got there a bit earlier than most guests, because I was the driver and I can never be late, other wise we would have followed the tradition of being late that everyone else followed. When we arrived in the place that the wedding ceremony was held (a nice and small saloon between Lefkoşa, the capital city, and the main airport, Ercan), the tables were already set, and on all of them there were meze, appetizers that are served with alcoholic drinks in Turkey and Northen Cyprus, and different options of drinks. This was the point where I realized the reason I was chosen as the designated driver for the two hour drive back to the residences!, everyone wanted to drink as it was the start of the traditions. 

After some drinking, the bride and the groom joined the event, they circled around the stage for multiple times for good luck and then went to every single table and thanked the guests for showing up and the participants wished them a happy life together :) There was a very creative method of gathering the money that guests wanted to give the bride and groom as gifts which I really liked. Back in my country people put the gifts in envelopes and gift raps with their names on it which makes it really difficult for a person who does not have a good financial situation, because they have to keep face, but in here there was girl walking behind the bride and groom and people would add their gifts to the basket she was carrying, anonymously. Closer family members would personally hand over the gifts however. 

After talking with the gusts twice, the bride and groom went to their special seats, there was a toast for them and then were invited to the dance floor by the band. After a couple of songs, others joined them in the center and that was the program till dinner time (which was the non-Cypriot part!) Same continued after dinner, which was again a surprise for me, cause back home dinner is the sign that the weddings over.

We left the place at 12.30 mostly because we had to, otherwise I am sure we would have stayed there for a longer time...

Kıbrıs Gecesi / Cyprus Night

Like many other cultures in the world, the night before the wedding holds its own traditional ceremonies. Hollywood has changed Northern Cyprus in the same way that it has changed the cultural elements in many other parts of the world. These days, bachelor parties, specially for the men, can be seen similar to the Western countries in the new generations, such as going to strip clubs. However, the traditional version of these parties can still be seen widely in the country. The ceremonies include, damat tıraşı (shaving the groom), gelin kınası ve seremonisi (bridal henna and ceremony), yüz görümlüğü (money paid to see the women's face) and halk dansları gösterileri (traditional dance performances). The Turkish influence can be easily seen in these performances, but definitly the Cypriot touch exists in them. Brief description of these traditions are as follows;

damat tıraşı: This can be considered the Cypriot version of bachelor party, the grooms friends gather around and have him shaved and prepare him for the big day.

gelin kınası ve seremonisi: This part is for the bride (gelin) and the women accompanying her, which include family members and friends. Putting henna on the bride is actually a very common practice in most of the Middle Eastern cultures, as it used to be a traditional version of makeup and believed to bring good luck. 

yüz görümlüğü: After both bride and groom are ready, it is not that easy for the groom to get to see her :) He has to pay up! This again is a very common part of the ceremony in the region, mostly the groom and his close family, sometimes brides family in a few cultures as well, give the bride some money and gifts so that she would unveil. (This was the best video I could find online for it)

halk dansları gösterileri: Like many of the Cypriot programs, dancing is a big part of the ceremony. Different groups of boys and girls come to the center and dance the traditional dances. An example of which is attached bellow. 

Finally, there is delicious Cypriot food, which is a whole different story and I will talk about a few of the items soon. But for now, let's just get ready for the wedding ceremony. :D

Northern Cyprus Presidential Elections

Even though Northern Cyprus is only recognized by Turkey and therefore, no other nation recognizes the country, and as a result their elections, still there was a great enthusiasm in the election time on the northern part of the island. 7 candidates campaigned in the elections; The four major candidates in the first round of the elections were, incumbent President of Northern Cyprus, independent candidate, Derviş Eroğlu who was supported by the National Unity Party and the Democratic Party, Speaker of the TRNC Parliament, Sibel Siber, candidate of the Republican Turkish Party, Independent Mustafa Akıncı who had the support of the Communal Democracy Party and the United Cyprus Party, and finally Independent Kudret Özersay. Out of the 7 candidates 3 of them Mustafa Onurer from Cyprus Socialist Party and two independent candidates Arif Salih Kırdağ and Mustafa Ulaş, did not make the news like the others and ended up getting around 1% of the votes altogether in the first round of the elections.

In the first round of the presidential elections in Northern Cyprus, which can be identified as the most important political event of 2015, on 19th of April, Derviş Eroğlu and Mustafa Akıncı made it to the second round having gained 28.15% and 26.94% respectively. Sibel Siber and Kudret Özersay with 22.53 and 21.25 % of the votes, did well but were not successful enough to make it to the second round. After the defeat of their candidate, Sibel Siber, Republican Turkish Party, which holds the majority in congress, announced their shock from the results and Prime Minister Yorgancıoğlu stated he would determine the leader of the party and he would not run as a candidate, they also supported Akıncı for the next round of the elections. Kudret Özersay, however, said he would support neither of the candidates. In the first round Akıncı gained 3 out of the five districts in Northern Cyprus, namely;  Lefkoşa , Girne  and Güzelyurt and Eroğlu won it in two: Gazimağusa  and İskele.

In the second round, held on 26 April 2015, Akıncı swiped all 5 districts and gained an overall 60.50 % of the votes, which forced Eroğlu say goodbye to presidency and announce his retirement from politics.

The message of the votes were clear, the rightist candidate who won the majority vote in 2010, was defeated by the leftist candidate. This meant that people wanted change and in the victory rally held in İnönü Square of Nicosia, Akıncı made it crystal clear that he wants to deliver this change. After thanking the supporters and calling the elections a success for Cypriots, he repeated some of his promises, such as trying to achieve gender equality, giving political parties their freedom, and made his famous remarks regarding Turkey, which did not make the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, very happy. Akıncı said that the mother daughter relation between Turkey and Cyprus should turn into a mutual relation and a fraternal one.

Akıncı's comments had Erdoğan's reaction the very next day, “Do his ears hear what he says?” was his response to the comments. This was broadcasted in Erdoğan's press conference before he left Kuwait. “Even working together as brothers has its conditions. We paid a price for northern Cyprus. We gave martyrs and we continue to pay a price,” Erdoğan said on April 27. “For Turkey, northern Cyprus is our baby. We will continue to look at it the way a mother looks at her baby,” he added.

Akıncı responds, whose interview with CNN Türk was interrupted for  Erdoğan's press conference coverage, responded immediately, “Doesn’t Turkey want to see its baby grow up? Should we always stay a baby?”. He continued that he will stand by his words. 

Akıncı finished the interview soon after this, saying that he had to answer Erdoğan's phone call. On which Erdoğan congratulates him and asks whether Akıncı will have his first presidential visit to Turkey, and in return Akıncı responds, only if he was officially invited.

Soon after Mustafa Akinci was sworn in on 30th of April as the fourth president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and visits Turkey on May 6th. After the 2 hour long meeting between the presidents, in a joint press conference, Erdoğan states that Turkey will support TRNC at all times, and he hopes that 2015 will be the year of a solution.

Only a week after the visit to Turkey, which postponed the original arranged meeting between the presidents of both sides of the island, on May 14th, Akıncı and Nicos Anastasiades come together for a new push for reunification. For confidence-building measures, TRNC removes the required visa document procedure for the southerns to enter North and in return Anastasiades provides the Turkish counterpart with the plans of the mine fields in Northern part of the island. The two presidents agreed to have a minimum two meeting per month with eachother.

Only a week after the most promising start for negotiation start for reunification, for the very first time, the presidents of both sides, walked together on both sides of Nicosia, A.K.A. Lefkoşa , togther on May 23rd.

*All the mentioned information in this article has been gathered from data collected from various news organizations referencing Reuters or Associated Press.