For the first time since the outbreak of intercommunal conflict, Turkish Cypriots were able to leave their enclaves and visit the beaches
In the summer of 1968, Cyprus’s beaches presented an interesting sight. For the first time since the outbreak of intercommunal conflict at Christmas 1963, Turkish Cypriots were able to leave their enclaves and visit the beaches. A short but telling column in the Greek Cypriot press documented this “great exodus.” The author explains that more than 5,000 Turks from Nicosia, Famagusta, Louroujina, Kofinou, and other Turkish villages had flocked to the shores of Makenzy, Alamo, and three and a half miles. In a lighthearted tone, but also with a touch of surprise, he noted that “a trend was observed among the young Turkish women, who are in no way inferior to our own, not even in their miniskirts.”
For the Turkish Cypriots to make the transition from the enclaves to the beach, various factors had to come together. There was a sequence of events, many aspects of which remain controversial even today: the rise to power of the Colonels’ Junta, the “events” in Kofinou, and Turkey’s threat of invasion. The explosive situation that ensued was defused by the withdrawal of the Greek division from Cyprus and the commitment by both sides to enter into a round of negotiations. The new situation was cemented by the presidential elections of February 1968. These were the first elections since 1959, as those scheduled for 1964 had been postponed due to the turmoil caused by intercommunal conflicts.
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Who wants to reopen Makariou Street, and why?
With his re-election, Archbishop Makarios received a broad popular mandate to abandon the pursuit of the “desirable,” that is, Union, and to follow the path of the “feasible,” namely the search for a political solution within the framework of the Republic of Cyprus. For some, this shift was a bitter pill to swallow. For others, it was the only realistic way out of a reality in which the coexistence of the two communities had been violently shattered. Thus began intra-Cypriot talks to resolve the Cyprus problem between Glafkos Clerides and Rauf Denktash at the “Foinisia” Hotel in Beirut on June 2, 1968.
This policy shift was accompanied by practical measures that today we would call “confidence-building measures.” The most significant of these was the lifting of restrictions at crossing points to and from the Turkish Cypriot enclaves. “Turks are completely free— All restrictive measures are lifted,” announced *Fileleftheros* on its front page on March 8, 1968, describing the initiatives of the Makarios government. In other columns, the fact is highlighted that the Turkish Cypriot leadership was responsible for confining Turkish Cypriots to the enclaves; however, it is obvious that the authorities of the Republic, who “enforced the measures,” also bore part of the responsibility.
In 1968, the Greek Cypriot press seemed to be rediscovering the Turkish Cypriots. From the mid-1950s onward, it had spoken of the Turkish Cypriots almost exclusively through a confrontational lens. They were often portrayed as perpetrators of violence due to extremist actions, or as proponents of maximalist demands, while the constant implication was that their community, with the support of foreign powers, had deprived the Greek majority of its just historical aspiration for reunification. In this context, images such as that of the Turkish Cypriots on the beach represent moments when the human dimension briefly comes to the surface. Yet it remains, in a way, orientalist, since it comes as a surprise that they are “just as sophisticated as we are.”
Turkish Cypriots continue to be portrayed in the Greek Cypriot media in a dual manner. At the level of political leadership, they are portrayed as intransigent, maximalist, and dependent on external powers. On a human level, they are “just like us,” but this approach often conceals a paternalistic tone: they are like us, so they shouldn’t demand special treatment as a community. The media’s perspective reminds us that, beyond the international and geopolitical dimensions of the Cyprus issue, coexistence in Cyprus is not limited to accepting the physical presence of the other community; it also presupposes the symbolic recognition of that community as an equal, distinct collective.
