Weekly UNFICYP trip to enclaved Cypriots a respite from daily hardships
Most of these people have chosen to stay in the villages, as they feel emotionally attached to their homes. They also hope that things will change for the better.
FAMAGUSTA GAZETTE
It is Wednesday, just after 11 in the morning and Rizokarpaso square is becoming more lively. Wednesday is not just an ordinary day for the Greek Cypriot enclaved.

It is the day that a United Nations Peacekeeping Force (UNFICYP) convoy will make its way to the village, carrying foodstuff, medicine and other items.

It is also a “social gathering”, a day of getting together, keeping up with each other’s news. CNA has recently been on this trip to see and record what and how it happens.

At the end of the second phase of the Turkish invasion, in August 1974, around 20 thousand Greek Cypriots and Maronite Cypriots, who lived in villages and small towns mainly in the Karpass peninsula on the north-eastern tip of Cyprus and the villages west of Kyrenia, remained behind the ceasefire line. These are the “enclaved”.

By January 2014, and despite the agreement achieved in Vienna on 2 August 1975 by which the Turkish side undertook to give the enclaved population "every help to lead a normal life, including facilities for education and for the practice of their religion, as well as medical care by their own doctors and freedom of movement in the north", the number of enclaved dramatically declined.

This was due to the constant harassment, including physical assault, restrictions on their movement, denial of access to adequate medical care, denial of adequate educational facilities, especially beyond the elementary school level, curtailment of their right to use and bequeath their immovable property and curtailment of freedom of worship in their churches and monasteries.

According to Liaison Assistant of the Civil Affairs Sector of UNFICYP, Doros Theodorou, around 460 people remain enclaved in the occupied areas, 360 of them are Greek Cypriots and 120 Maronites.

Most of these people have chosen to stay in the villages, as they feel emotionally attached to their homes. They also hope that things will change for the better.

Since the Turkish invasion of 1974, UNFICYP has been delivering supplies that are collected from the Cyprus Government Stores on a weekly basis. Every Wednesday, UN trucks travel to Agios Andronikos, Agia Triada and Rizokarpaso as well as the Maronite villages of Asomatos, Karpashia and Kormakitis. The aid includes vegetables, fruit, meat products, flour, oil, pulses, nappies, general cleaning items, medicine and other items.

And this Wednesday is no exception. A number of trucks belonging to Greek Cypriot men have taken position along the side road of the derelict former Municipal Market of Rizokarpaso which was the heart and soul of the small town 40 years ago.

The men are there waiting for the UN convoy to help in the distribution of the supplies. Inside the market area, a small office with two tables, two cupboards and plastic chairs, many of them stacked high up, serves as an office.

It is the area where the “women” are gathered. Many of them are elderly and each has a story to tell about their trials and endurance over the years. Every story ends “Praise the Lord”. They are all holding large bags.

The gas heater is on full, toasting the atmosphere. Our presence, two women from the southern government controlled areas of the Republic, is a pleasant surprise to them. A warm welcome awaits us, they offer their seats to us, they ask about us -our family names, our hometown or village to see if they know any of our relatives.

The only man in the group, Mr. Yiannis Α. tells me “we have been through so much, dear. However things have got better”. He talks about his children – with a wide smile on his face - some of whom have remained in the Turkish occupied areas and others are in the government controlled part of Cyprus.

Behind him two elderly ladies bear the same name, Eleni. The eldest Eleni has a resilient look, one that time has not been able to wipe out. She says she lives alone. “I don’t need help,” she tells us. The other Eleni appears more malleable and amiable.

At the back of the room, in the middle, there is a desk. Angeliki, a young lady of nearly 40 with children, some still at the elementary school and a son recently married, welcomes us as she takes out her lists which detail about who will get what and how much.

She has made an apple pie, all nicely packed and covered with cling film to keep fresh. The pie, together with a box of chocolates, is for UNFICYP personnel who are part of the convoy. Her two other sisters are also waiting patiently in the room.

The convoy has arrived and everyone has taken position. The last to arrive are the men who were waiting at Mr. Vasilis’ coffee shop at the square, opposite Agios Sinesios Church.

Their help is invaluable as many of them will also collect supplies for other Greek Cypriots who do not have a means of transport or have mobility problems. Their job is to deliver the supplies to these people

UNFICYP men will supervise the procedure, help in unloading but also take a respite from the long journey. Angeliki has uncovered the apple pie and opened the box of chocolates.

The whole process begins and is fast. A van and a truck enter the market area while another truck full of gas bottles is outside. The distribution commences with the gas bottles. Young enclaved men are on the truck and are unloading the bottles, replacing them with empty ones.

Inside the market, the truck is open and the distribution of the water bottles starts.

Every person is entitled to a six-bottle package. The elderly who were sitting inside the office have now moved outside to join the others who are patiently sitting, waiting for their names to be called.

They gather their supplies close to them until help arrives. A young couple, Kypros and Voula, who are expecting their baby in three months, are waiting to fill their bags. They have both preferred to stay at Rizokarpaso despite the obstacles and unemployment.

Behind the water bottles are the vegetables and fruit and unloading continues as they share jokes and laugh among them.

Last is the distribution of the frozen food and today it is chicken. Members of UNFICYP unload the named boxes from the fridge and position them in the area that in the past accommodated the butchers’ area in the market.

Captain Eduard Barskiendes told CNA that “every week we are going to government stores collecting all this food, water. Today we have frozen food”.

He also said they visit the Red Cross to collect diet bread, medicine. Today they set for Agios Andronikos Agia Triada, Agios Therisos and Rizokarpaso.

“Today we deliver bottles of gas. Next week we will collect the empty gas bottles and the week after we will bring back bottles of gas”, he explained.

His colleague, Lisa Nolan, from Ireland said “I enjoy this work, people are happy, it is a chance to make them happy and it is part of our job”.

The mission has been completed for this week.

The engines of the UNFICYP vehicles are turned on and are ready to begin the journey back to Nicosia.

The enclaved are asking us to return, to visit them at their home, they want to offer us something, show their hospitality.

Though we cannot overstay our welcome, we do leave empty handed: two pieces of apple pie, oranges that were part of their supplies and two small sweet rusks that were prepared by an enclaved grandmo

ther to celebrate her grandson’s birthday. We leave Rizokarpaso with an air of optimism as these people remain genuine but also with a feeling sadness lest the people in the southern government controlled areas of the Republic have forgotten the enclaved, who embody one of the most painful aspects of the Cyprus problem.  — (KYPE)

 
 


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