"Enough
is Enough!"
Women Demonstrate for Peace
in Cyprus
By
Cynthia Cockburn for 'Hands
Across the Divide', London
A small group of Cypriot women, calling themselves
"Hands Across the Divide", has started actively
campaigning for peace in Cyprus....
They have to communicate by e-mail, because face to
face meetings between people living in north and south
Cyprus are so difficult to achieve.
Since 1974, the island of Cyprus has been divided by a
barbed-wire fence, which runs from coast to coast and
through the heart of the principal city of Nicosia.
Partition... This UN partition line was set up after a
long period of ethnic violence beginning back in 1963,
compounded by meddling on the part of other nations with
an interest in the region. Ever since, the Turkish
Cypriot population of the north of the country has lived
in complete separation from the mainly Greek Cypriot
population of the south. There's only one checkpoint in
the 'Green Line', and a Cypriot can't cross it without
permission. Such permissions are rarely given.
Women organizing... Hands Across the Divide was formed
in March 2001, and one of its immediate aims was to press
for more freedom of contact and communication right away
between the two parts of Cyprus, and for early progress
towards a solution to 'the Cyprus problem'. As a group
they want the right to organize freely together. At a
personal level they want to be able to visit friends as
and when they like, roam in every part of the island, and
in general stop living under intimidation from a
continual threat of renewed violence. Turkish Cypriots
are also very fed up with the isolation and poverty of
northern Cyprus.
Joining the European Union... Decisions are going to
be taken very soon about the pace and terms of Cyprus's
accession to the European Union. This has concentrated
the minds of some politicians - Cypriot, and Turkish in
particular, but also the US, Britain and EU member states
have had to refocus on their responsibilities. And the
result is: 'peace talks'.
New initiative... In early December, Glavkos Clerides
and Rauf Denktash, respectively the leaders of the two
parts of Cyprus, startled Cypriots by announcing that
they would meet, for the first time in four years. First,
in December, the two old boys non-committally entertained
each other to dinner. Now, from January 16, serious
sustained peace negotiations have begun. While war breaks
out or continues in a lot of other places in the world,
in this corner of the Eastern Mediterranean there's a ray
of sunshine.
Pressing for action... The women of Hands Across the
Divide have been quick to seize the moment. They are
determined not to let the government of the south of
Cyprus take Greek Cypriots into the EU without getting a
constitutional agreement first that will bring Turkish
Cypriots into 'Europe' simultaneously. They wrote a
letter for UN officials to deliver to the two men during
their first meeting. Turkish Cypriot women have been out
on the streets from the start of the process. Drivers in
the early morning rush hour traffic have been faced with
placards reading: "It's Enough! Agree - Solve it - Sign
up - Let's get into the European Union!".
Dinner date... When Clerides crossed to the northern
part of the island to have dinner with Denktash, women in
the northern part with candles flew white doves and white
balloons and carried a placard in Turkish and Greek
saying, 'Peace: Let's go for a shared country!' When
Denktash crossed to the southern part for dinner with
Clerides, this time women from the southern part did the
same, carried the same placard and flew doves, expressing
their desire for peace. Women from the north were at the
check-point at the same time in the north, lighting
candles and singing Cypriot songs in Turkish and Greek.
When Denktash and Clerides met on January 16 the women
carried even tougher messages: 'Sign or resign' and
'Reunite the island or we will do it!'
Involving civil society... In the north the activity
of Hands Across the Divide is framed within an alliance
of women's organizations called the Women's Civic
Initiative for Peace who in turn act in concert with a
much larger alliance of progressive groups called "The 41
Organizations". In the south the women of Hands Across
the Divide are on the streets alongside other bi-communal
groups in what hopefully will become a wide mobilization
of civil society organizations.
Inclusion of women... Hands Across the Divide want
women to be enabled to make an input to negotiations
about a future Cyprus - scarcely a controversial demand
since a landmark UN Security Council Resolution of Oct
2000 called for the inclusion of women and a gender
perspective in all peace-making processes and
peace-keeping operations. This is the very first public
political intervention by a bi-communal women's group in
Cyprus doing parallel action at the same day and time
despite the divide. More action is planned. We'll keep
you informed.
If you feel like sending encouragement or for more
information, mail a message to:
handsacrossthedivide-owner@yahoogroups.com
Please send this article round all your e-networks.
It would be good to get the widest possible coverage for
news of the forgotten Cyprus conflict, this tentative
peace process, the women's group and their
actions.
Photographs and updates available. Contact in London
for 'Hands Across the Divide':
Cynthia Cockurn WIB 00 44 20 7482 5670
c.cockburn@ktown.demon.co.uk
©
TFF and the
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