Today was a day that we largely spent learning about the history and customs of Cyprus through both classroom instruction and touring Limassol. What I found very interesting about today was the sheer amount of history that Cyprus has that I completely did not know about. I found it fascinating the sheer number of empires that ruled Cyprus, and I learned that Cyprus really had to fight for its independence. Furthermore, it was interesting to me to see the difference in the timescale of history between Europe and the United States. When our professors started going over recent history, they started in the 1500s. When I hear recent history, I’m thinking 50 years ago at most. While this was initially confusing to me, it did start to make sense, as Cyprus as a concept has been around for over a thousand years, while the United States is not even 250 years old yet. Interestingly Cyprus has spent more time occupied by foreign powers than the US has ever been around, yet impressively, the nation has been able to maintain its identity the entire time.

What I found both fascinating and worrisome throughout the day was the bias in the history that we were being presented. All of our education about the history so far has been from Christian Greek Cypriots, who are generally opposed to the Muslim groups in Cyprus. This bias was most evident on our tour through Limassol, where our guide mentioned that it was the Turkish government that forced the Muslims to leave the city. This is simply not true, as what actually happened was that Greek-Cypriot forces marched on the Turkish quarter and massacred the civilians present, causing those who survived to flee the city. This lie does not surprise me much as every nation downplays tragedies that they are responsible for, with the Cyprus government even officially denying the massacre.  It was also noticeable to me that the perspective of the Turkish Cypriots has not been exposed to us, and instead their grievances with the ROC that caused the invasion have been largely ignored. I hope when we cross the border into the Turkish Republic of Cyprus, we will be able to hear their story and gain a deeper understanding of the history of Cyprus from the perspective of everyone who lives on the island.