The Lament of a Greek Cypriot Refugee by Aspasia Georgiou

Την όμορφη την Βατυλή να την φωτογραφίσω,
να την θωρώ ενθύμιο όσον καιρόν ηζήσω και άμα πεθάνω και ύστερα στα 'γγονια μου ν' αφήσω.

Θεέ μου καταξίωσ' μας να πάμε στα χωρκά μας,
να πάμε εις τους τόπους μας στα σπίτια τα δικά μας, να ανοίξουμε τις εκκλησιές να παίξουν οι καμπάνες τζιαι
τζιαμαί ν' αγκαλιαστούν παιδία με τις μανάδες,
να κάμουμε τζιαι λειτουρκά μαζί με τους παπάδες,
να πάμε να γονατίσουμε μπροστά στην Παναγιά να την παρακαλέσουμε να φέρει ευτυχία να διώξει τούτο το κακό που την Μεσαορία.

O Vatyli, such beauty, a vision in my mind,
as long as I breathe I see you as clearly as life itself.
Even when I die the vision will live on in the minds of my grandchildren.

Dear God, take us back to our village, our land, our homes.
Open up our churches and let the bells toll.
Let our children cling to their mothers as the priest reads the blessing.
Let us kneel before the Virgin and beg her to bring happiness out of the sadness that has come to the Mesaoria.

Occupied Cyprus Project at Kypros.Org

Missing Cypriots Page

Comments

[demonax]

Stavros, the poem encapsulates well the nature of the longing felt by Cypriot refugees, which is longing for a whole way of life. Each town and village in Cyprus before the invasion was its own distinct little world, and before belonging to and identifying with Cyprus or Greece, people, first and foremost, belonged to and identified with their town or village. I’m sure this applies throughout Greece, in places like Crete, Epiros, Rhodes, the Peloponnese and so on. The Turkish occupation far from reducing a Cypriot’s identification with his or her town and village has only served to increase it. I don’t think the Turks expected this. I think they thought after a few years the refugees would accept their losses. Not that the Cypriot refugee response is unique. I often hear of Palestinians made refugees by the Israelis in 1948 still longing for their way of life and expecting to return to their homes and land. Actually, being from Politsani and the City, you are a kind of double refugee, so I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.

[Stavros]

I'm not sure how to explain this attachment that we feel to these places other than the fact that we have been there so long they have become a part of our DNA. Cypriots have responded to their particular tragedy in a unique way, they have built a democratic, thriving and viable state and have not resorted to violence. That is commendable and should be recognized accordingly. The Turks want others to respect them; respect is not necessarily earned by the unrestrained use of power as we Americans are beginning to realize. The importation of Turks from Anatolia into the occupied part of Cyprus has complicated an already complex situation. Turkish behavior has not been conciliatory. Turkish nationalism seeks to expand that country's borders, read what Ataturk had to say about the subject. The Turks can't have it both ways. If they want respect they must be willing to negotiate a just settlement on Cyprus.

My fervent hope for you and your family is that will be able to return to a better, more peaceful Cyprus. Next year in Yialousa.

[Vasiliki SAVVIDOU-MIHALAREA]

Vasso Savvidou-mihalarea, Greece

My Divided Homeland (CYPRUS)

I tied my thoughts
to the little ship's mast,
slept on its deck
with a blank mind
only to wake up
surrounded by sea-gulls.
They looked at me sad;
alas! I couldn't play or laugh
as my thoughts were still stuck
on that little far away LAND.