Programme Manager for Communication at European Commission. Responsible for the EU Infopoint in Nicosia. Turkish & Greek speaking Cypriot. All views are mine🕊
I don't have the words to express myself. It has been 18 hours. 31
#Cypriots
are still under the rubbles in Turkey. Most of them kids. It's snowing and freezing over there. A real disaster!...
#earthquakeinturkey
I happen to be in
#Greece
where I've just found out that
#Turkey
has accepted the kind offer of the Republic of
#Cyprus
to help the Turkish Cypriots and others. A huge BRAVO to all involved!!! May
#PEACE
prevail in this geography from now on. Enough suffering for all... 🙏🌿🕊
Today marks a huge milestone in my life. The anniversary of the best decision I ever took! When my ex announced he did not want to assume any responsibility at all, I decided to take all of it alone, giving birth on this date & becoming a single mom in a small community w/taboos.
Good morning Cyprus?!... No, not a good morning... Imagine being one of those parents standing there... I wrote many things but deleted all. I better hold myself...
We are watching the arrival of kids, from Turkey where they went to play volleyball, in coffins!... We are watching mothers scream and throw themselves onto the coffins.... This trauma is too big for a small community like ours... 🖤
#cyprus
#earthquakeinturkey
Κι εμείς οι δύο, με τη σειρά μας, σας ευχόμαστε Καλά Χριστούγεννα με λιγότερο φόβο και περισσότερη αγάπη, τόσο στη ζωή σας όσο και στην Κύπρο μας! ❤️🕊️🙏🎄
Χρόνια μας πολλά... 🧿
#merryxmas2021
#XmasEve
One of the most iconic photos depicting last week's
#earthquake
and how it affected
#Cyprus
⤵️ Flowers laid at the gate of the
#Famagusta
school where many Turkish Cypriot students who lost their lives were studying, by Greek Cypriots who studied there when they were kids... ⚘️
A very famous Cypriot song in Turkish sung by a mixed group of kids at the buffer zone in
#Cyprus
. Can you guess which ones of these kids are Turkish Cypriot and which ones are Greek Cypriot? Good luck! 🥰
Today was a historic day as I registered my child to a Greek speaking public school for next year. There was a question in the form about what kind of Cypriot she is: GC, TC, etc. I asked my closest person if I could not choose all. He reminded me that I had to pick one by law...
Turkish Cypriots are using the below hashtag tonight to ask with one voice for those responsible for the illegally constructed Isias hotel in Turkey, which ended up being a graveyard for many fellow Cypriots, to be brought to justice!...
#isiaskatilleriyarg
ılansın
When Olivia needed serious eye surgery during the lockdown, we were lucky enough to be able to come to
#Greece
. In addition to the amazing job they're doing w
#coronavirus
, I'd like to thank the Greek healthcare workers for the special care they've been giving to my little one ❤
Günaydın, καλημέρα! There can be no celebration over people's suffering. We are all human beings who have been suffering in this island. There should be no distinction as "us" vs. "them". We must wake up to find collective σωτηρία, or we will sleep forever in collective ızdırap.
I decided to send my child to a Greek language public school in Cyprus. But even bigger news is that the Ministry of Education decided to ask the school to take all necessary measures for a child with low vision. So they painted the whole school yard in bright colours for her! 🙏
Imagine Turkish Cypriot kids celebrating their birthdays with Greek Cypriot friends, singing their birthday song also in Greek. And now imagine vice versa... Why not? Just imagine, and the rest will come. Let's raise good Cypriots who truly ❤️ all of their country and its people!
Try to see who is Greek Cypriot and who is Turkish Cypriot in this video from our bicommunal concert event outside Büyük Han! You can't. Because we are all Cypriots, singing Turkish and Greek songs altogether... ☺️✌️🕊️🎶
@AB_Bilgi
Family has nothing to do with blood. Nor with ethnicity. As we are getting ready to celebrate our 5th consecutive Xmas with this amazing Greek Cypriot family, we stand united, happy & proud, giving messages of peace & love in an island that needs to be united, just like us!✌️🙏🧿
Last night, I raised my own bar and delivered a proper speech in Greek, for the first time in my life, pursuant to the one I made in Turkish. I cannot describe how "Cypriot and proud" it made me feel to use both official languages of my country at an EU-funded bicommunal event 🕊️
I have amazing breaking news to share w/ you: Our colleague who was previously declared dead has just been found alive underneath the rubbles on the 5th day of
#earthquaketurkey
!!! His health is in critical condition so let us all send him our positive energies and prayers 🙏🙏🙏
This
#Cypriot
child celebrated Catholic
#Easter
last wknd, celebrating Orthodox Easter this wknd &
#Ramadan
next. Today she is also celebrating
#23Nisan
a big day in all Turkish speaking communities devoted to children. May all children grow up multiculturally in peace & calm! 🙏
I really wanted to tick more than one box on that registration form. I am making an effort to raise my child as a true Cypriot, both Turkish and Greek speaking amazing little Cypriot! ❤️Because I know that that's the only way out for the future of this island...🕊️
My father had a restaurant called Antis Taverna in Kyrenia, a very popular venue in the 90s. It was the time when crossing points were closed, but he was getting out of his way to find musicians to play bouzouki & sing Greek songs every weekend at Antis...
#livinginadividedisland
Meanwhile I would like to share a very touching post that my father has just made from his personal account on Facebook. I have translated it below for our Greek speaking Cypriot friends to whom we are grateful...
By the way...
#Cyprus
just had one of the saddest days in its remote history. This man burried today 5 of his children who were shot dead 46 years ago. May their souls rest in eternal peace. May this bring a closure not just to him but also to what is called the "Cyprus Problem".
One
#Cypriot
kid has just started learning to read and write in
#Turkish
and
#Greek
at the same time. It is a huge challenge for her, with all the problems she has with her eyes, but she is showing the way for whoever really wants to see... 🙏💪👀
BRT evening news has just reported that they have heard a human voice underneath the rubbles where the Cypriot students are burried...
#Hope
is last to die! 🤞🙏
#TurkeyQuake
The problem in
#Cyprus
actually starts from the minute we are born. We need to be classified by law as some kind of a Cypriot. And then we need to declare it officially once we reach mandatory schooling age. Can't we just be Cypriots?...
My child has 2 biological grandmas, but her paternal one refused to see her even once for whatever reason that I have no clue about. The same time, this lady appeared from nowhere & said she'll be her adopted grandma. Olivia is 4 now & this is their 5th
#Xmas
together... 🙏
I worked w/ Mayors of Nicosia for a decade but never saw a Mayor of Nicosia who made a bigger step than the one
@Prountzos
made today at the
@CypForum
, by asking to address the crowd together w/ his Turkish Cypriot counterpart
@mharmanci
, giving a huge msg of peace to everyone 🕊
And there she goes with all her self-confidence to a new beginning... 🧿🤞😇
Kαλή σχολική χρονιά & Καλή αρχή σε όλα τα μωρά... Tüm çocuklarımıza mutlu yeni akademik yıl dileğiyle... 🙏
A year ago Olivia was not even two and she was uttering her first Greek word regardless of whether I talked to her in Turkish or English. How fast do they develop in just a year... Now she is a trilingual Cypriot chatter box... 🙏🙏🙏🧿🧿🧿
Cool tip about Cafe Nero Strovolos: There you can find baristas that greet you with a "merhaba" and take your order in Turkish, the other official language of
#Cyprus
🤗
A year ago today in Greece, Olivia had the surgery to save her eye that we were about to lose from
#glaucoma
. I am forever grateful to the Republic of
#Cyprus
Ministry of Health that provided full support to us throughout the whole process in the middle of the pandemic.
Yesterday was the last day of Olivia's first school experience. After 3 amazing years, she said goodbye to her beloved Mini Kidskool. I feel proud of my decision to take her to a Greek language kindergarten everyday from the age of 2, enabling her to be a
#bilingual
#Cypriot
🙏🧿
This small island has lost 50 of its children (48 Turkish Cypriots and 2 Greek Cypriots) in the past 1 month at incidents in Turkey & Greece. The amount of pain is not proportional to the number of deaths. It has never been in the island's history. All Cypriots suffer equally...
Olivia's new glasses came in one "peace": Eyes operated by Greek prof, monitored by Greek Cypriot opthalmologist, measured by Armenian Cypriot optometrist, very high numbered bifocal lenses hand-made by Turkish optician, ordered & fit into frames by Turkish Cypriot optician 🧿🙏
Day 3: Olivia Şule ❤
Happy birthday my one and only!... Many thanks to everyone who made the whole day so special for both of us since this morning with their presents, but more importantly, with their presence... Forever grateful 🙏
The best decision I ever took, that lead to the best thing I ever did, that lead to the best question in the whole world: "Mommy, can I kiss you?" ❤️🙏🧿
#motherdaughter
#MothersDay
I went to a free rapid test site in Strovolos. Two queues, one to register & one to test. I managed to register but decided to give up as the test line was super long + I'd need another 25mins to get the result printed. So I left. And just got my result. Without doing the test!!!
The two women having dinner together met just 10 mins prior to taking this photo. The one on the left is a student from Hatay at a university in Nicosia, selling strawberries at night to make pocket money. The one on the right is an entrepreneur from Mersin, running her aluminium
Turkish Cypriot civil society has always been progressive. Today TC Public Sector Workers Union (KTAMS) went to the Prime Ministry to protest the Tatar&Ozersay government w a pumpkin saying what they do best is to chop pumpkin (gabak doğramak in TC dialect means doing nothing) 😆
I wasn't even going to the PTA meeting at my daughter's school, thinking it'll be difficult as the only non-Greek Cypriot there. I ended up going, doing a short speech in Greek about the importance of peace and reunification in
#Cyprus
and getting elected as the Vice President ☺
So now that the whole island is up, from Paphos to Kyrenia, let's have a bicommunal pj party! 🙃 Alternatively, we can all acknowledge that everything we know of can come to an end super fast and finally solve the
#CyProb
... 🕊️
#Cyprus
#earthquake
It took a blast in
#Beirut
to shake the whole island of
#Cyprus
for Cypriots to realize how small the island, an everything they exaggerate about themselves, really is.
Turkish Cypriot civil defence team saved tonight a Turkish girl from another building & another man from the hotel where the Cypriot children are trapped. None of them found so far! Some TV channels are doing live broadcasts as the whole community hold their breath waiting... 🙏
The day the Republic of Cyprus was established. 64 days ago today. Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots celebrating it together at the Ledra Palace Hotel in Nicosia. Wish we were still celebrating it today, altogether.
Mermaids looking at each other 🧜🏽♀️🧜♀️
P.s. In Turkish, the word for mermaid is "denizkızı" which literally means the daughter of the sea. Since my name means the sea, and she is my daughter, she happens to be a mermaid... 😊🧿
Hadeyin oradan siz de... Gizlilikmiş! Ne gizliliği yahu?! İnsanları göz göre göre katlederken iyiydi de şimdi mi gizlilik icap etti?!... Müsaademiz yoktur...
#isiasgizlili
ğikaldırılsın
Olivia & Theodoros both got the same visual defect, same surgery, at the same London hospital, by the same surgeon. They go to the same doctors in Cyprus & the same school. Their moms are good friends. Her grandpas who know
#Greek
help his to learn
#Turkish
& this is our
#Cyprus
.
I could have gone to the classic place in Nicosia to get vaccinated, but I chose to take this opportunity to get out of my way and take the less traveled path to explore my country and our common history...
See the man in the lower right hand corner? As soon as the Turkish Cypriots above opened up their banner, he opened up his arms in an effort to hug them... That's how much true
#Cypriots
love each other. Despite the barbed wires and walls that divide them!... ❤️
#Cyprus
Turkish Cypriot Derviş (Dervish) Zeybek, dancing as a swirling dervish just like his very name implies, in front of a mainly Greek Cypriot crowd at the Bank of Cyprus Cultural Centre in Faneromeni, in great bicommunal spirit!
#KeepGoing
Derviş. Just
#KeepGoing
like a dervish...
Schools open in the Turkish Cypriot community tomorrow following an extended semester break due to the earthquake. The below obituary is posted by a Famagusta secondary school that is reopening too after 20 days with the following people they lost in the meantime and I translate:
How many Greek Cypriot women do you know to cross over the checkpoint in
#Cyprus
in the middle of the night (literally) to drop off a gift box outside a Turkish Cypriot woman's door? Well, I know at least one. And it is people like her who are changing this island for the better.
Because at the end of the day, we've got each other... 🙏🧿 My biggest advice to any woman out there: Do not be afraid of doing what you feel is right, no matter what the others say! Life is too precious to live with regrets for what you could have done but did not do... ❤️
This is a small part of the long list of
#Cypriots
who lost their lives in the
#earthquakeinturkey
. It lists the names of the people & the mosques where their funerals will be taking place today in Famagusta. It's like a list of mass murder. About 50 Cypriots lost their lives!...
Olivia's Greek speaking Cypriot classmates came to visit us today on Dereboyu where we celebrated the Greek Cypriot Easter and the Turkish Cypriot children's day together, walking, playing and singing in Turkish & Greek in the middle of one of the busiest roads of Nicosia... 🐰🧿
My daughter started making a preliminary list of kids to be invited to her 5th birthday party... Happy to see a substantial increase in the number of Greek Cypriot friends (last year only 2) and boys (last year only 1) 🤭😇😉🥰
Ever since my daughter is born, we have been celebrating
#Xmas
together with her adopted Greek Cypriot grandmother and her loving family, around this table, full of love, joy and common stories about our
#Cyprus
... ❤️🙏🎄
Found a Greek Cypriot teacher specialised in kids w/visual impairment to give Olivia art lessons in Greek & French, in addition to the Turkish Cypriot music teacher w/the same specialisation. Just trying to build my dream world for my child despite all the anomalies in
#Cyprus
🧿
Do you know that "αμυγδαλιές" as they are called in Greek or "badem ağaçları" as we say in Turkish have blossomed? They are the first signs of spring in
#Cyprus
& was great to take time off this morning to go to find them dancing hand in hand with my beloved olive trees... 🌸❤️🌿
Fact:
The word "loukouma" used in Greek comes from the Turkish word "lokma" which literally means a mouthful, as these sweets have to be exactly that! The Ledra Street crossing point is called "Lokmacı" in Turkish as the best Lokma maker, aka lokmacı, used to be over there... ☺️
And that's why the day my child turned 2, I decided to take her to a Greek language school so that she learns both Greek & Turkish right from the start. I get out of my way everyday for this purpose, but I know that it is the only way out for
#Cyprus
... ❤️
#livinginadividedisland
Tonight and tomorrow night, join us at Zahra Street, next to the Ledra Palace crossing point, for two occasions concerning both communities. Tonight, we will be there watching Buse and Elena at the high jump finals at
#Paris2024
from the big screen TV installed for the public.
Very worrisome news that there is a group of young Cypriot students who are stuck under the rubbles from the
#earthquake
in
#T
ürkiye where they went for a sports tournament... We're waiting for some news with fingers crossed...🤞🤞🤞
Asked about 20 friends to go out tonight. One was in Athens, other one in Istanbul, one in Limassol, another in İskele. One had period pain, the other back pain. One had this, the other one that. I said OK. I'll go out alone & I did. Wish I had this courage long ago... Cheers!🍷
Some GC friends are asking why Buse did not try to join the Cyprus Olympic team in the first place. Apart from the inherent system caused by the
#CyProb
that automatically leads TC athletes towards the direction of Turkey, there is also another issue that we need to discuss ++
15 yrs ago they used to ask me "aren't you afraid of driving across the divide by yourself at night?" Last night I remembered that as I drove back home on the other side of Nicosia. Years pass, certain things change, certain things stay the same. As long as we can keep smiling...
Today is
#WorldGlaucomaDay
. In fact the whole week is
#glaucomaweek
, to raise awareness on this leading cause of 👁️ loss, often mistakenly thought to affect old age only. We're fighting it the past 3yrs w/my 4yo w/routine check-ups every 2wks & a surgery every year so far... 💪🧿
The hashtag that all Turkish speaking Cypriots are using tonight is
#isiaskatillerinem
üebbet which means that we want life sentence for those responsible for the Isias Hotel where so many of our compatriots were trapped and killed!
I invited my father out to lunch today and he felt like it was father's day. I kept telling him no, that's next Sunday, but he kept on insisting... Perhaps he was right after all, as he was indeed holding in his hands the most precious gift that I have ever given to him... 🙏🧿💞
My biggest dream has become my biggest reality in life. All I ever wanted was a little girl like her; nothing more, nothing less... So grateful, you finally came into my life. Has been a tough year, but here we stand, stronger together. Happy very 1st birthday, Olivia!... 🙏🎈😇