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Topic: What we would have lost

We hear about what we lost. Did anybody think about what we would have lost if the Manifesta project went ahead as per the plan?

We would have lost our case against Turkey (please i am not talking about Turkish Cypriots here, so i do not want everybody to jump in).

Turkey for 32 years has been limiting access to the north. Even down right prohibiting it for the first 30. When Cyprus was accepted in the EU, suddenly (or just before then), the borders opened. Opened in what way though?
Whoever wishes to pass needs to show a passport.
pay a tariff.
if you pass with a car you even need to pay car insurance to the insurance company owned by Denktash.

I can understand the Turkish Cypriots frustrations regarding the cancellation of Manifesta but this feeling, i may assure you is in the Greek Cypriot community too.

I believe that the NFA made the right choice.

It is easy for non Cypriots not to understand the situation here.

It is easy for Turkish Cypriots to blame the Greek Cypriots.

But I do not think that it was easy for the NFA to reach to a decision like the one they did.

What the international community is yet to understand is that the problem is not between the Turkish and the Greek Cypriots (those problems we had faded into history). The problem is between Cyprus (and i include all communities in the island) and Turkey.

So what we would have lost is our case against turkey. As Helene Black rightly states in her post. The political situation here >>transcends the autonomy of curators and organisers<<. And no exhibition small or large has the right to ignore the resolutions by the united nations and the international court of human rights regarding the case for Cyprus.

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Re: What we would have lost

Are the requirements for passage from the North to the South the same as from the South to the North?   
Does the insurance that you mention have a time limit?
Can a person leave the city of Nicosia in the South/North and return to the opposite side with fewer problems (meaning: is the border less strict outside the actual city?)
How many places can a person physically cross the between the two sides, legally?

Thanks,
Aaron M. Ryan
amrphoto1@gmail.com
415-341-6678

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Re: What we would have lost

Petros,

How much communication is there between artists and intellectuals, Turkish and Greek Cypriots? What is the discussion like? Is there potential for collaboration art or otherwise as a means for challenging the divisions? Coming from the US, all of the varied responses I've read here don't seem unusual, but unless one visits Cyprus, the knowledge of how difficult it is to travel and exist is all based on hearsay and online communication.

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Re: What we would have lost

I agree that going there is a necessary means of both connecting to individuals within Nicosia and answering many of the questions about particular aspects of life, and opening new horizons for new questions.

My thoughts right now are focused mainly on the pragmatics of mobility as they are either codified by the two governments or how they are generally enforced within the various areas of Nicosia/Cyprus--on the ground level.

Are there loopholes that are exploited by local individuals regularly enough that they can become safe passages for discreet new comers.

I have found the "Government of the Republic of Cyprus" stance on passports, as published at the website:
http://www.learn4good.com/travel/cyprus_visa.htm

I am currently searching for the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus'," version of such.

Another interesting question that might lead to avenues of mobility is the question of business. Is there anyone currently conducting business, either municipal or private, across the border and how have they solved or otherwise dealt with this issue?

I will continue to research these questions.

Thanks,
Aaron M. Ryan
415-341-6678
amrphoto1@gmail.com