Our first seminar was with Dr. Jounı Suistola, a Finnish-Cypriot, and the Vice-Rector of NEU. He is an Ottoman specialist and also works on the Cold War. His seminar was on the Socıo-political legacies of the Ottoman ve British Empires in Cyprus. ("ve" means and in Türkish).
We learned a great deal about how the Ottoman system laid both many of the positive and problematic facets of the contemporary problem. Dr. Suistola discussed the concepts of imagined communities and also the role of the millet system as well as the significant role of Orientalism--all historical features and yet very current too. The problem was not created or sustained by one peoples but by many; both Greek and Ottoman/Türk developments laid the groundwork and led to the entrenchment of the problems to come.
From there after a great lunch we were off to tour Lefkosia. From the Grand Bazaar to the Camıı (mosque) to the crossing points at Laedra Palace and Laedra Street (two different checkpoints) we toured the ancient walls of the city, got up close to the Green Line, and found ourselves in the midst of beautiful neighborhoods--ıncluding the old Armenian neighborhood. At the end of one street is a Catholic Church--the entrance is on the north-side of the Green Line, but the rest of the church stands in the zone, with ıts rear southern exit actually in the South, but egress there is not permitted. A soccer field also stands in the middle of the zone where kids were playing a quick pick-up game. Hopefully we will attend a concert there on Saturday.
We also had our first meeting with the US Embassy officials to begin discussions about a bi-communal program and more efforts in our relationship with NEU. There will be more details about this in the coming posts, plus, hopefully a surprise.
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