Bridging the divide: Cyprus choir spreads message of peace

Nicosia, Cyprus – Costas Kyranides became as soon as a young psychologist in the mid-1990s when he began exhibiting signs of what he terms « political schizophrenia ».

A Greek Cypriot born on the divided Mediterranean island, Kyranides had grown up embracing the values of team spirit and respect for others. But a battle of solutions became as soon as brewing inner of him.

« Division is now not finest on the bottom but moreover in our minds, » Kyranides says this day, sitting in a restaurant in the UN-patrolled buffer zone that has for a protracted time separated Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots in Europe’s final divided capital, Nicosia.

« With all this brainwashing, propaganda and stereotypes that we had been taught at school, I would salvage myself most continuously having emotions that didn’t correspond to my ideology, and I puzzled: ‘What is going down? I want to total one thing’. »

Happily for Kyranides, he became as soon as now not on my own. Capable as he began his quest, a community of fancy-minded Greek and Turkish Cypriots had been coming together to learn extra about their respective communities and stumble on the diversifications and similarities between their cultures.

A series of abominable-community conferences in 1997 resulted in the formation of the Bi-Communal Choir for Peace in Cyprus, a community aiming to make spend of melodies and songs to spread its members’ in vogue vision of cohesion and reconciliation.

Obsessed with tune himself, Kyranides rapidly found himself knocking at the choir’s door.

« I made up our minds to discover to know the enemy, » he recollects, with a smile.

« I joined the choir pushed by curiosity and – as a psychologist – a want to talk in describe to discover to know firsthand what’s at the aid of this ‘demon’s veil’. What extra or less folk are they? What are their thoughts and their emotions?

« And that’s how I obtained on board the peace grunt. »

Twenty years later, Kyranides is one in all the choir’s longest-serving members.

The community has, over time, defied threats, insults and bans to turn out to be one in all primarily the most attention-grabbing and oldest bi-communal actions on the island.

And after performing bigger than 250 concert events all over Cyprus and abroad, together with in Turkey, Greece and other worldwide locations in the Heart East and Europe, or now not it is arguably the hardest-working and most committed one, too.

Hayriye Ruzgar, communications officer at Dwelling For Cooperation, a community centre supporting intercommunal efforts in Cyprus, says that participation in teams such as the choir historically ebbs and flows per political traits. 

The island has successfully been divided since 1974 when Turkish forces invaded northern Cyprus in response to an Athens-backed Greek Cypriot coup searching out for union with Greece. Repeated diplomatic efforts to solve one in all the sector’s most intractable conflicts bear failed, normally in acrimony.

« The ability to transfer on [despite the ups and downs of the peace talks] requires hundreds of passion and commitment – and the choir has been doing this for the final 21 years, » says Ruzgar.

« These extra or less initiatives are offering exactly what’s wished in Cyprus to total sustainable peace: working with the folk of Cyprus and developing opportunities for valuable collaboration and shuffle contact between diversified communities on the island. »

Every Wednesday, the choir’s members come from all aspects of the divide to practise at Ledra Palace, an iconic frail luxurious hotel-became-UN imperfect that sits in the coronary heart of the buffer zone.

For several a protracted time after opening in 1949, the hotel welcomed all people from Cyprus’s prime substitute folk to predominant global celebrities, besides diplomats and journalists protecting the island’s turbulent events.

But for the past Forty four years – since Cyprus’ nice partition – it has been below the care for a watch on of the United Worldwide locations, housing British troops serving as fragment of the sector body’s longest-serving peacekeeping mission.

The building’s ground floor in the intervening time has turn out to be one in all primarily the most valuable sites for intercommunal activities and political conferences searching out for peace.

Passing via Ledra Palace’s decrepit, frozen-in-time lobby, after a passport verify and signal-in with the UN, the squaddies’ chatter fades away as the choir members fling down a protracted hall to prevail in a superior, chandelier-lit room.

Inside of, dozens of folk substitute smiles and suited greetings. A sense of pleasure permeates the hall as they rapidly eradicate their seats around a piano, folders of sheet tune in hand.

For these doctors and designers, lecturers and clerks, this discover-together represents scheme bigger than correct a weekly singalong.

« Or now not it is a mode of existence, » says Zumrut Oral, a Turkish Cypriot architect who’s « very now and again » skipped a rehearsal in the 12 years she’s been a member. « I continuously strive to participate on fable of we skedaddle away out every other, » she adds, for the length of a break.

« We’re continuously sharing estimable and wicked moments together, organising events, celebrating every other’s birthdays, attending funerals – or now not it is fancy a family. »

The choir, which now boasts about 65 members, works below the route of two devoted maestros: Greek Cypriot Lena Melanidou and Turkish Cypriot Kursat Tilki.

It moreover has a 10-particular person organising committee, break up equally between members of every communities and elected in a vote in which all of the choristers can participate.

It’s a magnificent and equitable route of, which Kyranides says political leaders on all aspects of the Cyprus divide negotiating a resolution would possibly per chance perhaps per chance moreover eradicate a lesson from.

For its performances, the choir normally picks identical old songs from the island’s communities – all focal level on the issues of esteem, friendship and cohesion.

Covers of extra contemporary tunes in Turkish, Greek and other languages, together with particular preparations of worldwide hits such as The Beatles’ Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Amigos Para Siempre, are moreover fragment of the repertoire.

« We eradicate the identical assortment of Turkish and Greek songs as a symbolic transfer to showcase that a existence of balance and mutual have confidence, esteem and dealing out is that you just are going to be ready to imagine, » says Tilki, the Turkish Cypriot maestro.

The message, he says, is easy: « If we can allege together, why don’t we stay together? » 

That’s a level that resonates in the choir’s exhilarating, stirring stay performances.

Continuously wearing white and transitioning with ease between songs in quite a lot of languages, the singers flip the stage into a harmonious soundscape the attach stereotypes now not exist.

« I noticed them stay and couldn’t distinguish who became as soon as Greek Cypriot and who became as soon as Turkish Cypriot, » says Orestis Agisilaou, who joined the choir 5 years ago at the age of 18.

Today, the 23-three hundred and sixty five days- identical old student is aloof the choir’s youngest member and one in all the few below age 50.

« What I noticed became as soon as a in vogue say – the say of all of Cyprus – and this at present drew me in. »

While there are many highly nice moments during a stay performance, Agisilaou, Kyranides and Oral all agree that nothing compares to what happens for the length of the stay rendition of My Possess Nation.

Written by Turkish Cypriot poet and activist Nese Yasin, with tune organized by Greek Cypriot composer Marios Tokas, the song’s refrain interprets as: « My country has been divided into two; which half of would possibly per chance perhaps per chance moreover aloof I in point of fact fancy? »

« This song continuously stirs so many emotions, for every us and the viewers, » says Kyranides.

The choir’s first day shuttle abroad in 2000 to perform for Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots residing in London became as soon as his most highly nice expertise as fragment of the choir, he says.

« We began singing My Possess Nation, and we found it so complicated; the folk in the viewers began crying, retaining every other’s hands, hugging every other – and some of us began crying too. While you learn about the folk’s reactions, or now not it is electrifying. » [Listentothechoirperformingthesongright here]

My Possess Nation has turn out to be an anthem for reconciliation and cohesion on an island the attach reunification has long remained elusive.

The prospect of a likely resolution came into notice in 2004, a three hundred and sixty five days after border restrictions had been eased to allow folk to abominable backward and forward.

A peace conception brokered by then-UN chief Kofi Annan became as soon as attach to simultaneous referendums on all aspects of the island, and whereas a majority of Turkish Cypriots permitted the proposal, Greek Cypriots resoundingly rejected it.

The conclude result dashed hopes of reunification, and had a damaging ripple conclude on the choir, besides.

Disenchanted and damage, about two-thirds of its Turkish Cypriot members, together with the maestro, stop. Greek Cypriots had been rattled, too.

« The referendum created a substantial drawback for us – the choir became as soon as almost destroyed, » says Melanidou, the Greek Cypriot maestro.

« For reasonably some time, in space of rehearsing, singing and setting goals, we »d be engaged on the topic of peace, discussing what it in point of fact scheme. In the conclude, this total expertise benefitted us, in the vogue that we made up our minds that … politics desires to be kept out of the choir. »

However the choir had faced challenges even sooner than the failed referendum.

In December 1997, after a transfer by the European Union to extend a decision granting Turkey candidate space, the Turkish Cypriot leadership stopped giving permissions for Turkish Cypriots to abominable into the Buffer Zone – normally identified as Inexperienced Line – and eradicate fragment in bi-communal activities in Nicosia.

With the Turkish Cypriot choir members successfully banned, their dispirited Greek Cypriot colleagues kept practising on my own at Ledra Palace Resort.

For two long years, the choir’s very existence gave the impression uncertain. But a resolution arrived in 1999 in the form of the blended village of Pyla.

Situated in the buffer zone about 45km from Nicosia, Pyla became as soon as aloof residence to every Greek and Turkish Cypriots, and it became as soon as primarily the most attention-grabbing space that the choir’s two aspects would possibly per chance perhaps per chance moreover every enter.

Nonetheless, the difficulties persisted, together with frequent aid-and-forth fade and shortage of ample rehearsal role.

« Till we had been ready to search out a residence, we had to practise time and again below the trees; in the forest, and most continuously in cafes, the attach we weren’t liked by Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot customers who weren’t in favour of rapprochement, » recollects Melanidou.

There became as soon as moreover the arrangement back of surveillance and intimidation.

« Spies from all aspects would scheme to Pyla and skedaddle around to care for the arrangement back below care for a watch on and learn about what we had been as much as, » says Melanidou. « Choir members would moreover face stress, specifically if you happen to labored as a teacher or did another job below the care for a watch on of the authorities, » adds Tilki.

The drawback improved drastically in 2003 with the lifting of the ban and the hole of the checkpoints, which allowed simpler motion all around the Inexperienced Line and for Ledra Palace Resort to turn out to be the choir’s residence again.

Even if their challenges haven’t entirely disappeared – anti-rapprochement figures bear now and again protested in opposition to, or even tried to block, the community’s performances, whereas community members bear obtained particular person threats and accusations of being « traitors » – the community’s attain and impact bear finest expanded over time.

In 2017, when the choir celebrated its 20th anniversary, every Nicos Anastasiades, the Greek Cypriot chief, and Mustafa Akinci, the Turkish Cypriot chief, issued highly laudatory statements hailing the community’s peacebuilding efforts.

« We bear obtained the respect of all of the events, » says Kyranides. « We don’t discover fervent by the political variations and the lisp material of a resolution.

« What we’re dealing with is the imperfect of the desk – they’ll deem its form. Without worthy legs, whether or now not it is oval, spherical or sq., this can crumple. »

While a resolution to the island of Cyprus’ political impasse remains far away, the members of the choir dwell hopeful and particular to head on for as long besides-known.

« We continuously sing that after the resolution, the need for the choir will be even elevated, » says Kyranides.

« The bridges will want to continue being built, on fable of there’ll be facet outcomes, provocations and quite a lot of stress, so our work will continue till the time is correct. »

Agisilaou agrees.

« This choir would possibly per chance perhaps per chance moreover now not ever dwell, » he says, almost at present sooner than re-joining the rehearsal.

« Even if there is a resolution, [the choir’s] role will then turn out to be stronger.

« For the the leisure of our lives, we would be right here, in the motorway of accountability. »