The Sourp Asdvadzadzin Church in Turkish-occupied Nicosia, Cyprus has been occupied since 1963 (Photo: Lori A. Sinanian)
BY LORI A. SINANIAN
From Izmir and Sivrihisar to Cyprus, to seek a safer home with better prospects… but that came to an end in December of 1963, and again after the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in July 1974—yet another in a series of displacements for Genocide survivors.
Our family decided that this summer we would travel one more time together, since our trajectories would diverge in the coming years due to our different schedules. The destination we decided on was—the island of Cyprus, my grandfather’s and father’s birthplace, including the Turkish-occupied northern part of Կիպրոս (Kipros), and a place where Turks, Armenians, and Greeks once lived together. Though we stayed in a coastal town in Larnaca for most of our time, far from the Green line between the Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish occupied Northern Cyprus, we dedicated two days to visit Nicosia (Lefkosia in Greek) a street less than a mile away from northern Nicosia, which is now occupied by the Turkish military, in the so-called Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus—recognized only by Turkey, the invader state.
“In 1963, Zaven’s and my family had been forced out of our homes by the Turkish Cypriots, who had created their own enclaves in each of the towns in Cyprus as a result of the Turkish-Cypriot uprising. The Armenian community suffered major losses, including houses, shops, as well as community immovable property, such as the Sourp Asdvadzadzin Armenian Church, prelature, school, and club on Victoria Street,â€
