‘Don’t let Mersin become Chernobyl’: Turkish and Greek Cypriots unite against Russian nuclear power plant

Anti-nuclear activists from both sides of Cyprus are fighting side-by-side against a project they worry will damage marine life and cause another Chernobyl, writes Borzou Daragahi

Tuesday 29 September 2020 23:16 BST
Comments
Turkish police arrest Greenpeace activists  in front of the Energy Ministry in Ankara
Turkish police arrest Greenpeace activists in front of the Energy Ministry in Ankara

Past the tangles of barbed wire, crumbling bullet-pocked buildings, and signs warning “no photography, no litter” within the United Nations-administered buffer zone that divides the Cypriot capital Nicosia, there is a clearing. It’s along Markou Drakou Street, past the Ledras Palace hotel, just before the border control for the self-declared Turkish Republic of North Cyprus. The UN barracks (presumably filled with bored peacekeepers) is on one side of the street, then further up on the other side, right in the middle of the no-man’s land, there is a brightly painted two-storey building. It’s called the Home for Cooperation.

On its Facebook page, the facility describes itself as “a shared space for inter-communal cooperation and dialogue”. It was established 15 years ago, just after the opening up of the border between the two sides of Cyprus. Its centrepiece is a cafe that sells beer, iced coffee and some snacks. There are classrooms and conference centres, on the ground floor and upstairs, that offer both Turkish and Greek language classes, African drumming workshops, and “street food” nights.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in