Potamia village, Cyprus — symbol of the future

Steven Katsineris

Please let it be known that we are a living example of the sort 
of place Cyprus could be.

Ibrahim Azziz,
Turkish Cypriot writer and resident of Potamia.

Before the Turkish invasion of 1974, Cyprus was dotted with 
ethnically mixed villages. There is a popular mistaken perception 
that since partition Cyprus has been divided between the two 
separate populations, with Turkish Cypriots living exclusively in 
the Turkish-occupied north and Greek Cypriots in the Republic of 
Cyprus in the southern part of the island. 

This is not an accurate reflection of the situation, especially 
in regards to the south of Cyprus. Here Turkish Cypriots still 
live peacefully together in villages and towns with their Greek 
and other Cypriot compatriots as citizens of the Republic of 
Cyprus. The largest of these mixed villages is Pyla with 900 
Greek Cypriots and 500 Turkish Cypriots.

Another one of these places is the village of Potamia. It is 
nestled against a hillside surrounded by beautiful orchids in the 
island's central plain, bordering the "green line" — the zone 
that divides the rest of Cyprus from the occupied north. The 
village is one of the truly mixed villages in which Turkish 
Cypriots continue to live and work together with other Cypriots 
making a living from the land.

Potamia is a quiet community of mainly farmers and commuters from 
Nicosia. It is a small village with only 448 inhabitants, with 
several village coffee shops (or tavernas, as the preferred 
meeting places), restaurants and a primary school. There is not 
much to distinguish the two communities.

In the evenings Turkish and Greek Cypriots gather in Potamia's 
cafis to talk, joke and play backgammon. All the inhabitants are 
fluent in Greek and Turkish Cypriot dialects.

"In this village there are two mother tongues and there has never 
been a war with hate. Since Ottoman times, both communities have 
lived happily, side by side. We looked at the village of Ayios 
Sozomenos down the road and knew that's what we didn't want to 
be," said Ibrahim Azziz. The nearby village of Ayios Sozomenos 
just one kilometre to the north was bitterly fought over in 1964 
and then abandoned by its people.

It is a relatively comfortable village with well cared for homes 
and pretty fields and with a new community building that serves 
as the community headquarters where the two muktars (the villages 
community leaders) Panicos Yiatrou and Hussein Hami meet together 
to represent their people — the 48 Turkish Cypriots and 400 
Greek Cypriots of the village. Turkish Cypriots were once in the 
majority in Potamia, but many left when ethnic conflict broke out 
in 1964, some of them returned in later years.

After the Turkish invasion an estimated 250 Turkish Cypriots left 
again, settling in the north. Ibrahim Azziz was one of those who 
urged his fellow Turkish Cypriots to stay. Some have returned 
since, with more coming back each year, but some families remain 
divided.

When middle-aged Turkish Cypriot mason Hilmi Ermin fled the 
Turkish occupied north, crossing the 'border' during the night he 
went straight to Potamia. He was warmly welcomed and in 2002 his 
son also escaped and joined him in Potamia. He is now waiting for 
his wife and two daughters still on the other side to be reunited 
with him.

Since the lifting of travel restrictions by the Turkish 
authorities in April 2003, allowing limited freedom of movement 
more Turkish Cypriots from the north have been returning to visit 
the village. Prior to those changes leaders in Potamia were 
working on efforts to create a more welcoming environment to 
encourage more Turkish Cypriots to return to the village.

"We set up a regional committee to advance policies of 
reconciliation between the two communities. When Turkish Cypriots 
get the chance they attend bi-communal events. It's been very 
successful", said Panicos Yiatrou, Potamia's Greek Cypriot mayor, 
a post he shares with his Turkish Cypriot counterpart Hussein 
Hami.

In July 2002, 11 villages in the area, including Potamia, 
announced the formation of The Regional Committee for the 
Rapprochement of the Turkish and Greek Cypriot Communities. This 
was an initiative established to further develop a relationship 
of co- operation and understanding.

Radio Potamia

Potamia even has a special local FM radio station, Radio Potamia, 
serving a ten square kilometre area. The programming of its news, 
music, education, local cultural programs and announcements of 
events, like births, deaths and marriages is broadcast equally in 
Greek and Turkish (both are the official languages of Cyprus).

The audience of Radio Potamia is small, but its reach extends to 
the neighbouring village of Dali and significantly the village of 
Louroudjina in the occupied area in the north. Some former 
Turkish Cypriot residents of Potamia who live outside the 
broadcast area are pushing for the station to widen its range.

Radio Potamia is rather unique and symbolic of a genuine bi-
communal spirit and desire that transcendes its humble role. 
Radio Potamia is the dream of Loukis Papaphillippou, who grew up 
in Potamia and whose father was the village priest and served 
both Greek and Turkish constituents. Its planned mission is 
disseminating public broadcasting. The aim of Radio Potamia as 
described by its director Kyriakos Kikas is "to reflect a spirit 
of mutual respect, rather than mere co-existence."

According to Nicos Prokommenas, the journalist at the station, 
"we must be aware that the audience are local people living 
together, that they are real friends and refer to each other by 
first name — Potamia is the way it is because the people want to 
be the way they are".

To mark the opening of Radio Potamia on May 11, 2003, a day of 
celebration was held with over 500 Greek and Turkish Cypriots 
gathering with music and food. It included 155 Turkish Cypriots 
who came by bus and another 150 by car mostly from Turkish-held 
Argaki village near Morphou. Radio Potamia is another important 
component promoting reunification and a return by former 
residents by providing a unified community voice.

Cypriot Interior Minister Andreas Christou spoke of its 
significance in comments to the Cyprus Weekly, "When this 
communication is built upon the long tradition of co-existence 
and co-operation between the two communities, then it reinforces 
the uniting and coexisting elements of a solution, fading the 
elements which look for dividing solutions. This message is 
conveyed by Radio Potamia to Turkish Cypriots". 

The value and impact of such an exemplary village as Potamia 
cannot be underestimated in showing the real vision of a reunited 
and renewed Cyprus.

"Hussein and I never stop making the point that Greeks and Turks 
coexist peacefully here and that it is possible", said Panicos 
Yiatrou.

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Steven Katsineris is a Tasmanian born freelance writer of 
Cypriot background living in Hurstbridge, Victoria, Australia.