Kato Deryneia: The citizens are now showing the way

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By Marios Dimitrios

"The base is the citizens and they show the way of reunification and return," said the Mayor of Deryneia Andros Karagiannis, addressing at noon on Sunday, January 20, 2019 to dozens of refugees in occupied Lower Deryneia who participated in a royal pie cutting event now Deryneia roadblock, on the Deryneia - Famagusta road that crosses the community and ends outside the fenced ghost town. The cutting of the royal pie in this almost eerie environment, on the asphalt between their paternal houses, which are torn down, looted, with bare walls, uninhabited for 45 years, on both sides of Famagusta Avenue, behind the tall, wired fence of the Turkish occupation, was a personal initiative of Takis Charalambous from Katoderini, a child friend of the signatory, now a resident of Paralimni. He himself expressed to "24" great satisfaction for the arrival of a large number of refugees from Katoderyneio from all parts of free Cyprus and for the success of the event, which took place with discreet monitoring of the "police" of the pseudo-state and the occupying army, since it is a controlled military region.

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Common point, the love for our place

"Congratulations on this initiative to cut the royal pie in front of our houses, here in Kato Deryneia", said Andros Karagiannis, revealing that it was offered free of charge to the refugees of the community, by a bakery in Deryneia. "The Municipality of Deryneia", he said, "has already announced that it will help the civil society to show the way to the civil society. The people have shown that they want a solution to the Cyprus problem, they want us to return to our homes and our occupied properties, and I believe that civil society has power. We have one thing in common, we love our place and the love for our place gives us the strength to show politicians that the common people want to return to their homes. We will try, knowing that we have no supernatural potential. What we ask of you is trust, understanding and love. We say that with our weaknesses and mistakes, in the end the world will judge us all. We as the Municipality of Deryneia will support every effort that comes from the ordinary citizens ".

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Let our church reopen

"We receive many messages from you, our fellow citizens of Katoderyneio, on issues that you want to promote and we will put them in order and try to implement them", said Andros Karagiannis and continued: "You know that we are not the ones holding the key to the solution of the Cyprus problem, there are others above us. However, we are trying to at least succeed in finally reopening on May 3, 2019, after 45 years, the church of Agios Timotheos and Mavra of Kato Deryneia. This is the fourth time we have made the relevant request, after consultation with the Committee of the Lower Danes and I want to hope that this time they will allow us to operate our church, as a first step ". Answering a relevant question of the signatory, the Mayor of Deryneia stressed that "the goal is to be as many as possible each time, so that some can see that the number of citizens who want to walk in Kato Deryneia and Famagusta is increasing - only this way we will expel the barbed wire we have behind us and prevent us from going to our homes ”.

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The meetings after November 12, 2018

It should be noted that Takis Charalambous has organized several visits of Katoderneiotes, who meet and drink their coffee at this point in the occupied community, since the opening of the Deryneia roadblock on Monday, November 12, 2018. On that first day, about 1500 Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots, Europeans and third-country nationals, crossed from the free areas to the occupied territories and vice versa, through the roadblock - on foot, by bicycle or by motor vehicle - and have since grown to thousands. "Every roadblock that opens is a hole in the wall that separates the two communities and we should applaud such a thing," said Pampos Damianou from Katoderini, who had walked with members of his family and other villagers on Deryneia Street. Famagusta crossing the community. As we wrote in a relevant report for "24", more emotional and less… political, was the attitude of Kika's wife: "I was born and married in Kato Deryneia… we have been waiting for 44 years for the road to open, to go to our homes, "But unfortunately we will not be able to visit them - we are very angry and frustrated, because the barbed wire is blocking us." A few minutes after the roadblock was opened, Kika stood shocked, along with her sister Maro, pointing to the signatory, her dilapidated paternal home, with the high, wired fence of Famagusta Avenue passing through her yard. As I mentioned in that first report, one of these houses, a few meters from the fence, but not visible from the road, is also my paternal home, since I was born here and lived my childhood.

"It is not the return we dreamed of"

In the report on the opening of the Deryneia roadblock, it was stated that November 12, 2018, was clearly the most difficult day for Kato Deryneia and the people of Katoderini - one of the most difficult in the 44 years of exile - and obviously much more than it was for the other refugees of Famagusta, because "the hole in the wall", about which Pampos Damianou spoke, is not for them, a figure of speech, nor another abstract symbolism in the tragic zodiac of the unresolved Cypriot problem: This "hole" literally symbolizes , the heart of the community, in the form of another impenetrable wall, a foreign body made of concrete and barbed wire, which blocks access and real contact with space and fiercely opposes memory itself. This, of course, is not the return that the people of Kato Deryneia dreamed of, because yes, "Kato Deryneia is here", as the white T-shirts of the "Adoulotoi Kato Deryneia" Committee wrote, which some of them wore, but at the same time, Kato Deryneia was missing. as they knew and remembered her as children and young people, who crossed it last Monday. As they themselves pointed out to the signatory, this is not their own Lower Deryneia, built by their parents, but it is a military area, illegally controlled by the occupying power.

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"They took three meters from our yard"

"With mixed feelings of joy and sorrow, we walked on the Deryneia-Famagusta road, but without being able to go to our homes," Takis Charalambous told me, adding that he felt emotions he could not describe in words. My childhood friend Petros Georgiou, pointed out that in order for people to understand what is happening and how we feel, to say that the house of Kika and Maro (who are the daughters of the late Arestis Georgiou), is a yard of mine . So they have taken three meters from our yard, to build the road and they have put up a high fence, so that we can not enter our house and this is called a confidence building measure. Why do I only feel sadness and anger? I walk, I get out of my house, but I have in front of me the wire fence. I do not disagree with the opening of the roadblock, I disagree with the way it opens. It is another roadblock, among others that have been opened for 14 years. Did they solve the Cyprus problem? ”

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Let us not dwell on the negatives - a positive note

An indirect answer to Petros Georgiou, gave in a statement the day after the opening, the Mayor of Deryneia Andros Karagiannis: “Let us not stay in the negative, we want a positive note in the event. Civil society spoke yesterday, when pedestrians, or by car, passed from Deryneia to Famagusta and from Famagusta to Deryneia. The response was excellent and I am very glad that people have learned about Kato Deryneia. Because if anyone was talking about the occupied area of ​​Deryneia, about Kato Deryneia, it was the Mayor of Deryneia and the refugees from Katoderyni. Yes, Kato Deryneia is part of the occupied area of ​​Deryneia and we fully understand the concern of the people of Kato Deryneia - and I want to assure them that the Municipality of Deryneia, will try again for the fourth time, to request the operation of the church of Kato Deryneia, Agios Timotheos and Black ”. (In a statement, the Chairman of the Committee "Adoulotoi Kato Deryneia" Andreas Grigoriou, municipal councilor of Deryneia, stated that the Committee "is doing its own actions, towards the operation of the church of the community"). Andros Karagiannis added that “with the opening of the roadblock, the citizens proved that there is still hope and will. It is exceptional - he added - that some Turkish Cypriots, transported to Deryneia with their cars, Greek Cypriots of a certain age, who walked 2-3 km of the road and could not return on foot ". He also said that “it is touching to come a few meters below Deryneia and see people waiting for you with open arms. I have to admit that I did not expect so many people to embrace us and that ultimately means that the efforts we all make together have a response. We have taken the first step, which was the opening of the Deryneia and Lefka roadblocks and now we expect to do it all together, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, the biggest step, which is the reunification of Cyprus ".

For his part, Famagusta Mayor Alexis Galanos said that "after the opening of the Deryneia roadblock in particular, it is time for the government to demand the opening of at least the enclosed city of Famagusta, or at least to insist that UN experts enter." to study how the city will be rebuilt ”.

The principle for reconciliation and reunification

The same positive spirit distinguishes the joint declaration of Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot organizations signed by, among others, Unite Cyprus Now, Famagusta Our City, Famagusta Initiative, Famagusta Avenue Garage, Famagusta Youth Center (MAGEM), Bar Association, Historical See Why, Unlocked Limassol, MKD and EMU Labor Union. The proclamation was read in Greek, Turkish and English, in the gathered crowd of Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots and foreigners, at the crossing point, shortly after the opening of the roadblock and it is emphasized that “we faced many difficulties, but we also experienced the value of cooperation and solidarity between the communities of Cyprus. The request to open the crossing point - he added - is a result of the initiative and synergy between communities, civil society organizations, local businesses, politicians and activists. This request comes from the common people, who demonstrate their sincere desire for reconciliation and reunification of Cyprus. We believe that the opening of the Deryneia crossing point is the beginning of our efforts for reconciliation and reunification of our country ".

Source: 24h.com.cy