Friday, August 5, 2022
No Result
View All Result
Asbarez.com
NEWSLETTER
ՀԱՅ
  • Home
  • Top Stories
  • Community
  • Arts & Culture
    • Art
    • Books
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Critics’ Forum
  • Op-Ed
    • Editorial
    • Opinon
    • Letters
  • Columns
    • By Any Means
    • My Turn
    • Three Apples
    • Community Links
    • Critics’ Forum
    • My Name is Armen
    • Living in Armenia
  • Videos
  • Sports
  • Home
  • Top Stories
  • Community
  • Arts & Culture
    • Art
    • Books
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Critics’ Forum
  • Op-Ed
    • Editorial
    • Opinon
    • Letters
  • Columns
    • By Any Means
    • My Turn
    • Three Apples
    • Community Links
    • Critics’ Forum
    • My Name is Armen
    • Living in Armenia
  • Videos
  • Sports
No Result
View All Result
Asbarez.com
ՀԱՅ
No Result
View All Result

Northern Cyprus as Trauma Redux

by Contributor
September 26, 2017
in Latest, Op-Ed
1
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
The Sourp Asdvadzadzin Church in Turkish-occupied Nicosia, Cyprus has been occupied since 1963 (Photo: Lori A. Sinanian)
The Sourp Asdvadzadzin Church in Turkish-occupied Nicosia, Cyprus has been occupied since 1963 (Photo: Lori A. Sinanian)

BY LORI A. SINANIAN

From The Armenian Weekly

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,” recalled Vahan, one of my father’s closest childhood friends.

To cross-over to the other side (i.e., Northern Cyprus), my father, mother, brother and I, led by Vahan Aynedjian, my father’s classmate from elementary school— we parked Vahan’s vehicle a few blocks away from the military checkpoint separating the Greek and Turkish sides of Nicosia.

Our first stop, the Cyprus Republic (Greek) checkpoint. We passed through easily by identifying that we were human beings—simply by waving to the guards. At the second checkpoint, I noticed the building’s 1950s-era awning featuring distinctive red and white stripes, vertically patterned. Above the awning, there was a sign that read, “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus FOREVER.” At that point, I knew exactly where we were. The term “forever” is a pretend, make-believe concept, and so I found it to be a form of humor, but for them a serious moral purpose defined the term.

The entrance to the court of the Armenian Church, the Der Hayr’s home, and the Armenian school (Photo: Lori A. Sinanian)
The entrance to the court of the Armenian Church, the Der Hayr’s home, and the Armenian school (Photo: Lori A. Sinanian)

The five of us were asked to show identification. After checking in, we were asked to “make sure to check out and show identification once more before exiting.” The officer at the checkpoint continued, “If one of you does not check out, that means no one is allowed through until the person who has not checked out is found.”

After crossing the two checkpoints on the neutral zone—the Green Line, as it is better known—between the Cyprus Republic and the occupied north, we walked to Victoria Street, which now has a Turkish name, and entered a narrow street where we came upon a security guard who let us in to see the church where my grandparents were married and my father was baptized, which he most gladly did, saying: “Church… open.”

When we walked into the church yard Vahan recalled: “Your father and I had been christened in this church back in 1961. Our parents would have had a shared dream for us—that we would go to the same kindergarten in the churchyard, and then to the adjacent Melikian-Ouzounian elementary school. However, all those dreams were shattered. These premises were captured by the Turks, and for 40 years they were left unmaintained, ready to collapse. Fortunately, in 2003, when the so-called borders opened, the Armenian Diocesan Council pressed for the renovation of the complex, and through the intervention and financing of the United Nations Development Program UNDP and USAID respectively, a major renovation program was executed, saving the buildings from total ruin. Though the Turkish-Cypriot authorities allow the Armenian community to have a ceremony in the church once a year, it is doubtful that the Diocesan Council, as the rightful owners of the property, can have any type of jurisdiction over them for the near, foreseeable future. While chances of the Cyprus problem being solved remain remote, we will have to be unwillingly content with occasional visits to the north” said Vahan.

As we were leaving the church the guard asked us what language we were speaking, and we said Armenian. He said he was also part Armenian on his grandfather’s side. How ironic that the Turkish guard at the Armenian Church occupied by Turkey had Armenian origins.  Sadly, we did not speak Turkish, and his English was poor so we could not communicate with him to learn more about his Armenian roots.

Walking the streets of Northern Cyprus while listening to Vahan’s voice in the background as he provided historical context, I began questioning reality, criticizing and contrasting everything. I was experiencing an increasing sense of alienation from the present moment, allowing me to live in the past, among the competing forces: Greeks and Armenians against the harsh reality of the Turkish invasion in 1974 that upset life on this paradise. I was metacognitively thinking… about my thinking. At some point, I was completely detached and disrupted by my emotions that took me away from that moment. An emotion in my mind had me stuck in the past. I kept telling myself that I must observe and draw back, as opposed to becoming involved emotionally. It’s almost like these thoughts and feelings were already embedded in my brain and in my body, and they had suddenly just started waking and working. It all became so real. The silence experienced in unison among us five felt loud. I was yearning for something emotionally fulfilling, and so I found beauty in being distracted by my raw emotions—by not focusing on concrete, intimate, imaginary, images of my Armenian great-grandparent survivors of the genocide, and grandparents and parents forcibly removed from their homes—while walking the streets where our history had died again. The detachment I was experiencing was to learn an already-discovered truth: All that occurred was based on tangible reality—what was right in front of me.

“It is saddening that your father and I cannot remember anything from 1963, as we were only two and three years old, yet these places mean so much to us and our lost history in the post-genocide Armenian neighborhoods of Nicosia,” said Vahan.

Contributor

Contributor

Next Post

Turkish Foreign Minister Visits 2 Men Jailed in the US for May Brawl

Comments 1

  1. GB says:
    5 years ago

    Turkic herds will never understand Christians, especially Armenian civilization, because of their uncivilized, brainwashed, brutal fake history!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recommended

Construction of Road Bypassing Lachin to Begin Next Month

Residents of Artsakh’s Aghavno Village Told to Evacuate by August 25

2 hours ago
Pashinyan Accuses Azerbaijan of Wanting to End Karabakh Ceasefire

Pashinyan Accuses Azerbaijan of Wanting to End Karabakh Ceasefire

18 hours ago

Connect with us

  • About
  • Advertising
  • Subscribe
  • Contact

© 2021 Asbarez | All Rights Reserved | Powered By MSDN Solutions Inc.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Top Stories
  • Community
  • Arts & Culture
    • Art
    • Books
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Critics’ Forum
  • Op-Ed
    • Editorial
    • Opinon
    • Letters
  • Columns
    • By Any Means
    • My Turn
    • Three Apples
    • Community Links
    • Critics’ Forum
    • My Name is Armen
    • Living in Armenia
  • Videos
  • Sports

© 2021 Asbarez | All Rights Reserved | Powered By MSDN Solutions Inc.

Accessibility

Accessibility modes

Epilepsy Safe Mode
Dampens color and removes blinks
This mode enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
Visually Impaired Mode
Improves website's visuals
This mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
Cognitive Disability Mode
Helps to focus on specific content
This mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
ADHD Friendly Mode
Reduces distractions and improve focus
This mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
Blindness Mode
Allows using the site with your screen-reader
This mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.

Online Dictionary

    Readable Experience

    Content Scaling
    Default
    Text Magnifier
    Readable Font
    Dyslexia Friendly
    Highlight Titles
    Highlight Links
    Font Sizing
    Default
    Line Height
    Default
    Letter Spacing
    Default
    Left Aligned
    Center Aligned
    Right Aligned

    Visually Pleasing Experience

    Dark Contrast
    Light Contrast
    Monochrome
    High Contrast
    High Saturation
    Low Saturation
    Adjust Text Colors
    Adjust Title Colors
    Adjust Background Colors

    Easy Orientation

    Mute Sounds
    Hide Images
    Virtual Keyboard
    Reading Guide
    Stop Animations
    Reading Mask
    Highlight Hover
    Highlight Focus
    Big Dark Cursor
    Big Light Cursor
    Navigation Keys

    Asbarez.com Accessibility Statement

    Accessibility Statement

    • asbarez.com
    • August 5, 2022

    Compliance status

    We firmly believe that the internet should be available and accessible to anyone, and are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of circumstance and ability.

    To fulfill this, we aim to adhere as strictly as possible to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) at the AA level. These guidelines explain how to make web content accessible to people with a wide array of disabilities. Complying with those guidelines helps us ensure that the website is accessible to all people: blind people, people with motor impairments, visual impairment, cognitive disabilities, and more.

    This website utilizes various technologies that are meant to make it as accessible as possible at all times. We utilize an accessibility interface that allows persons with specific disabilities to adjust the website’s UI (user interface) and design it to their personal needs.

    Additionally, the website utilizes an AI-based application that runs in the background and optimizes its accessibility level constantly. This application remediates the website’s HTML, adapts Its functionality and behavior for screen-readers used by the blind users, and for keyboard functions used by individuals with motor impairments.

    If you’ve found a malfunction or have ideas for improvement, we’ll be happy to hear from you. You can reach out to the website’s operators by using the following email

    Screen-reader and keyboard navigation

    Our website implements the ARIA attributes (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) technique, alongside various different behavioral changes, to ensure blind users visiting with screen-readers are able to read, comprehend, and enjoy the website’s functions. As soon as a user with a screen-reader enters your site, they immediately receive a prompt to enter the Screen-Reader Profile so they can browse and operate your site effectively. Here’s how our website covers some of the most important screen-reader requirements, alongside console screenshots of code examples:

    1. Screen-reader optimization: we run a background process that learns the website’s components from top to bottom, to ensure ongoing compliance even when updating the website. In this process, we provide screen-readers with meaningful data using the ARIA set of attributes. For example, we provide accurate form labels; descriptions for actionable icons (social media icons, search icons, cart icons, etc.); validation guidance for form inputs; element roles such as buttons, menus, modal dialogues (popups), and others. Additionally, the background process scans all of the website’s images and provides an accurate and meaningful image-object-recognition-based description as an ALT (alternate text) tag for images that are not described. It will also extract texts that are embedded within the image, using an OCR (optical character recognition) technology. To turn on screen-reader adjustments at any time, users need only to press the Alt+1 keyboard combination. Screen-reader users also get automatic announcements to turn the Screen-reader mode on as soon as they enter the website.

      These adjustments are compatible with all popular screen readers, including JAWS and NVDA.

    2. Keyboard navigation optimization: The background process also adjusts the website’s HTML, and adds various behaviors using JavaScript code to make the website operable by the keyboard. This includes the ability to navigate the website using the Tab and Shift+Tab keys, operate dropdowns with the arrow keys, close them with Esc, trigger buttons and links using the Enter key, navigate between radio and checkbox elements using the arrow keys, and fill them in with the Spacebar or Enter key.Additionally, keyboard users will find quick-navigation and content-skip menus, available at any time by clicking Alt+1, or as the first elements of the site while navigating with the keyboard. The background process also handles triggered popups by moving the keyboard focus towards them as soon as they appear, and not allow the focus drift outside of it.

      Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.

    Disability profiles supported in our website

    • Epilepsy Safe Mode: this profile enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
    • Visually Impaired Mode: this mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
    • Cognitive Disability Mode: this mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
    • ADHD Friendly Mode: this mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
    • Blindness Mode: this mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.
    • Keyboard Navigation Profile (Motor-Impaired): this profile enables motor-impaired persons to operate the website using the keyboard Tab, Shift+Tab, and the Enter keys. Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.

    Additional UI, design, and readability adjustments

    1. Font adjustments – users, can increase and decrease its size, change its family (type), adjust the spacing, alignment, line height, and more.
    2. Color adjustments – users can select various color contrast profiles such as light, dark, inverted, and monochrome. Additionally, users can swap color schemes of titles, texts, and backgrounds, with over 7 different coloring options.
    3. Animations – epileptic users can stop all running animations with the click of a button. Animations controlled by the interface include videos, GIFs, and CSS flashing transitions.
    4. Content highlighting – users can choose to emphasize important elements such as links and titles. They can also choose to highlight focused or hovered elements only.
    5. Audio muting – users with hearing devices may experience headaches or other issues due to automatic audio playing. This option lets users mute the entire website instantly.
    6. Cognitive disorders – we utilize a search engine that is linked to Wikipedia and Wiktionary, allowing people with cognitive disorders to decipher meanings of phrases, initials, slang, and others.
    7. Additional functions – we provide users the option to change cursor color and size, use a printing mode, enable a virtual keyboard, and many other functions.

    Browser and assistive technology compatibility

    We aim to support the widest array of browsers and assistive technologies as possible, so our users can choose the best fitting tools for them, with as few limitations as possible. Therefore, we have worked very hard to be able to support all major systems that comprise over 95% of the user market share including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera and Microsoft Edge, JAWS and NVDA (screen readers), both for Windows and for MAC users.

    Notes, comments, and feedback

    Despite our very best efforts to allow anybody to adjust the website to their needs, there may still be pages or sections that are not fully accessible, are in the process of becoming accessible, or are lacking an adequate technological solution to make them accessible. Still, we are continually improving our accessibility, adding, updating and improving its options and features, and developing and adopting new technologies. All this is meant to reach the optimal level of accessibility, following technological advancements. For any assistance, please reach out to