Mr G was sitting in his comfortable armchair drinking joyfully his coffee. His face, old and wrinkled, emerged an endless tranquility, welcomed us and gave us the feeling of comfortableness. We explained to him the purpose of this interview and of course, he accepted. As he told us, he was always happy to recall and describe his memories and experiences to young people. He offered us a cup of hot delicious Cypriot coffee and the voyage back in time began:
Q: Can you describe your relationship with the Turkish Cypriots?
"
Firstly, we were co-workers, we were playing cards and backgammon at the kafenio [a traditional Cypriot coffee shop] in Lefka. Moreover, as co-workers we were going together at work. Here, I would like to mention that because of the fact that [my village] was 25 km far from Lefka, occasionally I had to stay to the latter and this gave me the opportunity to come closer with the Turkish Cypriots."
Q: How could you define your relations with the Turkish Cypriots, especially comparing them with the Greek Cypriots’?
"There was no difference!"
Q: Oh, in which language did you communicate? Did you speak Turkish?
"Yes I did. However, we were communicating in Greek."
Q: All of them spoke Greek?
"Yes, they were obliged. There were not obliged by the state to do so, but they were obliged by the circumstances because the majority was Greek. . . . Most of them preferred to learn and speak Greek."
Q: Now, let’s go deeper with your relations with them. Please tell us if you remember any particular event or occasion that struck you?
"Yes, there are specific events that are still engraved in my memory. As you know Turks as Muslims and they are not supposed to eat any pork or drink alcohol. Nevertheless, some evenings we were sitting at the kafenio and we were drinking zivania [a traditional Cypriot alcoholic drink] and eating sausages. Because we were friends they rejected their religious restraints."
Oh, that was so interesting. Something else…?
"We knew a guy named Hussein Osman who was a shoe maker. He was a dear friend of mine and he needed help, he came to me and said: “Kardeş [The Turkish equivalent of “brother], I need work and you are the only one who can help me.” This comment touched my heart and of course I could not deny. I took him to my home village [ ... ] and as it was expected, all the villagers were thrilled with his arrival because they did not have a shoe maker in [that village]."
Q: You told us many occasions where you helped Turkish Cypriots, can you remember an occasion where a Turkish Cypriot helped you?
"I used to have a kafenio and a Turkish Cypriot friend offered to fix my chairs for free."
Q: Apart from these people, did you have any special bonding with a Turkish Cypriot? Someone who you would call “brother” or a very close friend?
"
Yes, I had a special bonding with three brothers [ ... ]. They were kafenio owners and I used to visit them twice a week. At this point it is important to mention that their kafenio was poorely decorated in contrast with the Greek ones; and there was a portrait of Kemal Ataturk."
Q: Yes but weren’t you irritated?
"Never because in Greek Cypriot kafenios we also had posters of our leaders."
DEMOGRAPHICS
Age: 83
Sex: Male
How would you classify your ethnicity [race]: Greek
Nationality: Greek Cypriot
Where now lives (country and city/town): Cyprus/ Nicosia
Interview conducted Fall 2010 by Lelia and Raphael, University of Cyprus Department of English Studies