Borders that are next door

The Republic of Cyprus requires visa from Turkish citizens. As usual, among the required paperwork was flight confirmation. My university had paid for the expenses for a one-way ticket to Larnaka and I was looking for ways to pay for my return ticket.
Due to political reasons there are no direct flights from Larnaka to Istanbul and among the ones with a stop-over, the cost was very expensive for me to pay. Being a student myself, I tried to find the cheapest way to come back and realized that the cheapest would be to cross to the Turkish side and take a flight from there. I bought my return ticket from North Cyprus to Turkey and submitted my visa application. A few days later, I received a call. The person on the other side of the line was telling me that my return ticket was unacceptable since it was departing through the “occupied side”. It was hard to believe since what I was reading on the news was saying that the borders were coming down and it was not a problem to cross. I asked the person on the phone what I had to do and was told that I had to submit a return ticket, which had to depart from the South side. That would mean that I would have to buy another ticket. Then I started to question, could I really cross the border or not? Was it a fact or a myth?

After my research I learned that it was possible to cross the border with a visa, but in order to get a visa I had to submit the ticket they asked for. I didn’t have the money to afford it. I decided that I couldn’t go and gave up my hopes until I received the STEP beyond travel grant. I decided to go.
Again I started my research for a ticket. The cheapest ticket I found was from Larnaka to Greece. I had no choice but buy it in order to get my visa.
I purchased the ticket and submitted it to the Consulate. A few days later I received my passport with a visa stamp on it. This is about my frustration of getting from one place to the other and having to pay for a flight which I didn’t use.

During my stay in Cyprus, I experienced an extremely stimulating atmosphere. It was as if I had been caught in a stream. Participating in the symposium was far better than I could imagine, both intellectually and socially. Not only did I have a chance to meet with participants but also during many encounters with the residents of the Island, I had great interactions.

Listening to people’s stories was far better than the history books. For me it was a journey to my own history through the perspective of the other side. A side that has been so close yet existed as if it was a virtual reality, something that I could never enter completely.

The whole trip was literally a border crossing for me.