Music and Poetry Build Bi-communal Peace Culture in Cyprus
‘My Country is Cut in Two’
Cyprus is an island so small that it takes merely an hour to drive the narrow width from north to south coasts. Yet the Greek and Turkish Cypriot population have been completely segregated by ethnicity since 1974. Though they may live only hundreds of meters apart, children have grown to young adults over these twenty-five years and never seen someone from the other side. Yet if one were to watch folk dancers or hear Cypriot songs on either side, it is likely that the same tunes will fill the air. The popular folk tune ‘Dillirga’ is sung with Greek words in the south and with Turkish words in the north, but it is a song deeply linked to the identity of all Cypriots.
In growing numbers over the past years, when permitted, Greek and Turkish Cypriots have met together in the UN-administered buffer zone that bisects their island (the Turkish Cypriot authorities banned Turkish Cypriots from attending bicommunal meetings beginning on December 17th 1997; over a year later, the ban continues). They engaged in dialogue, build relationships and created an alternative to the mainstream cultures of nationalism and division that are highly militarized in both north and south. In the struggle to establish this alternative ‘peace culture’ in Cyprus, music and poetry play a significant role. From the Bi-communal Choir and mixed groups of rock musicians that perform at bi-communal events, to the songs citizens sing together when they want to express their desire for peace, music carries a powerful sense of liberation and reconnection for Cypriots from both sides, epitomized when they sing ‘Dillirga’ together, alternating Greek and Turkish verses.
Music and poetry has been used in Cyprus to transform conflict at conceptual, emotional and cultural levels - through mind, heart and body. Lyric music helps keep the vision of peace alive and deeply felt. It is a tool and impetus for communication, collaboration and celebration, cornerstones of a budding common culture, not Greek or Turkish, but Cypriot, non-divisive and hopeful - peace culture.
Since the 1960’s, topical songs have raised consciousness about peace and justice worldwide. Home grown topical music has helped Cypriots to envision the potential for peace, reframe perspectives on the issues, and conceptualize imaginative strategies for conflict resolution. In the musical poem ‘When Cyprus Becomes One’, Greek Cypriot rap artist Hajimike crafts a hopeful image of conflict transformation with his wry vision of Cyprus’ possible futures, the dire or desirable scenarios which will emerge from an untenable status quo:
‘Refugees in their home
missing persons reunited
weapons cast away
living life, having a say...
or is it such an impossibility
beyond the next century
a strange mystery, a fallacy
for Cyprus to be one?’
Informative songs promote greater understanding of the sources and dynamics of conflict, revealing the harm of stereotypes, and the need to build cooperative security as an alternative to living constantly on the brink of violence. An anti-war song promotes awareness and analysis about how conflicts can escalate or be mitigated through improved inter-group relations and non-violent approaches.
Greek Cypriot singer Katie Economidou performs the anti-war ‘Kardashim Duymuz’ (‘My Brother’) by famous Turkish singer/songwriter Zulfa Livaneli, a song that reframes conflict as a mutual problem, helping identify the common interests and fundamental human needs that are endangered by violence.
A good topical lyric stimulates thinking about problem solving, even creates a fantasy equation for resolving a conflict. Poetic imagery can enhance the ability to see both sides of an issue and common elements of transcultural identity, as in the poem by Neshe Yashin, ‘Which Half’:
‘They say a person should
love their homeland
that’s also what
my father often says.
My homeland
has been divided in two
which of the two pieces
should I love?’
The transformative impact of music reaches beneath the conceptual level, to the heart level, where it touches emotions and values, and energizes solidarity for action. Simple peace songs help teach peace as an essential value to children, helping adults reconnect with, and pass on, the feeling of peace. A visionary lyric reminds us about the critical importance of core human feelings such as hope and love, which can be empty platitudes when not grounded in as impactful a context as a good song, like John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ - still sung by Cypriot peacebuilders as a reminder of our common human potential.
The sonority of music itself helps process difficult emotions, catharting despair and denial, and validating repressed fears and hopes. It literally gives heart and hope, exemplified in performances of the song ‘Umutzuz Olma Arkadash’ (‘Don’t Be Hopeless My Friend’), based on a collaborative poem written by the student poetry group of prominent Turkish Cypriot poet Mehmet Kansu. The song, punctuated by handclap accents, essentially states that ‘though there are tanks and guns around us’ and ‘though we can’t touch each other’s hands,’ someday we will see ‘peace and love together, like the rising sun.’ Music encourages political action by supporting feelings of solidarity, helping a political opposition develop group identity, lift morale in difficult times, and clarify its vision and values.
Bi-communal event. Photo John Ungerleider
At the social and cultural level, music and poetry provide a forum for developing creative communication through collaborative projects, building common culture and celebrating together. Music facilitates intercultural communication by making possible listening across cultures through the universal languages of rhythm, melody and harmony. Lyric meaning and feeling are shared as artists improvise live or collaborate in recorded venues. Any collaboration deepens dialogue skills, such as listening and authentic expression, leading to a sense of mutual understanding. These skills form the foundation for collaborative problem solving and principled negotiation in general.
Working collaboratively in 1978 when there were no bi-communal meetings at all, Turkish Cypriot poet Neshe Yashin and Greek Cypriot musician Marios Tokas composed ‘My Country is Cut In Two’ (‘Yurdum Ikiye Bolundu’). The Bi-communal Choir performs it in Turkish and Greek. It has been recorded by the famous Greek singer Yiorgos Dalaras who sings it in every concert, ironically often mixed with a nationalistic context and spirit. Katie Economidou recalls: ‘I remember one night in Limassol where we were with Neshe in a concert by Dalaras and when he was singing this song everybody stood up and sang. A lot of them were crying and of course no one recognised Neshe in the crowds. I turned to her and said: you see what a gift you gave to these people?’
A poetry and visual art collaboration in 1995 produced the book ‘Nicosia’, with poems by Neshe Yashin and Michalis Hadjipieris set to paintings and murals of their common, divided city by Georgios Kepola. Poems and song lyrics are published along with articles in the bi-communal magazine Hade, begun in 1997.
Bands from either side, who had worked together to perform at bi-communal events, were in the early stages of meeting to produce and record a jointly written peace song to enter in the Eurovision contest when the bi-communal meeting ban froze all collaborative efforts. Ironically a story appeared in the Cyprus Mail, on April 1, 1998 stating that Cyprus’ Eurovision song entry was disqualified since it was not bi-communally produced. This story turned out to be an April Fool’s joke, but with poignant effect.
Peace culture takes root in songs that contain the spirit of peace in Cyprus and are known bi-communally. The best loved include famous Greek songwriter Mikis Theodorakis’ ‘Chrysoprasino Phylo’ (‘Golden Green Leaf’), referring to the shape and the colours of Cyprus in the Mediterranean, and Turkish Cypriot singer/songwriter Acar Akalin’s hopeful ‘Guzel Gunler’ (Nice Days). Cultural self-identification is expanded by learning other peoples’ songs. Katie Economidou recounts her daughter’s favourite at bedtime is lullaby ‘Durnam’ sung in Turkish. In an atmosphere of multicultural cross fertilization and fusion, similarities and differences are appreciated.
The growing culture of ‘world music’ models a more international, global sense of cultural identity. The trusting relationships emerging from cross-cultural recognition promote reconciliation and forgiveness, as well as shared joy - a core element of peace culture. When Cypriots sing ‘Dillirga’ bi-communally, their common identity reveals itself as an exuberant memory with nascent cultural meanings.
Several large festivals in 1997 opened checkpoints into the UN Buffer Zone and thousands attended each time - a Peace Concert, a Bi-communal Fair, annual UN Day, and a Peace Festival organized by dozens of local groups from both sides. The Peace Concert was the second ever; in 1995 the first drew about 250 concert-goers from each side, at a time when there had been virtually no bi-communal contact to date.
Before the 1997 concert, the Turkish Cypriot news media published very threatening reports that made people afraid for their lives to attend and a Turkish pop singer had rocks thrown at his bus by the para-military nationalist Grey Wolves; after the show, Greek Cypriot young people were met by nationalist youth yelling and chasing them with stones. Still about 2,000 Turkish Cypriots and 400 Greek Cypriots attended. Young people speak of the lasting inspiration they still draw from the memory of that unified festive atmosphere.
At each large bi-communal event, music was the centrepiece of the day. Folk troupes and rock groups from Turkish and Greek Cypriot communities performed. Most significantly, joint performances, such as by Turkish Cypriot band Grup Net and Greek Cypriot group Klironomia, highlighted the shows with common Cypriot tunes sung in both Greek and Turkish. The communal feeling of celebration was held together by the music and dancing, once even in the pouring rain, a rarity in Cyprus. The same sense of undivided fun pervaded non-political disco dancing and sharing folk songs around the campfire at youth camps and conferences held off-island (such as in the US, Northern Ireland, Hungary) when contacts on Cyprus were not permitted.
This tangible spirit of unity is an undeniable shared reality, an unforgettable moment in time when distrust and hatred are overcome. Just as the bi-communal choir continues to rehearse separately, Cypriot melodies and musical memories sustain hope during difficult times such as these, a fertile seed to cultivate peace in a future when people can renew and expand their friendships across the Green Line.
Discography
‘When Cyprus Becomes One’ by Hajimike, from Haki Mike on the Mike, Kebab Kulture, 1994.
‘Kardashim Duymuz’ by Zulfu Livaneli with Mikis Theodorakis from Together: Mazi/Birlikte, BMG, 1997.
‘Krisoprassino Phylo’ by Mikis Theodorakis on 14 Megales Epitixes, Lyra, 1996.
‘Yurdum Ikiye Bolundu’ on Haricten Gazel by Melike Demirag; and on Marios Tokas and George Dalaras, 1998.
‘Guzel Gunler’ by Acar Akalin and Ahmet Okan from Yediveren Dusleri.
‘Dillirga’ anon. Cypriot folk tune, various recordings.
Reference
Which Half in Nicosia, Nese Yashin. Cyprus. Thegona, 1995.
This article has been written by John Ungerleider, associate professor at the School for International Training, Vermont, USA
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