Cyprus
Thry’s comments about the etymology of Gallipoli got me thinking about Cyprus. I’ve never been there but it’s a place I’d love to visit.
My late brother served with the United Nations Civilian Police on Cyprus in the late 1960s. His stories of grenade attacks, Roman and Greek ruins, and the cultural links that joined the Greek and Turkish communities were fascinating and played no small part in my career choices.
My brother had a gift for languages and was fluent in Turkish and Cypriot Greek (he also learnt Swedish and was able to give a keynote speech in Swedish after 10 days in the country). When we attended ANZAC Day marches together, his encouragement of the Greek and Turkish contingents was always reciprocated … and his dark complexion had both contingents claiming him as one of their own.
In more recent times, several of my mates/colleagues have Cypriot heritage and they are very interested in hearing about my brother’s experiences. One close friend’s husband recently published a wonderful book called Tales of Cyprus. It details the close relationship between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, a relationship that has been torn apart by 20th century geopolitical machinations.
My friend’s husband’s latest effort is an exploration of Greek Cypriot language. Many Greek Cypriot words/phrases have Turkish or Arabic origins, as you would expect given Cyprus’s location and the expansion and contraction of the Byzantine and Ottoman empires. I suspect that the Norman colonisation of the Mediterranean was also a factor.
So, what does this all mean? Nothing apart from trying to understand the local geopolitical situation. Attempting to explain events in other parts of the globe at other times through the Cypriot lens doesn’t work. It is a fascinating example of cultural processes at work.