For over five decades, since Turkey invaded Cyprus, this island nation in the Mediterranean has been divided by a UN-controlled buffer zone. There, history stands still. Yet, Fotis Fotiou is determined to restore his abandoned family house located in that area and move back.
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00:00Every day for the last three years, 63-year-old Greek Cypriot Fotis Fotiou has been entering Cyprus' buffer zone,
00:08the ceasefire line, which has divided the island in two since Turkey's invasion of Cyprus in the summer of 1974.
00:24Fotiou wants to renovate his family's house.
00:27It has been abandoned here for more than 50 years since the division of the island into the Turkish-controlled north
00:34and the internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus in the south.
00:37When I came here, I was afraid because I didn't have the experience of the elderly.
00:44The elderly didn't have any issue of safety.
00:49I came here for three years, I didn't have any issue of safety.
01:25The Cyprus conflict has been going on for decades, yet years of negotiations seeking reunification have failed.
01:31The buffer zone stretches for about 180 km across the island.
01:36Although most of the area looks deteriorated and frozen in time, some parts of it are inhabited.
01:40It is patrolled by the United Nations peacekeeping force in Cyprus.
01:46Nassia Hadjigiorgiou is an associate professor in transitional justice and human rights
01:52at the University of Central Lancashire in Cyprus at the University of Central Lancashire in Cyprus.
02:08Nassia Hadjigiorgiou is an associate professor in Cyprus.
02:10Communities as an associate professor of Cyprus is a field of Kyippi Siperisi,
02:15which is a field of Kyippi If you arean depresist of the Kyippi Siperisi,
02:17which is a field of Kyippi Siperisi, which is a field of Kyippi If you are a part of Kyippi Siperi.
02:19are and to be united with the Kyippi Siperis.
02:20And in other words, they remain in the Kyippi Siperis.
02:22but the situation is not responsible.
02:24However, the situation is not responsible for that
02:26because of the European democracy,
02:28the UNFICIP, the United Nations,
02:32are also eligible for the country.
02:34Therefore, if you want to be responsible for the country,
02:38who should be responsible for this country,
02:42it will be between the United Nations and the United Nations.
02:52Despite decades of failed negotiations seeking a political resolution,
02:56Fotiu is trying to get a sense of normality.
02:59He's built a garden, an outdoor oven, even a small chapel.
03:03He's slowly renovating the rooms.
03:05In 1974, when Turkey occupied the north of the island,
03:09170,000 Greek Cypriots were forced to leave their homes.
03:14His family was among them.
03:16Here, in this room, I would like to introduce myself
03:22with a unique disposition,
03:24and I would like to go back.
03:26Because here, my grandparents, my grandparents,
03:28my grandparents, my husband,
03:30and my grandparents, my grandparents,
03:32and my grandparents, my grandparents,
03:34and my grandparents,
03:36the United Nations,
03:38our country,
03:40our European countries,
03:42to help the world to come back,
03:44in the middle of the black zone,
03:46and to be able to work with safety.
03:50Fotiu is not too optimistic
03:52about the political solution
03:54to the Cyprus issue in the near future,
03:56but he believes that the return of some people
03:58to abandoned homes in the buffer zone
04:00could be a start.
04:02As for his own return to his family home,
04:04he believes that it will happen soon.
04:07All the protection of his family is about
04:09to avoid his family home,
04:11and upon him,
04:13to be able to leave his family home.
04:15Theerton of the Prince is on the track,
04:17the
04:26way of healing,
04:27and upon him,
04:29the way of healing home,
04:31the afterlife,
04:33will be able to be able to continue