Republic of Cyprus
President Tassos Papadopoulos of the Republic of Cyprus became the 16th world leader to honor my request. Judging from his name this guy must be of Greek heritage. And judging from the envelope he lives in a palace..
Note: The island of Cyprus is divided between the Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Both lay claim to the entire island and do not recognize each others legitimacy. Of course I sent letters to the leaders of both.
I've always wanted to visit Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus. I find it intriguing because it is the world's only remaining militarily divided capital city. Both competing governments claim (a part of) Nicosia as their capital. The capital is split right down the middle and communication and movement between the sides are prohibited. I would love the opportunity to observe this state of affairs...
posted by Joel at 8:35 PM
3 Comments:
I was disappointed that accession to the EU did not provide motivation to solve the division of the country. It did lead to some political changes which make a resolution more likely, at least.
"... communication and movement between the sides are prohibited."
This is no longer true. The border is open for anyone to cross in either direction, though there are limits on the length of stay. It has been this way for... more than a year, I think?
I was in Nicosia in September of '05. The prior entrant is correct. One can travel across the border. However, the city is still very much divided. As a US National, I was very welcome on the Turkish side - noting that the US seems to support Turkey in this dispute even though Turkey was the invader.
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