Title of Podcast: “Cyprus through a Greek Cypriots eyes”

              By Zara O’Sullivan      

The Mediterranean is often perceived as a destination for a sun holiday where one can relax on the sandy beach, go for a swim in the crystal-clear ocean, or sunbathe under the warm rays of the sun. However, the Mediterranean is also a place that has experienced a vast amount of conflict that has resulted in trauma, instability, and displacement. This podcast discusses the Mediterranean and the topic of displacement by focusing on the partitioned country of Cyprus. In this episode, I am privileged to be in a position where I had the opportunity to interview a Greek Cypriot. I reached out to him to see if he would join me in this podcast and if he would be willing to share his lived experience in Cyprus. He was delighted to join me in this episode to help raise awareness about his country, as he feels that many people including the vast majority of the Irish population, do not actually know what had happened in Cyprus and how the aftermath still effects people to this day.

My approach 

 Initially, my plan was to interview the Irish community and to discuss their thoughts surrounding the Mediterranean and the topic of displacement. However, I decided to change my plan after attending a conference in University College Cork held in the Aula Maxima on the 11^th of February 2026. Dr Munawwar Najim shared her lived experience in Gaza as she gave an in-depth account of the conflict, and it truly was moving and powerful. She did a phenomenal job in raising awareness of what is happening in Gaza right now and therefore, I wanted to do something similar as the purpose of my assignment is to raise awareness and educate people about what is happening in the Mediterranean. I decided to create a podcast where a guest speaker would join me and discuss their lived experience in the Mediterranean, as I think that hearing somebody’s real lived experience has much more of an impact than reading any essay. I chose to focus on Cyprus specifically as I wanted to rasie awareness on the effects of Cyprus being colonised by the British and how the country had divided due to partition.

How does this podcast link with a text studied on the module?

In the podcast a Greek Cypriot reflects on the aftermath of the partition of Cyprus in 1974. He describes how he was only eight years old when the conflict was happening around him. This was an extremely young age to be exposed to conflict and the devastating effects that follow. He tells the story of how his father was shot as he was hiding in a cinema from troops and on another occasion his father became hospitalised after his truck was bombed, as he attempted to bring soldiers to the frontline. He vividly remembers when he was forced to leave Famagusta and how his family had no other choice but to sleep in tents above orange groves and lemon trees and how they used to run through fields where bullets were flying above them. One can only imagine how terrified an eight-year-old child would be experiencing all of this. The topic of the borders is also discussed as we talk about how these borders still exist fifty-two years later. The borders are a painful reminder of the devastating conflict, and they reinforce the fact that the divide is still evident. To cross the border Greek Cypriot’s must present their passport and they have to purchase car insurance to travel to the north. These rules convey how the Greek Cypriot’s and Turk Cypriot’s are permanently seperated. When listening to this lived experience, I thought about the novel The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri, which was one of the key texts on the module. In the novel, when the soldiers raid Nuri and Afras home, the couple are forced to hide in a makeshift grave that Nuri had prepared. They are beyond petrified as they know that if they make any sound, they will be killed. This is similar to the lived experience of a Greek Cypriot as he recalls how his father was quietly hiding in a cinema when he was shot by the soldiers. Like Nuri and Afra, his father was clearly petrified as he was trying to stay hidden in the cinema as he knew that if the soldiers seen him, he would be in grave danger. As the novel progresses, Nuri and Afra arrive in Athens. They have no tent to provide them any shelter, instead they only have a large umbrella to block the wind. Like Nuri and Afra, this Greek Cypriot describes how his family lost their home, so they had to sleep in tents under the orange groves and lemon trees before they were able to move into a factory for shelter. Although the story of Nuri and Afra’s journey is fictional, it is very much the reality for Greek Cypriots that had to flee their home due to ongoing conflict. Like Nuri and Afra, Greek Cypriots became displaced as they lost everything including friends, family, their homes, and their entire world had been completely flipped upside down due to colonialism. Ultimately, The Beekeeper of Aleppo coincides with a Greek Cypriot’s lived experience of the Mediterranean and displacement.