George Mason Gazette, Vol 14, No. 8, August 29, 1997

Mason Professor Helps Build Peace in Cyprus

By Mikhailina Karina

The island of Cyprus is similar to Fairfax County in population and not much larger in size -- but with a barbed-wire boundary severing it in half. Since 1974, people on either side have had very little communication with each other: no phone calls, letters, or visits. The northern region is home to 150,000 Turkish Cypriots, protected by 35,000 Turkish troops; the U.N. troops patrol the buffer zone that runs through the heart of the island and separates the Turkish Cypriots from the 600,000 Greek Cypriots.

Nestled in the Mediterranean Basin, Cyprus is known as the birthplace of Aphrodite, the goddess of love. It is ironic that this beautiful island is one of the most heavily militarized places on the planet, characterized by division and mistrust.As a Fulbright Scholar, Mason professor Benjamin Broome, Communication, spent two and a half years living in Cyprus, working with bicommunal groups of citizens from all walks of life, helping them resolve their differences and find ways to live in peace. "My initial goal was to introduce concepts and skills that might help members of the two communities work together more productively," Broome says. "In the process of offering these programs, I became a third-party facilitator for bringing members of the two communities together across a dividing line that has proven to be even stronger than the Berlin Wall."

Broome just returned from Les Diablerets, Switzerland, where he led a workshop on citizen peace building that brought together 24 community leaders from Greece, Turkey, and Cyprus. The participants designed ways to strengthen cooperation between peace-building efforts in the region, developing more than 20 specific projects that will start in the coming months.

Coincidentally, just an hour away in Glion, the leaders of the two communities were meeting under the auspices of the United Nations for a second round of peace talks that had started a month earlier in New York. Broome's group delivered to them a written communique in support of the peace process, urging the two leaders to take steps that will help develop a positive climate for citizen contacts.

"The timing of our workshop could not have been better," says Broome. "It illustrates in a very real manner the convergence of work at the citizen level with recent political developments toward a solution. Perhaps for the first time since the negotiations started in 1974, everyone, including the international community, recognizes the necessity of building trust and cooperation among people from all walks of life in order to successfully implement any agreement that may be signed at the political level."

Broome's specialty is intercultural communication, with a focus on conflict resolution. He became interested in Cyprus after teaching in Greece, where he met a number of students from Cyprus and learned about their situation. Then it was just a matter of being in the right place at the right time. "When the Fulbright program was looking for someone to work in Cyprus in the areas of intercultural communication and conflict resolution, it was a perfect match for me," Broome says.

Though prepared to handle conflict situations from earlier work with Native American tribes, Broome encountered in Cyprus two groups of people -- Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots -- with very different perspectives on the island's history.

"How do you help people overcome their version of the past and work toward a future they can share?" he asks. "They must create a vision of the future that takes into account the needs of both communities. While they can't ignore the past, they can't get stuck in it, either. People in Cyprus recognize that the past is a huge burden and they must find ways to move beyond it. Each community must understand the other's view and accept it as legitimate," Broome says.

All the countries in the region worry about the unstable situation in Cyprus, Broome says. The island is only an hour away from a number of countries in the Middle East and is strategically located, both as an economic center and for military purposes. "Many countries are interested in creating stability in Cyprus because both Greece and Turkey are members of NATO. Instability affects the whole region," he says.

Although the island is very small, years of separation have taken a toll on the economies of each community, especially on the Turkish Cypriots. "Going from one side of the island to the other is like entering different worlds," Broome says. Because of international sanctions, the Turkish Cypriots in the north part of the island are under an embargo. Its only trading partner, and source of financial assistance, is Turkey. "Half of the Turkish Cypriots have emigrated. Young people are leaving in large numbers," he says. The Greek Cypriots, on the other hand, are thriving in many areas of international trade and enjoying a healthy economy.

In addition to Fulbright, other organizations have been trying to resolve Cyprus's stalemate. The D.C.-based Institute for Multitract Diplomacy and Harvard University's Conflict Management Group have been conducting bicommunal conflict resolution workshops. However, Broome was the first conflict resolution professional to reside in Cyprus for any length of time. He believes it was a great advantage to live in Cyprus over a two-and-a-half-year period, because by forming long-term relationships with people involved in peace-building activities, he was able to earn their trust and confidence. In addition, he could more easily respond to the everyday needs and concerns that affected the work.

Broome makes a distinction between the politics of the government and the sentiments of the people. "Young people are fed a lot of propaganda about the other community in schools and media. That keeps bitterness alive," he says. "They quickly overcome it when meeting people from the other side and become strong proponents of reconciliation."

How will the Cyprus issue be resolved? "Political agreement may be reached soon with pressure from the United Nations, the United States, and the European Union," Broome says. "But socially, it will take longer." An entire generation on each side has grown up on the divided Cyprus and extremist elements constantly stir up trouble, he adds.

While Broome does not believe the island should be forced to unite and the population integrated, he is sure the buffer zone can be abolished and both sides can interact peacefully. Most of Broome's work took place in the Ledra Palace, an old luxury hotel in the buffer zone. Approximately 1,200 people from both sides are currently involved in bicommunal projects and conflict resolution training. "People don't hate each other. Both populations get along well when they get together," he says. "Hate comes from being apart."

A quiet, humble person, Broome modestly evaluates his contributions toward reconciliation in Cyprus. "I am fortunate to have been involved as a catalyst and to have participated in this process," he says. "I was able to respond to their needs with the right tools." He praises the work and dedication of the Greek and Turkish Cypriots, who devote endless hours to the work and who remain commited in spite of criticism and attacks from extremist elements.

In addition to producing tangible results in Cyprus, his field work, Broome believes, has made him a better teacher at Mason, and he recommends that other faculty spend some time putting their knowledge to use. "These activities are an integral part of faculty responsibilities. We make our contributions to teaching, but have responsibilities to the world around us," he says. "We have to take the initiative to provide incentives for faculty to get involved on the local, national, and international levels."

As a result of his work, Broome offers a course on Cyprus and shares firsthand experiences with his students. This is particularly important in courses that deal with intercultural communication. "I have learned that the images of people we create are usually misleading. For example, Greeks are very different from the images I had from reading about Greece. However good a description of a culture may be, you can't understand it the same way the author intended it. When teaching, we are giving our interpretation of what someone else has written, so students get it third hand," Broome says. "If you want to understand the culture, you need to be absorbed in it and participate fully in the life of the people."

Immediately before receiving his Fulbright fellowship to Cyprus, Broome completed a book on intercultural communication in Greece, Exploring the Greek Mosaic, published by Intercultural Press. He hopes to write another book about his recent experiences in Cyprus, in which he will explore the role of the third party in citizen peace-building efforts in protracted conflict situations.

Though the Fulbright residency is over, Broome's ties to the people of Cyprus cannot be broken by mere distance. He says that his work is now "an integral part of my own identity as a professional and as a world citizen. This work is unlikely to let go of me any time soon."

The Cyprus Conflict

The Cyprus conflict has become one of the most protracted international disputes of modern times. Almost immediately after gaining its independence in 1960, violence started between the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots, who at the time were living in mixed or neighboring villages or towns. Disputes over changes in the constitution led to the withdrawal in 1963 of the Turkish Cypriots from the government, and violent clashes later that year resulted in the formation of the Turkish Cypriot enclaves scattered through the island. U.N. peacekeeping troops were brought in to help prevent further bloodshed. Unrest between the two communities continued, however, and a 1974 coup against the Cyprus government, staged by the military dictatorship of Greece, led to intervention from Turkish troops. Thousands of Greek Cypriots were forced from their homes and businesses in the northern part of the island, and almost all Turkish Cypriots fled their homes in the southern part of Cyprus and were resettled in the north. That resulted in ethnic partition of the island, enforced to this day by the heavy military presence of the Turkish army. U.N. peacekeeping forces patrol a buffer zone that divides the island across the middle from west to east. In spite of continual diplomatic activity mediated by the United Nations, the United States, Great Britain, and the European Union, no settlement of the Cyprus conflict has been reached in more than 22 years of negotiations.