"FOREIGNERS' CEMETERY"

As I followed an indistinct path during a countryside walk, a yellow stone wall appeared between the green landscape and blue sky, stretching horizontally until my eyes caught a partially demolished gate. I continued walking, hoping to capture more picturesque scenes that would showcase Cyprus' true winter palette of greens and blues.

Entering through the half-arched gate, I was struck by the sight of vandalized gravestones. Names and dates (all before July 1974) were carved in the Greek alphabet.
I felt a mix of shame and anger, wondering what could have motivated such violence. Was it greed, hatred, revenge, apathy, or a combination of all these?

Prompted by this discovery, I researched Christian cemeteries, locally known as 'Greek cemeteries', and found that similar scenarios were prevalent in other villages north of the Green Line. I learned that some British residents in northern Cyprus had recently requested the authorities to restore these Christian cemeteries, which would benefit them as well. However, they were met with refusal, conveyed in the following statement: "The restoration of the 'foreign cemeteries' is not the responsibility of the authorities, but of the relatives of the deceased, who are 'not interested' in the matter." This referred to Greek-speaking people who had been expelled from their homes and lacked access to these sites.
What a disgrace.
I couldn't stop asking myself: "Could it be apathy, hatred, revenge, greed, or a combination of all these?" These feelings seemed to stem from the pain caused by nationalism and an education system that indoctrinates people to view former friends or neighbors as "enemies."

Eventually, I realized that what I was documenting was not just vandalism, but the consequences of distortion in manipulated societies and the indoctrinated hatred propagated by nationalist rhetoric.