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Communities
in
Cyprus
Exposed
-
Pontians
by
Bejay
Browne
PONTIANS.
Who said
we are
lost?
Who said
we are
not
living?
Pontos
maybe
gone,
but the
Pontians
are
still
living!"
May 19
is
Pontic
Greek
Genocide
Day.
This
refers
to the
fate of
Pontic
Greeks
who
suffered
in World
War I.
The term
is also
used to
acknowledge
the
persecutions,
massacres,
and
death
marches
of the
Pontian
Greek
population
in the
early
20th
century
by the
Turkish.
According
to the
International
League
for the
Rights
and
Liberation
of
Peoples,
between
1916 and
1923,
350,000
Greek
Pontians
were
killed.
In 1923,
the
remaining
Greeks
of
‘Pontus’
were
expelled
from
Turkey
to
Greece
as part
of the
population
exchange
between
the two
countries
defined
by the
Treaty
of
Lausanne
WHO ARE
THE
PONTIANS
AND DOES
PAPHOS
ACCEPT
THEM?
Have you
seen the
graffiti
daubed
on
practically
every
wall
around
Paphos?
‘OXI
PONTOS’,
‘no
Pontians’.
Thankfully,
a clean
up
operation
took
place
and much
of this
has now
been
covered.
Cypriots,
until
recently
have
been a
very
insular
society
and
perhaps,
like
many
individuals,
do not
see
themselves
as
others
do.
Cyprus
as a
country
and
Cypriots
themselves
have, on
a number
of
occasions
over the
last few
years
shown a
racist
attitude
towards
a
variety
of
nationalities.
On one
hand the
people
of
Cyprus
are warm
and
welcoming,
something
they are
renowned
for, and
yet
there
have
been
many
instances
of
racism
and
abuse.
The
arrival
of so
many
Pontinas
on the
island
over the
last few
years
has
caught
the
Cypriot
community
completely
off
guard.
As with
so many
things
in life,
Cypriots,
it seems
don’t
really
know
what a
Pontian
is.
After
speaking
to a
number
of
Cypriot
friends
and
colleagues,
it seems
they
have the
grasp of
the
basic
history
of
Pontians,
but only
one
informer
knew a
Pontian
personally.
I was
informed
that
Greek
Pontians
are
generally
good
community
people,
referred
to as
‘pure
Pontians’.
There
seems to
be a
number
of
people
in
Cyprus
who call
themselves
Pontians,
but they
are not.
These
people
speak
other
languages
and are
responsible
for all
the
trouble
and fuss
and give
the
Pontian
community
a
negative
portrayal
in
Paphos,
often
abusing
alcohol,
fighting,
disturbing
neighbours
and
involved
in
criminal
activity.
It seems
these
people
are the
sector
of the
community
many of
us judge
all
Pontians
by.
It’s a
cliché,
but a
true
fact,
that
there
are good
and bad
elements
in every
nationality.
Pontians’
history
has seen
them
shoved
from
pillar
to post,
outcasts
who do
not
integrate
well
within
other
communities.
The
recent
violent
death of
a
30-year-old
Pontian
father
of two,
who
intervened
in an
argument
between
a friend
who is
now
suspect
to
murder,
has once
again
thrown
them in
the
spotlight.
The
attack
came to
a head
over a
throw
away
comment
the
victim’s
friend
made to
the
suspect,
‘that he
was
doing
woman’s
work.’
We only
seem to
hear
about
the
negative
side of
Pontians,
when
they
have
committed
crime,
when
they are
arrested
or in
trouble.
A recent
newspaper
article
said
there
are no
professional
Pontians
in
Cyprus
and that
they
have
never
tried to
stand in
elections,
this
claim is
without
foundation.
In the
last
local
elections
in
Paphos,
six
Greek
Pontians
stood as
representatives
of
Political
parties
with the
hope of
being
elected
into
local
government.
It is
important
to note
that
they
stood
alongside
their
Cypriot
counterparts
and not
as
representatives
of
Pontians.
According
to a
Greek
Pontian
man I
spoke
to, true
Greek
Pontians
come
from
Pontos,
an area
in
Northern
turkey,
which no
longer
exists.
These
people
have
truly
suffered
over the
years
and are
a quiet,
hard
working
race,
who have
a shared
ancestry
with the
Greeks.
Many of
the
people
here in
Paphos
who
refer to
themselves
as
Pontians
are not;
they are
a mix of
many
other
nationalities
and are
very
different
from the
Greek
Pontians.
A
shining
example
of a
professional
Greek
Pontian
is Ganna
Fachiridou.
She is
27 years
old and
a legal
consultant
at
Michael
Kyprianou
and Co.
in
Paphos.
Ganna
was born
in
Georgia
where
she
stayed
until
she was
11 years
old. Her
family
then
moved to
Russia
where
she
studied
hard and
completed
her law
degree
at
Moscow
University.
She then
moved,
with her
family
to
Paphos,
where
she has
remained
ever
since.
If you
ask her
where
she is
from,
she will
simply
reply,
‘I am
Greek.’
Her
Grandfather
and is
Grandfather
were
both
from
Greece.
Ganna
said the
local
people
refer to
her as a
Pontian
and that
Pafians
cannot
differentiate
between
Greek
Pontians
and
others
calling
themselves
Pontians.
She, as
with the
rest of
her
immediate
family
possesses
Greek
passports.
Ganna
said
there is
a lot of
prejudice
against
Pontians
in
Paphos,
something
thankfully,
she has
not
experienced
personally.
Her
reasoning
is that
Cyprus
is a
small
island
and
Cypriots
haven’t
lived
alongside
many
other
Nationalities
before.
She also
said
that the
huge
influx
of
Pontians
to the
island,
in
particular
Paphos,
has not
helped
the
situation.
There
are
officially
15,000
Pontians
registered
in
Paphos
alone,
although
Ganna
thinks
the
figure
is much
closer
to
20,000.
She
believes
a lot of
bad
feeling
may also
come
from the
fact
that
Cypriots
may see
the
Greek
Pontians
as a
threat.
‘In
their
view, we
take
their
jobs; we
are
buying
the best
apartments
and have
the
nicest
cars.’
The
Greek
Pontian
community
has
grown in
size
over the
last
seven
years
and are
now
settling
into a
way of
life in
Cyprus.
Many are
getting
married
and
having
families
of their
own.
Children
are
being
educated
in local
Cypriot
schools
and the
Pontian
community
is
trying
to
establish
itself.
As Ganna
pointed
out, ‘we
are also
Greek
and we
had
difficult
choices
to make
in the
past.
When the
Turks
came, we
lost our
native
Pontian
tongue,
as they
forbid
us to
speak
our own
language.
We had
to make
a
decision
to stop
speaking
Greek
and
speak
Turkish,
or lose
our
religion
and
convert
to being
Muslims.
Either
way, our
people
lost
part of
themselves,
part of
our
identity.’
Ganna
said
that
there
are many
people
in
Turkey
who
speak
Greek
but are
Muslim
not
Christian,
and this
is the
reason
why.
Ganna is
not
married
and for
now is
concentrating
on her
career.
She
wants to
be a
successful
Lawyer,
and as
her
degree
covers
Russian
law, she
has to
face a
new
challenge
and
learn
the
intricacies
of
Cypriot
law.
Ganna is
passionate
about
her job
and
enjoys
her
day-to-day
work at
the
Cypriot
law firm
in
Paphos
she
works
at. She
looks
after
many
clients
of all
Nationalities
and has
a
network
of
friends
from all
the
communities
in
Paphos.
Even
though
she
still
lives
with her
parents,
she has
made a
brave
and
independent
move by
choosing
to
follow
the path
she has
taken.
Her
brother
and
sister
both
live in
Paphos
and are
married
to Greek
Pontians.
I asked
her if
Pontian
men are
a little
in awe
of her,
and she
laughed
replying,
‘most
men she
meets
are a
little
scared
of her
because
she is a
female
Lawyer,
an
attractive
confident
woman,
and she
is a
Pontian.’
Something
apparently
they
have
trouble
getting
their
head
around.
Many of
you may
have
seen
groups
of men
squatting
on the
ground
in
certain
areas of
Paphos,
in
particular
Agapinoros
Street,
known
locally
as
‘Bondi
Street.’
I asked
Ganna if
she knew
the
reason
for
this.
She told
me that
many ‘Pontians’,
who live
in
Paphos
originate
from
small
villages
in
Georgia.
This is
something
that
they
would
have
done at
home and
they
have
carried
on with
the
practice
here.
They
like to
sit in
groups
and
speak
about
their
problems.
Ganna
said we
would
not see
these
people
in cafés
or
restaurants,
as they
are very
poor and
for
them,
this
would be
an
extravagance.
‘Most of
these
people
work on
building
sites
and
their
wives
are
hotel
cleaners’,
she
said.
’The
work
they do
is hard,
they
work
long
hours
and
often
employers
take
advantage
of them
by
paying
low
wages.’
Greek
Pontians
in
Greece
seem to
be
faring
much
better
than
those in
Cyprus.
Most
have a
good
education
and go
on to
hold
down
responsible
jobs and
have
successful
careers.
Of the
Pontians
in
Paphos,
Ganna
said
that
most
have
only
been
here a
few
years,
and they
came as
unskilled
workers
who are
too old
to learn
anything
new.
Many
have had
to learn
Greek,
but
still
speak
with a
very
strong
Pontian
accent.
She is
hoping
that the
future
will be
better
for the
children
who live
here,
attend
school
and
hopefully
will go
on to
study at
University.
She also
hopes
that
Cypriots
realise
Pontians
can be
friendly
and that
really
there is
no
difference
between
any of
us. We
all want
to live,
enjoy
our
lives
and earn
money
for our
families.
As
Pontians
seem to
have a
bad
reputation
in
Paphos,
I wanted
to
obtain
official
figures
from the
Police
to see
if in
fact,
this is
the
case.
Unfortunately,
the
Police
showed a
great
reluctance
in
discussing
Pontians
with me
when I
requested
an
interview,
saying
that
they
didn’t
really
want to
get
involved
with
issues
which
they
felt
were
political.
Off the
record
however,
a member
of the
Police
force in
Paphos
spoke to
me about
his
personal
views.
Firstly,
I asked
him what
the term
Pontian
meant to
him. He
replied
that his
understanding
of the
term
Pontian
meant
Greek
people
who came
from
somewhere
other
than
Greece
(he
wasn’t
precise
about
the
location)
who were
living
in
Russia
before
they
moved to
Cyprus.
He spoke
to me
about
crimes
committed
by
people
he
referred
to as
Pontians,
saying
they
covered
a
variety
of areas
from
drugs to
burglaries,
to drink
driving
and
fighting.
In his
opinion
40% of
all
crime in
Paphos
is
committed
by
Pontians,
and of
drug
related
crime
around
60 % can
be
chalked
up to
the
Pontians.
In his
experience
most
Pontians
take or
sell
drugs
and are
enticed
by the
money
they are
able to
generate.
When I
asked
him what
the
Police
could do
to help
lower
the
crime
rate
within
this
community,
he said
a number
of steps
are
already
being
taken.
One of
these
involves
the
Police
having
regular
meetings
with
Pontian
representatives
to give
them
advice
and
information
and to
keep the
lines of
communication
open.
My final
question
to him,
although
an
uncomfortable
one,
needed
to be
asked.
“Why are
Pontians
hated in
Paphos?”
His
response
was
quick,
saying
that
this was
because
‘bondies’
as they
are
referred
to, have
picked
many
drunken
fights
with
people
of all
nationalities
and can
often be
found
drinking
and
driving,
causing
problems
for
other
drivers.
After
being
given
the
information
that
many
Pontians
are drug
abusers,
I
thought
I should
speak to
a drugs’
squad
officer.
Once
again,
off the
record,
I spoke
to an
officer
who is
based in
Paphos.
The
statistics
he gave
me for
crimes
committed
by
Pontians
were
higher
than
those
observed
by the
Police
officer
and his
opinions
were
rather
more
candid,
making
no bones
about
his
dislike
for the
Pontians
he
arrests.
Although,
it is
true to
say, he
indicated
he has
the same
opinion
of any
nationality
he
arrests.
Over the
last few
years,
his
experience
of drug
related
crime
has seen
arrests
of
Pontians
rise to
astronomical
heights.
He said
Pontians
are
responsible
for
about
70% of
drug
related
crime in
Paphos.
He
believes
most
Pontians
are drug
users or
pushers
and
thinks
this is
because
drugs
must
have
been a
usual
part
their
lives
before
they
moved to
Cyprus.
He also
believes
as a
group
they are
easily
led, and
that
many of
them
mirror
the
behaviour
of each
other.
He told
me that
the
Police
are
trying
to
befriend
Pontian
community
leaders,
there is
a
Pontian
society
in
Paphos
and a
friendly
football
match
has
already
taken
place
between
them and
the
Police.
When I
asked
him my
final
question
of ‘why
are
Pontians
so hated
in
Paphos?’
he
answered
unflinchingly,
saying
they are
not just
hated in
Paphos,
but all
over the
island,
because
people
believe
they are
responsible
for most
of the
crimes
committed
which
affect
our day
to day
lives.
So,
maybe
it’s
fair to
say that
the
Police,
as with
a great
number
of us,
seem
unable
to
differentiate
between
who
actually
is a
Greek
Pontian
and who
are the
‘imposters’,
lumping
themselves
in with
this
rather
proud
community.
It may
take a
while,
and
there
may only
be a few
successful
Greek
Pontians
showing
the way
forward
for
their
fellow
compatriots,
but
Ganna
Fachiridou,
Angelos
Asalanidies,
a
teacher
of
mathematics
in
Nicosia
and
Demitris
Sidiropolous,
a
Journalist
at the
National
radio
station
of RIK,
are
shining
examples
not only
to their
own
people,
but to
all of
us who
are
foreigners
living
in a
foreign
country.
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