Bridging Nicosia: Finding common ground for building peace in the contested city

Cyprus is an island where two opposite civilizations with great history meet, but unfortunately do not interact. Greek- and Turkish-Cypriots used to coexist in peace on the island, despite their differences. However, their strong ethnic identities and foreign influences developed feelings of mistrust and fear between them. Therefore, this resulted in nationalistic claims of sovereignty which ended in territorial separation. The capital of Cyprus, Nicosia, is divided for more than 50 years. This division was an attempt to ease the tension between the two rival communities. In 1964, a cease-fire line patrolled by The United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) was established in the most commercial area of the capital. Then, Turkish military forces invaded the island and divided the whole country into two ethnic parts. Within a day the spatial, social, and political background of the island changed completely. Forcible division, violation of human rights, and displacement of people from both communities were some of the consequences of this ethnic conflict. It is recognised that as the dynamics of the buffer zone change, so also the status of the conflict. The conflict today is completely different from how it was before and right after the division; it is domesticated. Following so many years of failed negotiations in the political context and without conclusions, this protracted conflict transformed from a domesticated conflict into a comfortable one. Even though the consequences of this conflict violated a load of human rights and created feelings of injustice and fear between the two communities, it also created a state of a stable ‘instability’ in the island; both communities either it was by force or not, accommodate themselves in this situation. Thus, it is required a paradigm shift in order to move the focus away from the conflict and emphasise on constructing a shared future for dealing with common issues. Moreover, even though domestic and international negotiators have been working on a settlement for reconciliation, the final decision depends on the society, and unfortunately not so many Cypriots trust current peacebuilding processes. This research project aims to prepare the ground for conflict resolution by bridging the spatial and socio-cultural gap between the two communities. Therefore, the research proposes the “commoning” process, which is self-govern and self-sustain cooperation for overcoming common issues. Bi-communal cooperation holds promise for bringing the two communities together, as well as increasing people’s awareness and participation with the wider objective to create a sense of belonging and a sense of community in the contested city.