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Sunday, June 26, 2005

Feature - Could Bilingual Cypriots bring the borders down?

"Feature - Could Bilingual Cypriots bring the borders down?
By Simon Bahceli

‘In the second half of the 20th century, the Muslims and Christians of Cyprus often spoke both each others’ languages’

People have much greater respect for those who make the effort to speak their language

THE dialogue goes something like this:

Greek Cypriot: “How long have you been back in Cyprus?”

Me: “14 years”

Greek Cypriot: “How’s your Greek?”

Me: “Non-existent”.

Greek Cypriot: “Shame on you! Fourteen years here and you still can’t speak Greek”

Me: “Can you speak Turkish?”

Silence…"

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