PHOTOGRAPHY MAJOR PROJECT 1: Research
VICTORIA HISLOP
THE SUNRISE
The Sunrise by Victoria Hislop is a book that focuses around the area of the east coast of Cyprus, Famagusta which was once a favourite destination of the 1970s tourism. Tourists as well as the population of the city enjoyed a life rich in culture, art, music and theatre that was the best on the island.
In August 1974, over 45 years ago now, Famagusta’s reign as a paradise for both islanders and tourists came to an abrupt and untimely end.
Following the Greek military coup in July 1974 during which the president of Cyprus was deposed, Turkish forces invaded the island, ostensibly to restore constitutional order and to protect the Turkish Cypriot minority. After a brief period of ceasefire and fruitless negotiation, Famagusta was bombarded. Turkish tanks then advanced. On 14 of August, the Greek Cypriot population fled in terror, in cars, on buses, by foot, most people taking nothing but their clothes they were already wearing. They expected help from a foreign power but none came. Their evacuation, which they had expected to last a few days at most, turned into an absence of weeks, then months, then dacades.
The island was separated by the Turks with the Green Line, dividing north from south, cutting off Famagusta and other towns from their Greek Cypriot populations who had now fled southwards. No one was aloud to cross in or out of the North side until 2003, when the Turkish authorities opened it up to allow people to cross from north to south and south to north with proof of ID. Many visitors found their homes occupied either by Turkish Cypriots or settlers from Turkey. For those whose homes had been inside the part of Famagusta that was fenced off, there were no visits. This section that still remains entirely sealed off by rusting barbed wire and is fiercely guarded by Turkish troops, is knows as Varosha. It represents around 20% of Famgusta and was the prime tourist area with its stretch of golden sand behind which now stand skeletons of bombed and abandoned hotels and apartments. It is known as the ‘ghost town’ and it is heavily guarded by soldiers, and aggressive signs leave you in no doubt that this a non accessible area.
The Sunrise was set against the backdrop of the Turkish Invasion and the subsequent years of occupation of the city, and it evokes some of the emotions and experiences that this sudden and dramatic change had on peoples’ lives. The characters of the book were fictional including some Greek Cypriots and some Turkish Cypriots. The book tells a story that shows how the events in Cyprus were a disaster for both communities. What is highlighted in this book is the great anger as well as the sadness that tens of thousands of people lost everything they had; their homes,their belongings, even their family members which were either killed or missing.