?Why travel to Cyprus

Orubah News – by Sultan Al-Hattab

Jordanians love Cyprus. It is one of their favorite tourism destinations for economic reasons. Many factors play a part in making Cyprus affordable, from its proximity; price tickets; daily expenses; competitive hotel prices, which are cheaper than the hotels in Amman; to the quality of services provided. Not to forget, of course, the security and social safety that tourists feel in Cyprus. It’s a sense of safety that is unfound even in many well-known capitals, especially when it comes to personal security.

I have visited Cyprus more than I can remember, and I still do. It’s given me a feeling of comfort that is shared among most Jordanians whom opinions I’ve heard. Other European cities cannot be distinguished from the cities of Cyprus, the administrative capital, the tourist sites, and the historical and archeological cities. Some of which are closer to being quite villages that big cities.

My last visit was to Limassol, and I am still looking forward to continuing my trip to other cities and villages of Cyprus. I was thrilled to visit the mausoleum of “Umm Haram”, who rests in a chamber that has become the foundation of a mosque, still standing on the salt lake in a suburb of Larnaca. The small two-room mosque is quite visible from a plane’s window. It is a local tourist attraction many visits without knowing that behind the closed door, which guides do not open for tourists, lie the tombs of two great Sahabah: “Um Haram” the wife of “Abu Obeida Amer bin Al-Jarrah,” who fell over her mule during the conquest of Cyprus. An event that took place during the reign of Caliph “Muawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan” who visited “Um Haram” in Cyprus after the battle of “That Al-Sawari”. “Um Haram” has a long story that we cannot hope to cover here.

The second Sahabiyah is the wife of Hashemite Shareef Al-Hussain bin Ali, exiled by the English to Cyprus where he lived the rest of his life in a modest home. His son married from Al-Sadr Al-A’tham, the Prime Ministry of Turkey, exiled from Istanbul to Cyprus. Al-Hussain also married the daughter offal-Sadr Al-A’tham. A marriage that gave life to “Zaid ibn al-Hussein,” the father of the prince “Raed bin Zeid” the ex-Chief Secretary of the Royal Court.

Beautiful Cyprus has been the subject to a Turkish invasion. The Turks has occupied the northern part of the island and established a government unrecognized by the world. This occupation still disturbs the international community, and deprives Cyprus of the unity of its national territory, security, and stability despite the great efforts made by the United Nations in many resolutions, and despite international pressure and United Nations resolutions.

The Cypriots have resisted the British occupation. Makarios, a bishop who fought to expel the English colonists whom exiled him to Seychelles, was a leading figure in this struggle that ended with Cyprus becoming an independent republic, and Britain retaining control of two military bases. Makarios became president of the new republic in 1963. However, the new McCarussian government soon faced a coup led by the Turkish Cypriots in 1964, prompted the United Nations to send peacekeeping corps to solve the problem in 1967. Another conflict broke out, and from 1967 to 1974, several meetings, conferences, talks, and negotiations were held. The crisis kept escalating and Makarios was re-elected in 1968 and in 1973, but ousted in a coup in July 1974. Makarios fled the country. And after the overthrow of the bishop, Turkey invaded Cyprus and a massive fight broke between the Turkish and Greek Cypriots.

The Turks occupied parts of Cyprus. Thousands of Greeks fled to the south of the country, and negotiations started to stop the fighting and cease-fire. Makarios returned to Cyprus as head of State in late 1974 and died in 1977. Spyros Kyprianou, who was Head of the House of Representatives at the time, succeeded him. However, Turkey refused to recognize him, and the differences prevailed.

In 1983, the Turks announced the establishment of a Federal Turkish-Cypriot state with Armenia, which they had occupied, calling it the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. However, all countries except Turkey recognized Cyprus as one state.

I did not want to go into the history of contemporary Cyprus, which despite all the aggression, division and control over part of its national territory has managed to establish a thriving economy and an active tourism. Nonetheless, a writer cannot overlook the Cypriots’ wound especially that Cyprus is the neighbor of all Arab countries, and has good and active relations with them. Not to mention the position of the Cypriot government is honorable on most of the regional issues and causes, particularly the Palestinian cause.

I return to Cyprus again to enjoy the tourism and to discover the home of many ancient Greek gods, and observe the many Greek eras, including the era of the Knights of the Saint. Cyprus has been a friend of the Arabs, and continues to have good relations with many Arab countries. It has also managed to build a tourist infrastructure that is rapidly developing and supporting the national revenue of the country.

In my visits, I felt the Cypriot embassy’s frustration when Jordanians would visit the occupied northern part of the island, I think many Jordanians understand this, including those who visit that part as a form of tourism that may not be available in the motherland of Cyprus. But now it seems that the tourism and economic renaissance in Cyprus has provided a lot of attractions that could persuade the visitor not to travel to the other part, especially that the occupied part is yet to reach the degree of civilization reached by the Republic of Cyprus, whether in terms of currency, living patterns, shopping, diversity or even language, as most of the inhabitants of the northern part only speak Turkish.

Once again, I will be in Nicosia, the Capital, where the weather is mild. I plan on visiting many areas, such as Famagusta and Limassol, which I visit every time I crave the taste of fish. There’s also Paphos region, where I enjoy grilled halloumi; one of the most famous Cypriot dishes.

I spent many nice day at Jacks Hotel, which offers excellent services, a nice beach and a morning breakfast overlooking the sea.

What I want to say is that Jordanian tourists are very fond of Cyprus. They consider it a close and active tourist area especially this summer. I wish the Cypriot embassy would continue its activities and continue to provide all that is required to support the continued flow of Jordanian tourism to Cyprus.

I would like to commend the efforts of the Cyprus Ambassador in Amman, Mr. Andreas Kozobis, for his efforts in the service of the relationship between the two countries, Jordan and Cyprus. His efforts in opening dialogue with the travel agencies and agents to make tourism to Cyprus easier and less demanding are praiseworthy, too. He’s ever calling for a visa exemption to Jordanians and allowing them to receive a visa at Cyprian airports, especially as the relations between the two countries are constantly developing, which is reflected in the facilitated visa and follow-up procedures at the embassy. And on this topic, I’d like to extend my gratitude to the consular department, whose staff provide the best services and facilities that I, myself, had experienced when I was forced to obtain a visa at short notice. I would like to invite the Jordanian Ministry of Tourism to learn from the leading Cyprus experience in organizing tourism, boosting its revenues, improving statistical capabilities, developing facilities, celebrating tourists and exploring their views. I still remember the last time I visited Cyprus, when a beautiful young lady asked me about a lot of my impressions about Cyprus in a very short time. This effort adds to the knowledge that is reflected on the development of tourism.

Will we do just like what the Cypriots do? It’s a recommendation that I’d to get through.