Customer Reviews

Guide to North Cyprus

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I bought this book while considering a teaching position on North Cyprus. The book is very readable and interesting. A few more maps could be included. Little was mentioned about the housing, food places, grocery stores, need for a car, and the military presence.

Most of all, I had envisioned North Cyprus to be like other Mediterranean islands with lots of greenery and trees. I found the pictures to be misleading. For, coming from West Palm Beach, Florida and Okinawa, Japan I found North Cyprus to be almost a vast sand land. There were very few trees but lots of sand. There is a major water shortage and water should be boiled. There were no fast food places although I found a nice Shiskebob place by a corner facing the sea that was pleasant to be.

North Cyprus has a marvelous facility that is not mentioned: Eastern Mediterranean University. EMU is a fine school on a picturesque campus with lots of amenities. Parking is a bit hard to find. But, properly prepared a student or teacher would find EMU and North Cyprus pleasant. It gets very hot and dry. There are a few UN camps and borders to cross as well as many military troops. But neither get in the way and North Cyprus is very safe. The drivers are not menaces. Fresh citrus, tomatoes, wines and fish can be purchased or enjoyed at outdoor restaurant cafes. The ruins are worth studying.

I bought this as a guide book. It largely served its purpose. Those seeking western-practice physicians who speak English can find a few who are good. The airport seems like a long ride from Famagusta. However, given the chance and knowing some of the realities, I would return in a moment. Some of the apartments I saw had as light fixtures, electric cords hanging from the ceiling with bare bulbs: No shades. This was depressing. The apartments can be spacious and airy although there isn't much circulation, at least in Famagusta. I visited a few resort places on the ocean that were ideal. For swimming, fishing, snorkeling and boating, North Cyprus is beautiful. The taxi cab drivers do not try to rip people off.

I like North Cyprus. Some of the points that were not mentioned or over-glamorized have been covered in my review. The hotels can use modernization. But, North Cyprus is worth visiting. I used this guide far more than any other, in any travels. The author can write a third edition giving more of a realistic preview. I flew there from the US via NYC to Istanbul and then switching to a local carrier. North Cyprus is in a good location for further travel. I could have reached North Cyprus from South Korea via Seoul to Instanbul. I can see more attention being devoted to tourism and saw lots of new homes an apartment buildings under construction. Those going to North Cyprus must have patience and not expect all the amenities of some other places. Yet the beauty of the sea is almost breathtaking and so are the sunsets. The sounds of people chanting in mosques around the clock add to its intrigue.

Dr. Alan D. Kardoff, Melbourne Florida USA

Forget the emotional diatribe concerning Turkish expansionistpolicies, ethnic cleansing etc. You cannot seriously expect a travelguide to address these issues! Although, just to set the record straight, the 1974 invasion was in response to the Greek armys earlier invasion intended to force Enosis (union with Greece) onto a minority population and to continue a massacre of Turkish civilians that had been escalating for the previous 20 years. TRNC remains a beatiful and unspoilt area, unlike Southern Cyprus it has succesfully avoided over-development, excess commercialisation, exploitation of local communities and "rip-off tourist practices. The guide provides a useful start point for anyone interested in visiting, although much more can be discovered once actually there. Both Famagust (Gazi Magosa) and Kyrenia (Girne) remain as magnificent examples of Venetian Walled cities and later development has, in the main, been conducted sympathetically to the existing architecture. Anyone considering travelling to TRNC could do worse than using this guide to plan their itinerary.

Like every Rough Guide I've had this is invaluable. It gies you just what is says on the lable. The rough guide to everything from taxi's to where to sleep.

What a pitty the Greek half voted NO to letting the borders come down and a re-unification of the Island. Now the only way to visit this wonderful place is via Turkey.

So many of the guides to Cyprus I have looked at feature the whole island and generally focus heavily on the south. However, the Bradt guide of North Cyprus is dedicated to the Turkish part of Cyprus which is the location of so many historic sites. As I am intending to visit this part of the island later this year, this was the perfect guide book for my needs.

An excellent book full of info about this little known country. Phots are good, narrative is easy and very informative. I particularly liked the section dealing with accommodation. It put my mind at rest about "occupied greek hotels". It seems that only 3 or 4 Greek Cypriot owned hotels are available in north Cyprus. All the others have been built since the war in 1974, and therefore I have no irksome thoughts about going there. Excellent read

Each of the negative reviews for this book are based on strong opinions about the historical and cultural portions of this book, presumably by sympathizers with the Greek South. This book appears to me to be written pretty normally, but history is always convoluted and viewed from different angles. As an American, I don't really have a right to bother stating my opinion on Cypriot matters.

Point is, the book doesn't deserve any one-star reviews because those reviews were not given on its merits as a travel guide. I thank God for Bradt, since they are the only company covering some of these lesser visited areas. The book is a pretty decent travel guide, with all the normal travel guide stuff that you'd expect, without much of the glitz and glamour. To me, it's always good to have a guide for basic reference, but still make most of the decisions on your own (with the help of Google).

No one has right to criticise one of the countries greece or turkey more than one another. Stop putting the blame on only turks, cant u guys be more rational. Do not forget , as well as greeks there, turks are also living on that island

I read this book, and decided to travel to Northern Cyprus this summer with my family. We had a brilliant holiday.. The North is unspoilt, unpolluted and uncrowded and the people are wonderful.. The book is invaluable for site seeing and discovering parts of the island we would have otherwise missed.

Lets not forget why the Turks had to invade, there was no oil in Northern Cyprus:

"Turkish Cypriots, who had suffered from physical attacks since 1963, called on the guarantor powers to prevent a Greek conquest of the island. When Britain did nothing Turkey invaded Cyprus and occupied its northern part. Turkish Cypriots have constitutional right on their side and understandably fear a renewal of persecution if the Turkish army withdraws," the Daily Telegraph wrote on Aug. 15, 1996.

On July 22, Turkish Prime Minister Ecevit called upon the United Nations to "stop the genocide of Turkish-Cypriots" and declared, "Turkey has accepted a cease-fire, but will not allow Turkish-Cypriots to be massacred."

On July 28, 1974 the New York Times reported that 14 Turkish-Cypriot men had been shot in Alaminos. On July 24, 1974 France Soir reported that "the Greeks burned Turkish mosques and set fire to Turkish homes in the villages around Famagusta. Defenseless Turkish villagers who have no weapons live in an atmosphere of terror and they evacuate their homes and go and live in tents in the forests. The Greeks' actions are a shame to humanity."

The Greek newspaper Eleftherotipia published an interview with Nicos Sampson on Feb. 26, 1981 in which he said, "Had Turkey not intervened I would not only have proclaimed enosis, I would have annihilated the Turks in Cyprus."

On March 3, 1996, the Greek Cypriot Cyprus Mail wrote: "(Greek) Cypriot governments have found it convenient to conceal the scale of atrocities during the July 15 coup in an attempt to downplay its contribution to the tragedy of the summer of 1974 and instead blame the Turkish invasion for all casualties. There can be no justification for any government that failed to investigate this sensitive humanitarian issue. The shocking admission by the Clerides government that there are people buried in Nicosia cemetery who are still included in the list of the 'missing' is the last episode of a human drama which has been turned into a propaganda tool."

As for the U.N., I hope nobody has to depend on those guys if their people are faced with a etnic cleansing. The wait might kill you if your enemy doesn't. Just look at what happened to the Bosnian muslims.

North Cyprus is not an independent country. It is the part of the Republic of Cyprus that has been illegally (according to the UN) occupied by the Turkish Military since 1974.

The Turkish Military invaded, occupied, ethnically cleansed and colonized the northern part of Cyprus. The Turkish Military uprooted as many as 250,000 Cypriots, which was roughly 1/3 of the country's population.

Ever since, it has dispatched dispossessed Turkish mainlanders to the island, distributing to them land and property that belongs to displaced Greek Cypriots.

Officially, Turkey claims it invaded Cyprus to "save" its Turkish Cypriot brethren from Greek Cypriot atrocities. But let us see how "saved" the Turkish Cypriots are:

From a pre-1974 population of 120,000, only 60,000 Turkish Cypriots still live in Cyprus. Many escaped Turkish repression for a better life in the UK, Australia, or even the free part of the Republic of Cyprus, often using a Republic of Cyprus passport, as they are legally entitled to.

The Turkish Cypriots are a minority in their own -theoretically independent- land, which they are forced to share with 100,000 colonists from mainland Turkey and 40,000 mainland Turkish troops.

So, please reconsider visiting north Cyprus while it is still under Turkish occupation. If you think that your money will nevertheless ease the hardships of the Turkish Cypriots, think again. Turkish Cypriots only make up 30% of the north's population. Chances are that your money will go to the pocket of some mainland Turkish general's relative.

Support the efforts by Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots to re-unite their country, but do not condone and finance the mainland Turkish occupation of north Cyprus.

Lobby for a solution to the Cyprus Issue, and after mainland Turkish troops leave the island and Cyprus unites again, go to any part of the country that you desire and spend as much money as you wish with the Greek Cypriots or the Turkish Cypriots.

But the time to visit north Cyprus is not now.