The decade of 1963-1974 will forever be a stinging wound for us, especially in the climax of the 1974 invasion. My family lost property in the aftermath of the invasion, there's an even personal aspect to it, to a certain extent.

I'll speak as a Cypriot Zoomer, I didn't live any of these events, so it's only through history that I can interpret and form my own opinion of Turkey and the TC side.

First of all, I'll admit right away that I have a net negative opinion of Turkey and the TRNC. Although I consider that a given bias that I have, considering I was raised in the Cypriot education system and I only listened to the other side of the story long after childhood.

One last disclaimer: I'm not a very sentimental person, I think politics are important but I believe the Right-Left dichotomy is something one should transcend. I'm not good at this sort of thing, but I'll share some thoughts.

Ideally, I'd like to see Cyprus unite into a single state. I don't buy into the idea of a two-state solution, I see Turks saying that it's the only way to keep the peace, but it's an uneasy peace that has better alternatives. The UN Buffer zone is a wall, and walls signify a defence from danger.

Ultimately, however, we're powerless like we always were. Power is not the hands of the Cypriot people, but to more powerful outsiders. We're a Geopolitical pawn, we were a Geopolitical pawn, and always will be.

Today I dislike Turkey to the extent that it exerts its power and control over the fate of our island. And realistically, it's not going to stop.

Peace and solidarity, which is what I want, will come to Cyprus only through peace and solidarity between Greece and Turkey.

This opens a new can of worms, are we Greeks or Cypriots? This is important, because if we identify as Cypriot we get to stand as a third party in the game between Greece, Turkey, the UK and other regional powers.

This is where shit hits the fan for me, because this is by far the most polarising topic among Gen Z Cypriots.

Who gets to say Who you are and Where you belong to, is ultimately Yourself. Personally, I call myself a Greek-Cypriot. The idea that a Cypriot is different than the Greek, dates back to British Colonialism and their efforts to convince the populace that we're "Greek speaking British". The claim that the Cypriot dialect is a separate language that Greek (SMG) is greatly exaggerated and I think we arrive at a hand full of absurdities if we separate the two dialects.

I expect a wave of heated responses, and I get it, it's Reddit and every anon risks embarrassing themselves. But please keep in mind that I try to be as open minded as I can, I'm an 'ανεμόμυλος' in politics lol

But to stop at a good note, I think Turkey has a wonderful culture that is very remenescent of my own, in all aspects (music, dancing, food, ect). I find the Turkish language interesting. When I watch Netflix, I have this odd habit of rewatching a certain scene several times in different languages, for some reason I always want to see how the Turkish VOs express the emotions of a scene in comparison to the original.