Nicosia - About 3,000 Turkish and Greek Cypriots, at a ratio of two to one, attended a UN open house on Saturday staged by the contingents from the UN peace-keeping force on the island (UNFICYP), writes Michael Jansen. While Greek Cypriots flowed into the UN-controlled buffer zone from the south, Turkish Cypriots flooded in from the north, meeting at the Ledra Palace Hotel, now a UN barracks.
The UN laid on a fun fair, featuring national dishes, drinks, games and exhibits. Greek and Turkish Cypriot musicians provided popular music, a garda played the bagpipes and an Argentinian military band played Latin American marches and dances. The Irish contingent, made up of 30 military personnel working at UN headquarters and 15 gardai based at the sole remaining mixed village of Pyla, offered Irish stew.