"Eshekistan"

[…] When the Turkish Cypriot policeman at the Ledra Palace Checkpoint looked up from his booth into the large sad eyes and long ears of a passport-bearing donkey demanding to cross, he was not caught by surprise. He was required to check one unusually furry visitor from the south with a fake passport. Under the name it wrote “Mr Cyprus” and under occupation “porter”. This was part of the stunt-protest demanding free movement and the lifting of all crossing restrictions by both sides, organized by bi-communal groups. The protesters held banners writing “We Demand Freedom of Movement of the Donkeys of Cyprus”. A Turkish Cypriot donkey was to cross the other way but it failed to appear. Event took an unexpected turn when the Turkish Cypriot authorities allowed the Greek Cypriot old man leading the Greek Cypriot donkey to proceed. The Greek Cypriot donkey stood in front of the police booth. The Turkish Cypriot policeman examined its passport. He looked at the photo and then back at the donkey. Even though the photo did not match, and the passport identified donkey as male while it was in fact a female – and pregnant as it embarrassingly transpired – it was ushered through without further formalities. Lurking Turkish Cypriot plain-clothed policemen grabbed the old man with his donkey and pushed them to an unmarked police car. They arrested them along with other Greek Cypriot and a Turkish Cypriot. The donkey initially walked unperturbed in front of the car, until another policemen took over and led it to the police station.

Wild speculation ensued. Would the Greek Cypriot donkey also appear in court? Under what charged? Were they going to photograph the donkey in the standard convict photo, profile with a hanging number? How about fingerprints? In fact, the donkey was not taken to court the next afternoon, only the three men who were released on bail after being charged for disrespect towards the Turkish Cypriot state and for causing a disturbance.

Political donkey-posters had a long history in this island that was once renowned for its donkeys, when they were a rare and valuable asset, until they were replaced by pick-up trucks. In the late 1950s, the British governor of Cyprus issued an ultimatum for EOKA fighters to surrender. A donkey displaying “I surrender” was left to roam the streets, until it was taken in by the British police. The recent protest played upon a long discussion on the Turkish Cypriot side sparked by a statement from the Turkish Cypriot leader, Denktash. He said that there was no Cypriot nation and the only true Cypriots were the Cypriot donkeys. Denktash explained that there were no Cypriots, only Greek and Turks in Cyprus. The left-wing Turkish Cypriot opposition immediately reacted with headlines like “of course, we are donkeys, otherwise how could we bear the heavy burden of our leadership”, or suggesting Cyprus should be called Eshekistan (“Donkeystan”). […]

Extract from the last chapter of the book Echoes from the dead zone
by Yiannis Papadakis, Ed. I.B. Tauris, London, 2005