[ Mar.2015 ] This a photo is a cafe near the checkpoint in Nicosia, the capital city of Cyprus.
As you may know, “Checkpoint Charlie” is the name of the checkpoint which used to be in Berlin (I have never gone through there but I have been to East Berlin by train).
Nicosia is divided into two, just like Berlin between 1961 and 1989.
But the situation is different.
Here in Nicosia, currently anyone can go through there though you need to have your passport checked.
But in the past, from 1974 when the Turkish troops invaded the north side of the city, until 2003 when Turkey opened more checkpoints so that they could get EU citizenship when Cyprus joined EU in 2004, the traffic between the south and north was completely blocked.
I saw the long queues on both side of this checkpoint.
I think most of them were tourists.
One guide we met later said, “I sometimes go to the North, taking tourists, but my son has never been there, protesting against the fact that he has to show his passport in his own country”, which made a strong impression on me.
