( this page is part of my recent book “The Dots I have connected” – please visit regularly to read the latest version )
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A divided island
Cyprus is a divided country since 1974.
There is no simple explanation on how things run in a place like Cyprus.
There are too many different opinions and perceptions for a tiny place like Cyprus.
Left part members (AKEL) believes that Cyprus belongs to their citizens, Greeks, Turks, Armenians.
Right wing (DISY and ELAM) believe that Cyprus is Greek.
As a member of a younger generation I can notice the almost 6000 years of Greek history in the island. But I can also notice that the Turkish occupation slowly destroys every Greek sign they can.
The Turkish invasion created a huge inequality for the next generations since the Turkish community of 18% of population took around 36% of the island including the properties of around 200.000 Greek Cypriots and used it for the benefit of Turkish oligarchs like Asil Nadir in order to run his (now defunct) conglomerate called Polly Peck.
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The Saturday nights at Hilton Cyprus
Every upper class wedding, in Nicosia, was linked to two and only two premises.
To be honest, the choices were very few that period but especially for the upper class there was no other place to be cosidered as acceptable.
The Hilton Cyprus ballrooms were the must book for everyone of them.
If things gone wrong and the date and time couldn’t match, then the alternative was the Ledra Ballroom.
As I was old enough to stay awake until late hours, many Saturday evenings I was enjoying the fruit punch at the Hilton and Ledra ballrooms.
What was the most intrigued part? Gossipping.
I could hear all those rumors for those involved in financial scandals.
Those rumors allowed me to understand that things were going wrong, in too many ways and too many state officials were involved in financial scandals and wrong-doing.
In the age of 7 or 8, it really doesn’t say much but as I was growing up, I could notice things going really bad.
So, gossiping allowed me to open my eyes and be extremely cautious each of the times things gone wrong..
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First time in Greece
The first time I visited Greece it was a whole new world.
My first impression was negative.
I found Athens extremely dirty and extremely exhausting, as well. First of all it’s too hot, almist like Nicosia. Then, the people are more complicated. Like they are looking for an identity.
There was something different in Athens. It took me around two decades to get the whole picture. Left and right are two sides in constant combat, for many decades.
The Left wing follows the arroach of AKEL. Greece is a society open to everyone. The same time the Right wing follows the Nationalistic appoach, Greece belongs to the Greeks.
When Alexander the Great attacked Persia, he gave to the Persian King a simple reason.
“I will end your attacks to Macedonia and the rest of Greece.”
When I moved to Athens for my Bachelor’s studies in Political Science I was nineteen years old. And I was in the Gilded era of Athens. Twelve years later things would change. Greece entered a period of stagnation, mismanagement and later gone bust.
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First trip to London
London is strange, cold, dark, boring. My first visit was back in 1995.
I still remember arriving at London Gatwick and going straight to the Tower of London. Flight of Monarch, accommodation at the Earls Court International Hotel and Trade Fair Complex.
The food in 1995 is interesting and tasty. Earls Court could be considered as a neighbourhood. Thirty years later, there is a completely different London. Oxford street is full of American candy stores. Proper food can be found only outside London. I can’t enjoy the food in London. To be fair, the local stores still serve tasty food but it’s not the same as then. I can feel the difference of eating to the North. I can feel the elegard taste of Pork Pies in Bridlington, in comparison to the industrial manufactures I buy in London. There is a huge difference 1995 and 2026. But, I could see it clearly since 2019. The United Kingdom in 2019 is not the United Kingdom of 1995. There is a discussion whether the European Union caused severe damages and increased inequalities within the United Kingdom.
As an experienced scientist, I was intrigued to investigate whether the 350 million pounds claim of Boris Johnson was accurate. After detailed personal research, I clearly noticed that the 350 million pounds indeed left the UK, every week, for the benefit of other EU members, although this exact amount couldn’t be forwarded to the NHS, because of a similar mismanagement within the UK budget design and implementation, similar to what the EU budget causes to the destabilization of the EU.
The result of the 2016 referendum was a clear battle between the people who were forced to pay, in order to be members of a disfunctional union) vs the people that got all the benefits of being part of the EU. In such case, the 52% that voted for BREXIT were the people that noticed that 350 million pounds were leaving their own pockets and moved to a black hole, where they were laundered by other countries’oligarchs.. During the same period (2013-2019), my personal investigation could also back their position with clear evidence coming directly from Brussels..
The number one problem I can notice, during the last eight years in England, is called Mental Health Crisis and is also relevant to the increased inequalities within the British regions. For too many reasons, the British society created and supported inequality and injustice for many decades and therefore failed to support and back their population’s on-going needs and the problem reached today (currently writing this report in March, 2026) the highest possible levels of disintegration. This is an obvious sign that the society needs an urgent re-design.. The change of governance from the Conservatives to the Labour, back in 2024, shows extremely slow change and the people tend nowadays to support two other parties (Reform and Green Party), considered in the previous years as outsiders.
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Time for Paris
Paris is a totally different planet. You enjoy walking, discovering, learning. And you really feel it.. For some reason there is something different in Paris. The design is made for humans. You feel the huge difference of Paris in comparison to Athens and London. There is the term “Flânerie“. You only understand it when in Paris. Paris is extremely frienly to navigate and enjoy although in the most recent years I can notice that the city suburbs are neglected, because of the lack of funds.
The most recent years, Paris becomes more and more as the newest Athens. People cannot understand why prices and bills goes up, why they have to work for more hours and they always paying more taxes each year but things are not improved. They can’t explain it but I can. It’s part of my studies. So, each time I am in Paris, it’s an extremely interesting experience of observing and watching the locals fighting to keep Paris human and avoid become the next Greece..
During the past years the movement of Gilets Jaunes protested due to the increased prices. As I regularly visit Paris for my research, I had the chance to discuss woth those protesters and understand the similarities the inequality patterns caused to France and the similarities of the French crisis to the UK and Greek societies.
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( this page is part of my recent book “The Dots I have connected” – please visit regularly to read the latest version )
[ The recordings used, saved through my YOUTUBE channel, can be located here ]