Since 2004, a group of Greek and Turkish Cypriots have been meeting at the Buyuk Han Coffee Club in Nicosia.
These like-minded people who have come together to chat and drink coffee have drawn in many and diverse visitors over the years. These include politicians, journalist, UN officials, ambassadors and ordinary sightseers.
At the end of February, UN Special Envoy Espen Barth Eide tweeted that he had enjoyed a great Saturday at the coffee club, which has been open since the first border crossing opened in 2004.
The four founder members – Greek Cypriot Andreas Paralikis and three Turkish Cypriots Hasan Çirakli, Suleyman Erguclu and Hasip Erel turn up whatever the weather and are now joined every week by 15 – 25 other members.
Despite language barriers and criticism from some outsiders, the club members continue to meet, sharing a vision of the future in a grassroots efforts to show what reunification of the island could be like.
