If you happen to take a plane from Turkey to the island of Cyprus, you might notice that when you arrive, only flights to and from Turkey are going in and out of Ercan Airport. This is because only Turkey recognizes the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC), one of seven unrecognized de facto countries in the world. The rest of the world recognizes only the Republic of Cyprus, but that doesn’t matter when you go north of Nicosia.

Some of these images were shot digitally; the last few were shot on slide film.

The Venetian Column

A little girl plays in front of one of Lefkoşa’s main landmarks.

Mevlevi Museum

…and its Sufi Tombs

Rumi’s Mevlevi order was active in Cyprus for centuries.

Museum of the National Struggle

Dr. Fazıl Küçük is viewed as the founder of the KKTC.

Republic of Cyprus/KKTC Border…

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, on the other side of the fence above, seen from the Republic of Cyprus.

…and again from the other side

The Republic of Cyprus, as viewed from the KKTC.

KKTC Flag

The KKTC flag almost never flies without the Turkish flag- and here with a picture of Turkey’s founder, Atatürk.

Fazıl Küçük’s House

When Fazıl Küçük was the Vice President of Cyprus (before the split), US Vice President Lyndon Johnson visited him here.

Aya Sofya Cathedral

Children play in front of the KKTC’s most famous church-turned-mosque.

Inside Aya Sofya

A man prays inside the mosque, which still has a very medieval cathedral feel to it.

Park next to the UN buffer zone

The park is off-limits during certain hours, when it acts as a military zone.

Shot on Fuji Provia

“Wherever someone has died for it, that land is the Homeland.”

Shot on Fuji Provia

Museum of Barbarism

A woman reacts to the bullet holes left behind when the family that lived in this house was massacred during the ethnic conflicts that plagued Cyprus in the 1960s.

Dolmuş

These minibuses go throughout the KKTC

Dolmuş Driver

Shot on Fuji Provia

Theatre at the Büyük Han (Great Market)

Girne Castle

On the north side of the island.

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