October 28 is a National holiday in Greece celebrating the Οxi (No) Day – the refusal of General Metaxas, prime minister of Greece in 1940, to accept the Italian ultimatum in WW2. It also celebrated the following successful military campaign of Greece, which eventually ended with the Greek victory over the invading Italian army. The Greek victory changed the course of World War II because it was first Allied victory in World War II and because it forced Hitler to divert some of his forces to aid Italy in April 1941 - delaying the German attack against Russia to wintertime.
The apparently peaceful Mediterranean island of Cyprus holds in a somewhat mysterious political entity that tourist agencies would rather avoid telling you about unless directly asked - the secluded Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). The TRNC is a country which declared independence in 1980, but its sovereignity has yet to be recognized by any country except Turkey, making it a ghost country. This is my photographic journey into a de facto state that defies all European logic.