Canadian veterans remember how they eased tensions as UN peacekeepers in ethnically split Cyprus

Associated Press

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Two Canadian veterans who served with the U.N. peacekeepers in divided Cyprus have shared their recollections of their tour of duty. Michelle Angela Hamelin, who served in the 1980s, says it was the raw emotion of a people exasperated with their ethnically divided country’s predicament. Ronald Reginald Griffis remembers the appreciation Cypriots felt for Canadians they trusted to do their job when he served in the force’s first months in 1964. The two are among 100 Canadian veterans who traveled to Cyprus as part of commemorations that culminated on Monday to mark the 60th anniversary of the force.