AP PHOTOS: Remnants of lives interrupted by war half a century ago captured in Cyprus’ buffer zone

Nicosia, Cyprus — A rickety piano leans crookedly against a peeling apartment wall, dusty pots and pans rest on a stove that has seen much better days, and a book, its pages turning yellow with age, lies open next to a rusty tin can. ; signs of houses, once full of life, but suddenly abandoned as they remain frozen in time.

Fifty years ago, Turkey invaded Cyprus, five days after supporters of union with Greece staged a coup backed by the Greek junta that then ruled the country, dividing the eastern Mediterranean island nation along ethnic lines. Only Turkey recognizes a subsequent Turkish Cypriot declaration of independence in the northern third of the island, where it maintains more than 35,000 soldiers.

The Associated Press was allowed exclusive access within the United Nations’ 180-kilometer (approximately 110 mile) buffer zone, where its troops have been located since 1974 to preserve peace between Turkish and Turkish Cypriot troops, on the one hand, and the Greek Cypriot national guards.

The marks of war are omnipresent; from the pitted walls of homes and businesses targeted by high-caliber gunfire to hastily constructed gun nests facing each other. But the most disturbing sensation comes from how the heart of a capital stopped in mid-beat before the hasty exodus of people fleeing for their lives, leaving everything behind.

The UN says tensions along the buffer zone are rising again with the emergence of hundreds of new firing positions and high-tech surveillance technology with possible military applications.

Talks Negotiations on the formation of a federation made up of Greek- and Turkish-speaking areas have stalled since the last bid facilitated by the UN seven years ago. Many failed attempts preceded it.

Now, a move by Turks and Turkish Cypriots away from a federation toward a two-state deal that Greek Cypriots have outright ruled out is jeopardizing a new attempt by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to bring the two sides back to the table. of negotiations.