(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Power, Time, and Transformation: A Vryonis Lens on Cyprus and Ukraine [1] ['Tony A', 'View Profile', 'Greg Dworkin', 'News Corpse', 'Crashing Vor'] Date: 2026-05-04 A deeper understanding of both Cyprus and Ukraine requires moving beyond viewing invasions as single, isolated events. Instead, they should be understood as the beginning of longer historical processes. This is where Speros Vryonis Jr.’s work becomes especially important. In his influential book The Decline of Medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor (1971), Vryonis, a prominent scholar of Byzantine, Balkan, and Greek history, demonstrated that major historical changes unfold over time. Asia Minor did not become Turkish and Muslim after one battle or invasion. Instead, change happened slowly over centuries. Shifts in power, economics, population, and institutions propelled this change. When power took hold, society changed little by little. This view helps us see Cyprus in 1974 in a different light. The Turkish invasion was not just one event, but the start of a long process. The island’s division and forced population movements continue today. The ongoing military presence in the north is part of this change. These events shape who lives on the island, how politics work, and how people remember their history. Over time, settlers from mainland Turkey have grown in number and now outnumber Turkish Cypriots by 2 to 1. The number of mosques in the occupied areas has also increased, even though most Turkish Cypriots in the past saw themselves as more secular. The authorities in the north also created their own “state,” but it is recognized only by Turkey, not by the rest of the world. In In Turkey’s Image: The Transformation of Occupied Cyprus into a Turkish Province, Christos Ioannides vividly describes the profound changes that northern Cyprus has undergone since Turkey invaded the island. Ioannides (2011) explains how Turkey supported the settlement of Muslim populations from Anatolia into occupied Cyprus. He also highlights the systematic removal of the island’s Greek and Christian heritage. This process included the destruction or conversion of churches into mosques, as well as the renaming of towns and villages from Greek to Turkish. According to Ioannides, these actions were not isolated incidents but part of a broader, deliberate effort to reshape the region’s demographic and cultural identity over time. We see something similar happening in Ukraine. Since 2014, and especially since 2022, changes in control and the displacement of people have begun to alter daily life. Millions of Ukrainians have been internally displaced or forced to leave their country as refugees. In areas under Russian control, daily life has changed in many ways. Local governments have been replaced by new authorities. Schools now teach in Russian instead of Ukrainian. Ukrainian money and media have been replaced with Russian ones. People are also being encouraged to accept Russian passports. The laws have changed, too. Russian legal rules are now used instead of Ukrainian ones. At the same time, people face pressure to change how they speak, celebrate, and remember their history. Like in Speros Vryonis Jr.’s work, these changes are not only about the military. They affect society, politics, and culture. Over time, people may start to see these changes as normal. Both Cyprus and Ukraine show the same pattern: when powerful countries act without regard for the law or basic fairness, short-term actions can become permanent. An invasion may start as temporary, but over time, it can become a lasting situation that is very hard to reverse. However, there are also important differences between the two cases. In Cyprus, the island has been divided for many years, with a long political deadlock and very little contact between the two sides across the buffer zone. In Ukraine, the situation is still changing. Fighting is ongoing, there is strong resistance in some areas, and control over land continues to shift. There are other differences, too. The number of people forced to leave their homes is not the same. The level of international involvement is also different. In addition, the chances of reversing these changes may vary. Vryonis’s work serves as both a historical explanation and a warning: what is not addressed early on through law and justice may become irreversible over time and through power. This idea challenges realpolitik, an approach linked to Henry Kissinger. Realpolitik focuses first on power, security, and strategy. Leaders try to keep things secure and stable, even if that means ignoring what is fair or just. But Martin Luther King Jr. teaches something different. He believed that peace without justice is not real peace. True peace must include justice, or it will not last (White, 1922). Cyprus and Ukraine show that the biggest danger is not only the invasion itself, but what happens over time. When injustice is allowed to continue, it becomes part of everyday life. It gets built into laws, institutions, and even how people remember the past. Fixing this is not easy. It is not just a simple policy decision. It takes time and effort to rebuild trust, restore fairness, and heal society. Both cases show why it is important to respond to wrongdoing early. If the world does not act quickly, the damage can grow and become harder to undo. 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