‘This island is very poorly managed…’
The reality of Cyprus dashed the dreams of this returning emigrant. Yet, 17 years later, he’s still here. ALIX NORMAN finds out why
Costa Constanti is the Accidental Diplomat: the man who set off from Melbourne in search of his roots, and ended up changing Cyprus.
“Or at least trying to change Cyprus,” he grimaces. “Because we’ve still got a long way to go; I’m not going to lie – this island is very poorly managed.”
Costa’s opinion isn’t something to trivialise. For 14 years, he worked for the Australian High Commission in Cyprus, privy to the island’s biggest policies and processes. He’s sat on countless councils and committees, collaborated with numerous NGOs and non-profits.
He’s the man who, in collaboration with Cerides, was responsible for almost halving the rate of road deaths over the last five years, having introduced the local police force to the world’s foremost experts in road safety. He’s a crucial part of Cyprus’ first sustainable nursery, a venture that has grown 300,000 trees from seed and is now reforesting the island.
He’s also the founder of policy consultants CONSTANTi, who work with the Committee for Missing Persons, Freedom House, and the Forager network. And, within the last few months, he’s launched Terra Nullius, a podcast that puts change directly in the hands of the people.
In short, he’s trying to remedy what he sees as the island’s biggest issues; issues that, on arrival, he had no idea existed…
“Like so many second- and third-generation Cypriots, I left Melbourne in seriously rose-tinted specs! I was going to go ‘home’, find my roots. I was going to fill that gulf of yearning for what my parents had lost; discover for myself the island paradise that fuels the diaspora dream.”
But in 2006, fresh off the plane, Costa quickly discovered Cyprus wasn’t quite what he’d imagined.
“Within a year, I realised just how messed up things were. Not only was the island I’d dreamt of all my life in bureaucratic chaos, the government was barely functioning.
“I remember how staggered I was by the total disrespect for foreigners; for each other; for the environment. Racism was rife, hate speech was openly accepted, and even repatriated Cypriots were seen as second-class citizens.
“To me,” he affirms, “it seemed clear that Cyprus was in shell-shock; that it had never recovered from the conflicts of the past. From the get-go I could see the trauma that still existed across all sections of society…”
While Costa admits he met “hundreds of people with worldly experiences, multiple degrees, and valuable knowledge,” he adds that “many were being funnelled into dead-end government jobs. Or shoved into the financial sector and required to disengage entirely from society.
“I’d set off to discover my ancestral haven. Instead, I found a dysfunctional island whose challenges were pervasive and far removed from the idyllic narratives I’d once believed.”
Costa’s story is hardly unusual; given the broken dreams, he could easily be forgiven for returning to Australia. But he didn’t. Seventeen years on, he’s still here; still fighting for change. Why?
“Because from the very start, I could see the potential in Cyprus!” he says. “There’s so much talent here, so much passion. There are so many people who are trying so hard to make a difference – not politicians on TV talk shows who scream rhetoric at each other, but real people working quietly to secure human rights, create peace and innovate for a brighter future.
“It’s their resilience, their unyielding spirit that keeps me here; that fuels my determination to be part of the much-needed change. And it’s they who inspired me to start my podcast.”
As the former Policy Officer of the Australian High Commission, the head of CONSTANTi, and Cyprus’ representative of Freedom House (which conducts transparency and corruption indices worldwide), Costa has spent over a decade inducing change from the top-down.
But now, with the Terra Nullius podcast, he’s working from the ground up: advocating for change at a grassroots, community level.
“Terra Nullius means no-man’s land in Latin,” Costa reveals. “It’s a fitting title; Australia was once known by this name. But it’s also a term we could use for the Buffer Zone; the symbolic rift at the very heart of our island. The chasm between peoples, communities and cultures that must be healed.”
Through Terra Nullius, Costa is shifting the landscape of separation into a place of dialogue and understanding. Advocating for transformation through his choice of interviewees, he’s putting the island’s quiet change-makers front and centre in the hope that their stories will inspire others to action.
“These are the educators, the activists, the artists and migrants who are each contributing in their unique way to positive change,” says Costa. “They’re the dreamers AND the doers: people who don’t just fantasise about a better Cyprus, but lay its foundations, brick by brick!”
His interviewees include bicommunal activist and Stath Lets Flats actor Demetris Roussounis, parenting advocate Eleni Antoniou, and Dimitrios Ikonomou, an innovative peace builder.
“From Demetris, we learnt the harsh realities of the diaspora; how dreams can be dashed – and how to push on through,” he explains. “In Eleni, we see someone fighting for the rights of mothers across the island. And Dimitrios revealed how cutting-edge technology is patching the divide, with the creation of virtual reality experiences of the Buffer Zone.”
None of his interviewees fit the stereotypical framework for policy-makers. None are hard-line politicians or high-profile influencers. And yet all have had a profoundly positive impact on Cyprus: building bridges in place of walls; fostering dialogue where division once reigned; igniting hope in the shadows of hatred.
“Every guest feels as I do; as I suspect most of us do,” says Costa. “They’re people who love Cyprus with a passion; people who can see that change must come; people who won’t let the scale of the island’s issues stop them from trying to make a difference.
“In their own way,” he concludes, “they too are accidental diplomats. They may not have formal titles or official roles, but they embody the very essence of diplomacy. Together, we’re going to bridge the divides, advocate for peace, and work tirelessly to a better future. For me, for you, for Cyprus.”
The Terra Nullius podcast is hosted by Island Talks, and is free to listen to and download. For more information, visit https://islandtalks.fm/series/tn/