~by A. Djev. Basharan (1974) -author & formerly of FBIS A memory of day of a military coup

I had gone through this before. But it was not accompanied by bombs, shells, and bombardment, and war was not waged right on top of us or around us.

The coup which ousted President Makarios took place on a Monday morning. Shells dropped on CYTA which is only 100 yards from my house in Nicosia, fell in dozens into our street. I knew then that island was in for endless trouble. I could not bear to hear Greek Cypriots call their president a traitor, a tyrant. This was unbelievable.

In afternoon of same day when a curfew was imposed throughout island, Chief editor Henne and another American picked me up from Nicosia and took me to FBIS where I stayed on duty until hours of evacuation.

It was obvious to me that what Greek officers from Greece tried to do was to bring about an unproclaimed Enosis. In fact, all courting trouble, and trouble it was.

Ankara had pretended to be seeking powers from Grand National Assembly to send troops to foreign countries, though Government had already been vested with such powers earlier. This move fooled many people.

On Friday evening, asked whether he expected any sad development, Prime Minister Ecevit cheerfully answered in negative. And yet early next morning Turkish planes started coming in rapid succession. Most of us had spent night at station as a precautionary measure. It was 05.15 in morning on Saturday 20 July when we all rushed into corridor in utter amazement. Some of us looked more horrified than others.

On Sunday night shells from warships and bombs and strafing from planes came down thick and fast. Some exploded within precincts of FBIS, damaging doors and shattering windows. Some explosions were simply as much deafening as they were horrifying. At times, death was not around door. It was inches away.

Our bureau Chief Mr. Tom Weiss, exhausted as he was, kept praying not only for himself but for all of us. I will never forget that tried but determined figure continuing to operate in various capacities under most trying circumstances. His wife, a formidable lady I thought, was always by his side.

He was in town to promote his newest book, Six Questions for Socrates: A Modern-Day Journey of Discovery Through World Philosophy. Because I happen to live in Portland, Oregon, a city with a reputation for contemplative people and voracious readers (must be rain), room at Powell's Books was packed. After reading a few pages from his book describing a typical Socratic dialogue, Phillips asked us to consider question, "What is virtue?" and to think about how it might relate to our world today.

Well, "today" happened to be day that President Bush announced his intention to push for a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. It was clearly a hot topic in room, and first speaker jumped right in by asking if perhaps we could become a more virtuous society by respecting and supporting a "multiplicity of choices" regarding any loving relationship between two consenting adults.

The hour passed swiftly as many individuals contributed to discussion of tolerance, support, acceptance, common good, well being, and development of our culture.

No matter what you believe about gay marriage, considering its implications is a fascinating process in evaluating and defining our own sense of virtue.

When I was four, my father announced to my mother that he was homosexual. My mother had been raised in Mormon church, only child of two very conservative parents. She told me years later that she'd had to look up word in dictionary to know what he was talking about. It was 1964.

She chose to pack up my two brothers and me and head to Oregon to live with her parents. I grew up hearing from my grandmother that my father was "evil" and that someday I'd learn about horrible things he'd done.

I envisioned him as an axe murderer. I didn't see him for years.

I now have a very friendly relationship with him, and I am pleased to report that he has never killed anyone. In fact, he leads a quiet, happy life of gardening, paying bills, helping others in his community, and being completely dedicated to his partner.