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The houses I had they took away from me.

The times

happened to be unpropitious: war, destruction, exile;

sometimes the hunter hits the migratory birds,

sometimes he doesnt hit them. Hunting

was good in my time, many felt the pellet;

the rest circle aimlessly or go mad in the shelters.

George Seferis

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Contents

List of illustrations4

Introduction.6

Problem Statement.6

Sources 7

Plan.12

Reference List..13

3
List of illustrations

Figure 1: page 6, Hall, N. (2014) The Cyprus Buffer Zone.


http://www.polispost.com/article/45632/33-sygklonistikes-fotografies-apo-tin-prasini-
grammi-tis-kyproy [Accessed 5 January 2016].

Figure 2: page 6, Simmons, A. (2003) Otto' s Caf, Buffer Zone, Nicosia. [online], Available from
https://www.google.co.uk/search?sa=G&hl=en-
GB&q=green+line+cyprus&tbm=isch&imgil=VkI-
aE9XmhS8aM%253A%253BMMSjqDvuFT28vM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.g
orestruly.com%25252F2012%25252F11%25252F01%25252Frotting-international-the-green-
line-
cyprus%25252F&source=iu&pf=m&tbs=simg:CAES1gEa0wELEKjU2AQaAggEDAsQsIynCBpiCm
AIAxIo-BTyFPMU-RS9CvoUvAr0FPUU9hSIOYo53jiLOes-4DjaOMYq-
irzKhowZJCOpKS14xrAwotDn2FpMyyAS_1cCxP5XLyBlv5tpVeIWIar7scPGIGWnEIV7xvYAIAM
MCxCOrv4IGgoKCAgBEgTelNZcDAsQne3BCRpBCg8KDW5laWdoYm91cmhvb2QKBgoEdG93bg
oSChByZXNpZGVudGlhbCBhcmVhCgcKBWFsbGV5CgkKB3ZpbGxhZ2UM&fir=VkI-
aE9XmhS8aM%253A%252CMMSjqDvuFT28vM%252C_&biw=1366&bih=623&usg=__HF78Ex
AglxCUdWkavon-
f0Jm9po%3D&ved=0ahUKEwjfvOXe55LKAhWGzxQKHTq3CbMQyjcIPw&ei=h8mLVp_dJIafU7r
uppgL#imgrc=VkI-aE9XmhS8aM%3A&usg=__HF78ExAglxCUdWkavon-f0Jm9po%3D
[Accessed 5 January 2016].

Figure 3: page 6, Dickelbers (2009) Border between north and south Cyprus Nicosia. [online],
Available from
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Border_between_nort_and_south_cyprus_Nicosi
a.JPG [Accessed 5 January 2016].

Figure 4: page 6, Sirinon @etpbooks (2011) Cipro, irrinunciabile per la Turchia, sacro per la
Grecia, indispensabile per lInghilterra, un problema per lONU. [online], Available from
http://it.paperblog.com/cipro-irrinunciabile-per-la-turchia-sacro-per-la-grecia-
indispensabile-per-l-inghilterra-un-problema-per-l-onu-742567/ [Accessed 5 January 2016].

Figure 5: page 8, Nicosia Master Plan Team (2007) Detailed map drawing of the Walled City
of Nicosia, Cyprus. [online], Available from http://www.architectureweek.com/cgi-
bin/awimage?dir=2007/1010&article=news_4-4.html&image=13608_image_6.jpg [Accessed
5 January 2016].

Figure 6: page 10, Mita, A. (2008) Turkish-Cypriots gather on the northern side of Nicosia to
witness the opening ceremony of a new crossing point through the UN Buffer Zone at Ledra
Street. [online], Available from
http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/galleries/photographers/alex_mita [Accessed 5 January
2016].

Figure 7: page 12, Rainbow, R. (2011) Occupy the Ledra street Buffer Zone A movement to
Unify Cyprus. [online], Available from
https://rubinarainbow.wordpress.com/2011/11/26/occupy-the-ledra-street-buffer-zone-a-
movement-to-unify-cyprus/ [Accessed 5 January 2016].

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Figure 8: page 12, Manolis, A. (2011) Fed up with separation Cypriot youths seek change.
[online], Available from http://www.reuters.com/article/us-cyprus-movement-occupation-
idUSTRE7AR1L520111128 [Accessed 5 January 2016].

Figure 9: page 12, ABITOFCULTURE (2014) Snow in the Med: Troodos Mountains. [online],
Available from http://abitofculture.net/2014/10/25/snow-in-the-med-troodos-mountains/
[Accessed 5 January 2016].

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Introduction

The birthplace of Aphrodite, Greek mythical goddess of beauty and love, Cyprus is described
in travel guides and internet sites as having a record breaking number of blue flag-awarded
beaches, oodles of ancient ruins and a party town to rival Ibiza in Ayia Napa (Jet2holidays) or
as an enchanting island steeped in myth and romance (Thomas Cook) or it is said that the
islands beauty could explain why Marc Antony gave this Mediterranean gem to his beloved
Cleopatra (lastminute.com). The same island, nevertheless, is still scarred by a division which
Richard Holbrooke, the main architect of the 1995 Dayton Accord that ended the Bosnian
Conflict and special envoy of President Bill Clinton in Cyprus, described as the great
unresolved flashpoint in Europe(Usborne, 1997).

The southern part of the island is a recognised state, under the name Republic of Cyprus, and
is a member of the European Union since 2004. The northern part, the self-proclaimed Turkish
Republic of Northern Cyprus (henceforth TRNC), still under Turkish occupation, has not yet
gained international recognition (Papadakis et al, 2006). The two states are up to the present
divided by the same ceasefire strip that was established by the UN in 1964 and which until
2003 remained completely impermeable to crossing, post or telephone (Demetriou, 2007).

This Buffer Zone is a demilitarised ribbon patrolled by the UN Peacekeeping Force that divides
the island from side to side to the north and south segments (UNFICYP). It is 180.5 km long,
its width fluctuates from 20m to more than 7 km, and in total occupies 346 km2. It begins near
the village of Kato Pyrgos on the west, continues to divide Nicosia, and ends south of
Famagusta on the east. Some 8.000 people live and work within it (Charlesworth, 2006).

In 2000-3 a series of demonstrations broke out in the north which gradually culminated
attracting half of the population by the end of 2002.The demonstrators under the slogan
Solution and EU demanded the reunification of the island that would allow it to jointly claim
European membership (Demetriou, 2007). Under pressure the northern administration
succumbed and, in an unexpected move, enabled, under conditions, the crossing of the Zone
for both ethnicities on 23 April 2003 (Dikomitis, 2005).

Problem Statement

My investigation was triggered by the fact that the Buffer Zone in Cyprus has always been
imbued with rich connotative meanings apart from its overt functionality (Constantinou and
Hatay, 2010, Foka, Z. 2015, Dikomitis, 2005). I found it befuddling that while additive, or
contradictory to those of the past, the connotations that are invented, disseminated, and
commonly accepted by one ethnic entity differ or are in dire opposition to those affiliated by
the other ethnic group. It is my belief that if these meanings are clarified then each group can

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recognise itself in them, a process of self-awareness that could cultivate tolerance and lead to
a fertile dialogue.

The aim of my research is to elucidate these meanings for both ethnic groups and highlight
their contradictions.

I will further examine different case studies in order to unravel how barriers in time assumed
symbolic meanings. I will proceed to examine what the Buffer Zone means for each group and
how it affects everyday life. I will attempt to understand how the opening of the cross points
enriched the meanings of the Zone.

Answers will be sought to the following questions: What are the diverse connotative meanings
of the Buffer Zone for both communities apart from its apparent function as a barrier for the
avoidance of hostilities? What symbolic meanings were ascribed to other barriers that existed
throughout history? What are the connotative meanings of crossing the Buffer Zone after its
opening in 2003? How does the presence of negotiation committees or occupy movements in
the Zone affect its symbolic capital?

In the existing literature the semantics of the Buffer Zone are only collaterally discussed, as an
addition to researches conducted in the past and not as an autonomous research objective. I
also realised early on that many writers chose to describe the Buffer Zone and its connotations
through phenomenology which I consider a sensitive approach nevertheless I am convinced
that a different methodology such as that of semiotics might lead to surprisingly different
outcomes.

Sources

In my effort I sought recourse to a wide variety of sources including relevant books, articles,
conference transcripts, reports, internet sites.

Signs, Symbols and Architecture (Broadbent et al, 1980) is an anthology of essays whose
writers seek to define, analyse, and apply semiotics in architecture. In the first section of the
book a fundamental question is posed, that is, in the tripartite division of the sign (signifier,
signified, referent) which one is the building? Each one of the contributors answers it
differently. To the question if architecture can have secondary connotative meanings Eco
answers affirmatively. He then discerns between denotative and connotative meanings and
suggests that these meanings are determined by codes in the light of which we interpret signs.
Jenks, on the other hand, conceives the connotative meanings as secondary since the building
is much alike to a machine that does what it is supposed to do without having to explain it.
Broadbent draws on the relationship between language and architecture. He bases his
approach on N. Chomskys theory of deep structures and attempts to apply it in architecture.
It is my point of view that Broadbent seems to try to dissect architecture thus missing the
opportunity to draw conclusions from a holistic treatment. Ventos begins his article with a
generic analysis of structuralism and does not consume his research in an effort to establish
what the architectural sign is. Instead he suggests that whatever that might be it should be
dealt with according to its position within a system. In the second section of the book Eco
returns with an article that attempts to define what the basic architectural unit could be.
Bontas interest in semiotics is guided by the works of Buyssens and Prieto who had formed a
completely different paradigm in the field. A semiotic approach of the works of Graves and
Eisenman is ventured by M. Gandelsonas.

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Since my ambition is to understand the symbolism of the Buffer Zone I had to penetrate
further into the works of semioticians. One of the most famous works in the field remains the
Mythologies by Roland Barthes (Barthes, 2009). In caustic spirit these -originally- pieces of
journalism are a critique on the language of mass culture and an effort to analyse by the
means of semiotics the mechanisms of that language. In the first section of the book a number
of myths of his era are described, dismantled, analysed. In the second section, however, the
style of the text changes; the euphoric, almost playful tone of the myths is superseded by a
sober, scientific language as the writer attempts to address the notion of the myth as a
semiological system. In this context he examines Saussures signifier-signified opposition. He
finally offers the theoretical tools for deciphering myths as he elaborately did himself in the
first section of the book. I found his work pertinent to my research as I intend to analyse the
myths that surround the Buffer Zone. As my effort will include the analysis of images and the
vocabulary that represents the Buffer Zone this book appears as an invaluable guidance.

As the Buffer Zone is a boundary, I had to understand and elaborate on the notion of borders
in post modernity. Some seem to suggest that borders are obsolete since they have become
exceedingly porous, a change that clearly reflects the erosion of the notion of nation-state in
our times. Even so, no one can negate that borders still have a critical impact on the formation
and preservation of nations. The book Border Identities, Nation and State at international
frontiers (Wilson et al, 1998) offers a comprehensive anthropology of borders. Borders are
traditionally conceived as symbols of the security and the sovereignty of state. Sometimes, as
it happens in Cyprus and could explain the heavy military presence in the Buffer Zone, it is at
the borders that the power of the state is keenly felt, probably because it is there that this
power is contested. A multitude of contributors present case studies of disputed borders and
their impact on the lives of people residing in the periphery. The most noteworthy essays
include one about the borders of the EU part of which is the Buffer Zone and another one
about the aftermath of the division of Germany by the Berlin wall. This book assisted me in,
among else, building on the case studies that I intend to use.

The volatile recent past of Cyprus has transformed it from a tranquil idyllic tourist destination
to a land of violence and strife. By incorporating up to date sociocultural essays Divided
Cyprus Modernity, History, and an island in conflict (Papadakis et al, 2006) is a book that
seeks to examine notions of nationalism, ethnicity and identity on the island, the impact of
immigration and many more. It is noteworthy that despite the fact that the researchers are
from different backgrounds (British, Greek Cypriots, Turkish etc.) their findings seem to
complement each other offering a comprehensive view of the current situation on the island.
This book greatly assisted me in understanding how the two groups perceive and define
themselves. It offers a wide pool of historical data and a rich bibliography that I could search
further in order to enrich my sources.

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As I did not have the opportunity to visit Cyprus and the Buffer Zone, I needed a source that
would describe in detail the latter. I found a book by Jacques Lacarrire in Greek under the
title Nicosia the Dead Zone (Lacarrire, 2003). It should be mentioned here that his
description is rather phenomenological as the author tries to convey the feelings he
experienced when he saw the empty buildings, the watchtowers and the barricades etc. in
that part of the Buffer Zone that bisects Nicosia. This effort does not make any pleas for
detailed accuracy or claim scientific pretences at least that is not the intention of the author
-despite being well documented and with abundant photographic sources. His account
includes anecdotes from different stop points and a vivid description of the writers visit to
the former high street of Nicosia, a street that used to bustle with life now a silent slice of the
Buffer Zone. Stories of empty shops, of buildings conquered by nature and time all creating a
sense of inertia, an abrupt stop of time, an uncanny feeling.

The politics of memory and forgetting is a chapter of Y. Papadakis doctoral dissertation of


1995 and delves into the techniques of selective memory and forgetting of both ethnic groups.
He argues that the discontinuities in the recent official historiography of the Greek Cypriots
are a precondition for the desirable outcome of the conflict, the reunification of the island.
The Turkish Cypriot official line, on the other hand, is divisive and this is reflected on the
manner that it constructs and narrates its history. The author begins with a brief account of
the events between 1955 and 1974. He then examines the dates commemorated by both
sides. From the selection of events to be commemorated by the Greek Cypriots it can be
concluded that the enemy is Turkey and not the Turkish Cypriots, therefore peaceful
coexistence of the two communities is possible. For the same reason the period between 1960
and 1974 is missing from the official Greek Cypriot narrative as part of the policy of silence
over the intercommunal violence. The years of 1963 and 1967 are nevertheless
commemorated by the Turkish Cypriots. All public rituals refer to some kind of hostility with
the other side since the official rhetoric aims to suggest that the past proves the impossibility
of peaceful coexistence. The Turkish Cypriots insist that the Greek Cypriots still wish enosis
(unification) with Greece as part of the irredentism of the latter. Greek Cypriots are
encouraged to remember their life before the division whereas the Turkish Cypriots are
prompted to make a clean break with the past. A phrase with which I greatly sympathise is
the following by Renan forgetting history or getting history wrong are an essential factor in
the formation of the nation (Papadakis, 1993).

In my effort to trace sources that would describe the Turkish Cypriot standpoint I came across
an article by Mete Hatay and Rebecca Bryant under the title The jasmine Scent of Nicosia: Of
Returns, Revolutions, and the Longing for Forbidden Pasts (Hatay and Bryant, 2008). This
article refers to the Jasmine Revolution that occurred in the northern part of the island in the
beginning of 2002. The jasmine became a symbol for liberal Turkish Cypriot politicians,
journalists, poets etc. that rebelled against a present they considered aged and corrupt. It was
also a reaction against the colonisation of the north by Turkey. The same movement used
nostalgia as a base for politics. The revolutionaries demanded consideration of a communal
solution that would ensure the acceptance of the island as a whole in the EU. Still, the mention
of jasmine brought back memories of the past in the enclaves rather than those of peaceful
coexistence with the other ethnic group. The authors describe the intercommunal violence
during Christmas 1963 that forced the Turkish Cypriots to resort into enclaves, that is,
guarded, exclusively Turkish Cypriot villages. The life was hard there but it was hard for
everyone. It was a life of struggle but of enjoyment at the same time. It was the first time that
the Turkish Cypriots had their own space, the first time they were self-determined. After the

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1974 invasion they moved to the north. The inequalities between those who benefited from
the war (settlers) and those who did not (Turkish Cypriots) amplified in the late 80s when it
became apparent that the TRNC would never be recognised internationally and would remain
politically and economically isolated. The murder of Kutlu Adali in 1996 and the arrest of the
newspaper publisher ener Levent in 2000 fuelled demands of self-determination. As the
Turkish Cypriots realised that only the southern part of the island was to join the EU they took
to the streets, an upheaval that resulted in the opening of the checkpoints of the Buffer Zone.
The obsession of the Turkish Cypriots with nostalgia, with bygone days urges them to cling to
the existing boundary, secure and maintain it. The Buffer Zone is the only way to protect that
innocence of the unsullied past or the innocence of ignorance (Hatay and Bryant, 2008).

On the 23rd April 2003 in a surprise move by Rauf Denkta, founding President of the TRNC,
the crossing of the Buffer Zone has been permitted for the first time after 29 years. The article
Three readings of a border Greek Cypriots crossing the green line in Cyprus (Dikomitis, 2005)
seeks to explore the signification that the crossing assumed for the Greek Cypriots. The actions
and response of the Greek Cypriots should be understood within the wider context of the
Greek Cypriot official policy that was ambivalent at that time, discouraging on one hand the
citizens from crossing because the action as such could have been interpreted as an indirect
recognition of the pseudo-state, and prompting them on the other hand as a means of
preparing the ground for reconciliation and the reunification of the island. It is important here
to mention that what lies beyond the Buffer Zone is called by the Greek Cypriots as occupied
land, in the Turkish areas, the other side, or less frequently on the north, in the
pseudo-state, a choice of words that suggests that the Buffer Zone is for them more than a
margin, more than an illegitimate border. The enrichment of the article with pertinent photos
probed me to search for relevant images of the Buffer Zone which are analysable with semiotic
methods.

In To cross or not to cross? Subjectivisation and the absent state in Cyprus Olga Demetriou
chooses to analyse the notion of political subjectivity- the subjection of citizens to the power
of the state as it was transformed by the event of the opening of the border. Before that
the Buffer Zone used to define the exercise of statehood for both sides. The writer suggests
that the subjugation to the state power in the north was first greatly challenged by the
protestations between 2000 and 2003 that led to the decision to open the border. On the
south as soon as the event took place, crossing came to signify either possible recognition of
the illegal TRNC or treachery to the Republic of Cyprus. The power of the state had to be
reclaimed and reasserted. The writer concludes that the consciousness of ones political
standing pre-exists the triggering effect that might undermine it and that each act can be
considered political even when one chooses not to act at all ( in the case of Greek Cypriots the
choice of not crossing the border) (Demetriou, 2007).

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For lack of political resolution of the Cyprus dispute, the Buffer Zone remains a contested,
liminal space. A temporary provision in the beginning, the Buffer Zone gradually consolidated
into a permanent absence. Zinovia Foka in this paper (Foka, 2015) presented at the RC21
International Conference discusses three initiatives of space appropriation in that slice of the
Buffer Zone that bisects Nicosia. The Buffer Zone becomes a common field for both
communities where they can express notions of identity, citizenship and memory (Foka,
2015). It transforms from a dividing line to shared space. The Buffer Zone had assumed over
time symbolic meanings in both national narratives. According to the writer Both narratives
capitalise on the Buffer Zones spatiality imbued with emotions and meanings to legitimise
opposing political claims and opposing visions-reunification, division-for the future (Foka,
2015). The first bi-communal collaborations sprang during the 70s and 80s whereas
workshops took place during the period 1994-7. All of these initiatives were met with the
disapproval of both sides. In 2004 the New Vision Plan predicted a shared planning vision for
the city. The Home For Cooperation was founded in 2011 in an attempt to establish a
multifunctional communal space within the Buffer Zone. In October 2011 the Ledra Street/
Lokmaci crossing was appropriated by the Occupy movement protesting against neoliberal
policies that aggravated social inequalities for both groups.

Plan

26/1/16 Begin writing the main core of the dissertation, the semiotics of the
division. In parallel search for more sources.
8/2/16 Write the intro and analyse the historical background of the Buffer
Zone
22/2/16 Comparative study and presentation of case studies
8/3/16 Gather the photographic images required and analyse them
15/3/16 Finalise the conclusion. Answer the main question in a distilled
manner.

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Reference List

Barthes, R. (2009) Mythologies. London: Vintage.

Broadbent, J., Bunt, R. and Jenks, C. (eds.) (1980) Signs, Symbols and Architecture. John Wiley
& Sons.

Charlesworth, E. (2006) Architects Without Frontiers War, Reconstruction, and Design


Responsibility. Oxford: Elsevier.

Constantinou, C. and Hatay, M. (2010) Cyprus, ethnic conflict and conflicted heritage. Ethnic
and Racial Studies, 33 (9) 1600-1619.

Demetriou, O. (2007) To cross or not to cross? Subjectivisation and the absent state in Cyprus.
Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 13(4) 9871006.

Dikomitis, L. (2005) Three readings of a border Greek Cypriots crossing the Green line in
Cyprus. ANTHROPOLOGY TODAY, 21 (5) 7-12.

Foka, Z. (2015) Shared Space in Conflict Areas: Cultural Processes of Space Appropriation in
Nicosias Walled City. RC21 International Conference. The Ideal City: between myth and
reality. Representations, policies, contradictions and challenges for tomorrows urban life,
Urbino 27-29 August, Urbino, Italy. Available from: http://www.rc21.org/en/wp-
content/uploads/2014/12/B2.1-Foka.pdf [Accessed 2 January 2016].

Hatay, M. and Bryant, R. (2008) The Jasmine Scent of Nicosia: Of Returns, Revolutions, and
the Longing for Forbidden Pasts. Journal of Modern Greek Studies, 26 (2) 423-449. Available
from:
http://file.prio.no/publication_files/Cyprus/Hatay%20&%20Bryant%20(2008)%20Jasmine%2
0Scent%20of%20Nicosia.pdf [Accessed 2 January 2016].

Jet2holidays, Cyprus Holidays. [online] Leeds: Jet2holidays. Available from:


http://www.jet2holidays.com/cyprus [Accessed 2 January 2016].

Lacarrire, J. (2003) Lefkosia i Nekri Zoni (Nicosia the Dead Zone). Athens: Olkos.

Lastminute.com, Cyprus Holidays. [online] London: Lastminute.com. Available from:


http://www.lastminute.com/holidays/cyprus.html [Accessed 2 January 2016].

Morgan, T. (2002) Turkish Cypriots leave island as 'settlers' move in. The Telegraph. Available
from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/cyprus/1406583/Turkish-
Cypriots-leave-island-as-settlers-move-in.html [Accessed 2 January 2016].

Papadakis, Y., Peristianis, N., Welz, G. (eds.) (2006) Divided Cyprus Modernity, History, And An
Island In Conflict. USA: Indiana University Press.

Papadakis, Y. (1993) The Politics of Memory and Forgetting. Journal of Mediterranean Studies,
3 (1) 139-154.

Seferis, G. (1995) Complete poems translated, edited and introduced by Edmund Keeley and
Philip Sherrard. London: Anvil Press Poetry.

Thomas Cook, Holidays in Cyprus. [online] Available from:


https://www.thomascook.com/holidays/cyprus/?q=cyprus&source=gcse&sourceUrl=https:

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%2F%2Fwww.thomascook.com%2Fholidays%2F%23intcmp%3DTopNav_Holidays [Accessed
2 January 2016].

UNFICYP Contributing to a political settlement in Cyprus. [online] New York: UN. Available
from: http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/unficyp/ [Accessed 2 January 2016].

Usborne, D. (1997) Holbrooke offers hope to divided Cyprus. [online] London: Independent.
Available from: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/holbrooke-offers-hope-to-
divided-cyprus-1254373.html [Accessed 2 January 2016].

Wilson, T. and Donnan, H. (eds.) (1998) Border Identities, Nation and state at international
frontiers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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