Today we interview Professor James Ker-Lindsay about The Island of Missing Trees. Professor Ker-Lindsay is a fascinating person to talk to about the context and background of The Island of Missing Trees. He is a scholar whose research focuses on conflict, peace and security in South East Europe, and secession and recognition in international politics. He has authored or edited over a dozen books and more than 70 articles and book chapters. Some of his major works focusing on Cyprus are: The Cyprus Problem: What Everyone Needs to Know; Crisis and Conciliation: A Year of Rapprochement between Greece and Turkey; EU Accession and UN Peacemaking in Cyprus; Resolving Cyprus: New Approaches to Conflict Resolution; An Island in Europe: The EU and the Transformation of Cyprus (with Hubert Faustmann and Fiona Mullen);The Government and Politics of Cyprus (with Hubert Faustmann); and The Work of the United Nations in Cyprus (with Oliver Richmond). Prof Ker-Lindsay has worked at the Royal United Services Institute, the world’s oldest independent security and defense studies think tank, and at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. He has also served as an advisor to a number of governments and international organizations, including the United Nations and the Council of Europe. He appears regularly in the media and has been interviewed by many leading international news organizations, such as the BBC, CNN, Reuters, Associated Press, The Economist, The Guardian, The New York Times, Radio Free Europe, SKY News, The Times and the Wall Street Journal. He has a BSc(Econ) from the University of London and an MA and PhD in International Conflict Analysis from the University of Kent. He has held visiting posts at the London School of Economics and Political Science, University of Pristina, the University of Saints Cyril and Methodius, and the University of Nicosia and is a Research Associate at the Centre for International Studies, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford. He consulted with the author, Elif Shafak, as she was writing The Island of Missing Trees! Linny asked James how he became interested in international conflict. James tells us as a young child, he was riveted by the 1979 general election in Britain and also by the conflict in Lebanon. When he was a London University student, his family moved from Britain to Cyprus which sparked his interest in the country. James explains what led up to the 1974 conflict between Greeks and Turks. Britain took sovereign control of the island in the mid-1900s but in 1960, it became a country, but the constitution broke down and fighting broke out. In 1964, peacekeepers entered. In 1974, Turkey invaded Cyprus following a Greek-backed coup d’etat. There was great displacement with Greeks settled in the south and Turks in the north. In 1974 many Cypriots left the island, the plurality to the UK. The capital city, Nicosia, is divided between the north and south. In 1983, Turkish Northern Cyprus unilaterally declared independence. James moved back to Cyprus recently, in the last remaining village with a mix of Greeks and Turks. He reports Cyprus is in a strange situation because it is very popular with holiday goers, but it also has UN peacekeepers. On the respective sides, there is very little indication of the other culture. The south is more affluent while the north is poorer and still under embargo with UN prohibitions against trading. Nancy asks James whether he thinks reunification in Cyprus is possible. He tells us it is a head and heart question. It’s not a complex problem to solve – most experts know what a settlement would look like and this was basically agreed to by both parties in 1977. However, the parties lack the political will. In 2017, James was a member of the British team at the latest settlement talks which also failed leading many people to question whether reunification is possible. He is hopeful it is possible, but with each passing year, hope for it becomes more remote. Linda asked James about the consultation he provided Elif Shafak during her writing of The Island of Missing Trees. He met her on a panel he was on. He said she is a genuinely nice, caring person along with being extremely accomplished. She asked him to read through the manuscript as a sort of historical consultant. He can’t recommend the book highly enough. He feels it is extraordinary. She had researched it meticulously – he had only a very few suggestions to make the historical timeline clearer. James tells us it would have been difficult to be a mixed couple in Cyprus at the time. They would have likely been ostracized by their families and, indeed, moving abroad would have made sense. James tells us the Cypriot community in Britain is largely in north London, and that the community dates back to the 1930s. Another wave came in the 1950s, then 1960s, and finally 1970s. There were certainly economic migrants seeking a better life from what had been a poor agricultural country. James mentioned he has taught at U.S. universities and U.S. students are curious about these ethnic background and cultural heritage because there is more of an integrationist tendency in the U.S. And, in Britain, third generation Cypriots are nearly indistinguishable given generational differences. James tells us Cyprus is very welcoming to foreigners, certainly Brits, but it has become a sanctuary for people escaping from other conflicts, such as Israelis, Lebanese, Russians and Ukrainians. Cyprus would like to base a humanitarian corridor from the Middle East through the island. So, Cyprus is a place of contradictions – US peacekeepers, conflict, holidaymaking, and a sanctuary. As Defne did in The Island of Missing Trees, James confirms that there is still work being done to exhume bodies of the victims of war and other score settling. It is harrowing and sensitive work. In the book the owners of The Happy Fig tavern are examples of this. James tells us about his YouTube channel and that his kids are not impressed by his many books, but they are impressed by his YouTube silver play button. Nancy can’t recommend James’ channel highly enough. He tells us a little about the behind the scenes of developing his YouTube channel and the challenges of producing video as someone who is color blind! He tells us that he loves the idea of public engagement and that too few academics engage in it. This is a worrying time and he wants to explain what is happening as someone who is credentialed in international politics and has worked and written in the area of conflict. He doesn’t feel he has a monopoly on truth and that viewers don’t have to agree with him, but he is hopeful viewers will see his work is well-researched. Nancy says James is a true educator because he is able to convey these issues in an understandable way and one that sparks curiosity to learn more. James reinforces how wonderful The Island of Missing Trees is because it is another channel to open discussion. He toasts us with the actual tea he was drinking during our conversation!