There is also a geopolitical aspect of this special olive oil. Athienou is not just situated somewhere between Larnaca and Nicosia. Since 1974, the year when Turkish troops occupied the northern part of the island, Athienou has been at a military hotspot.
Just like his village, his fields are located in the immediate vicinity of the UN-controlled buffer zone between the north and east of the island, which is still Turkish occupied to this day, and the Greek south of Cyprus, which in total has been formally part of the European Union since 2004 and of the euro zone since 2008. Many of his fields lie directly on the demarcation line. To reach his olive groves, one has to pass UN checkpoints and minefields cleared with the help of the European Union, all in the face of the Turkish sentries who have taken up position behind the rusty barbed wire.
In this context, it is like a peace initiative not to give up hope, but to continue to cultivate the fields inherited from the forefathers, not to be deterred by the bizarre scenario of a conflict with little prospect of success, to practise organic farming and, although there are dozens of pig and cattle farms in the area, not to use any animal manure in the fields and instead to practise biocyclic vegan agriculture.