Occupy Buffer Zone

Occupy Buffer Zone
Part of Occupy protests
Date	15 October 2011 - June 2012
Location	Buffer Zone, between the Ledra/Lokmacı Checkpoints, Nicosia, Cyprus
Also known as: OBZ, Occupying the Invisible Green Line, 15th of October Movement, No Borders Camp.

Occupy Buffer Zone (OBZ) was a protest movement that began on October 15, 2011 by Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot activists, in the Ledra Street checkpoint, in Nicosia, Cyprus.^[1][2] The movement began with a weekly occupation of the checkpoint, which is located in the buffer zone that divides the island's territory and capital into the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and the Republic of Cyprus since the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974.^[3] On November 19 of 2011 the occupation of the buffer zone became permanent.^[1]

Influenced by the global Occupy Movement, Occupy Buffer Zone aimed to protest and publicise the problems of the global economic and political system, as well as to raise awareness of how "the Cyprus Problem is but one of the many symptoms of an unhealthy global system".^[4] The movement emphasised the connection between the development of the Cyprus problem and the economic and political interests associated with the international economic and political status quo.