Not most of the time, at least since the 1970s, but there are still land mines all over the damn place. And the 1970s are not long ago at all.
The “border” (don’t call it a “border” if you’re talking to a Greek Cypriot, but as far as I’m concerned, if there are guys holding large weapons asking to see my passport and possibly stamping it, it’s a border) is the most bizarre farce of a land border I’ve ever seen. My in-laws live on the Greek side, but airfares were $500 a person cheaper on Turkish Airlines into Ercan on the Turkish side, so we flew there. You have to ask for a separate “visa” sheet to have your entry into the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus stamped, because apparently because the south doesn’t recognize the north, they won’t admit you if you have a TRNC stamp actually in your passport. Tom Scud was a little nervous all week, because his parents have lived there for going on 20 years and of course he’s been there a zillion times, but it’s only even been possible for most people to cross between north and south since 2004 when Cyprus was admitted to the EU. So technically we had no proof we’d entered Greek Cyprus legally.
So within about 20 feet of each other at each of the 3 crossings between the south and the north that I went through inside a week, there’s a TRNC and a Greek Cyprus border post. There are huge signs that it’s forbidden to take photos of the checkpoints, and yet especially at the Ledra Street crossing in central Nicosia, everyone is taking pictures of the DMZ. It’s really bizarre. Also, the level of development between north and south is vastly different - within blocks of the crossing in Nicosia, you go from fairly standard West European shopping street (the Greek side) to something much more ramshackle that felt like the windy streets leading around the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. Also, it’s quite difficult to find the crossing points between north and south, because the signage is basically nonexistent, they are often not shown on road maps, and many people won’t acknowledge that it’s a border crossing.
So are people being blown up on a daily basis? No, but I wouldn’t exactly say relations are normal. 1974 is very much in living memory.