Country Profile - All About Cyprus
If you are thinking about visiting or living in Cyprus this introduction to the island should give you a taster of what to expect.
Guide to Cyprus - location and weather
Cyprus is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea lying about 70km south of Turkey. Historically an island of extreme strategic importance because of its physical location and proximity to the Middle East, Cyprus has benefited and suffered throughout history depending on which external power bloc controlled it.
Cyprus is a beautiful island - the birth place of Aphrodite the goddess of love - it enjoys fantastic Mediterranean weather, long hot summers and temperate winters. It has beautiful coastlines, breathtaking mountains and is rich in natural resources e.g., copper from which its name is derived. It has a thriving year round tourist trade and benefits from an average of 300 - 340 days sunshine a year.
Guide to Cyprus - History
In 1960 the United Kingdom, who held sovereign status on the Island at the time, decided to grant Cyprus its independence. It retained military bases on the island but granted independence for the rest of the island with constitutional guarantees from the Greek Cypriot majority to the Turkish Cypriot minority.
These guarantees proved to be worthless when in 1974 Greece attempted to seize full governmental power in Cyprus.
Turkey took exception to the actions of Greece and ordered its army to invade the island. There followed a bloody war, the result of which is that Cyprus remains a divided island to this day.
Greek Cypriots now occupy roughly two thirds of the island on the south and Turkish Cypriots occupy roughly a third of the island in the North. Nicosia, the capital city of Cyprus is a divided city. In 1983 the North declared itself the “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” or TRNC. TRNC is only recognised by Turkey.
Cyprus Today.
The UN has brokered talks between the two sides designed to bring about a peaceful resolution and a reunification of the island. The round of talks preceding Cyprus’ entry to the EU in 2004 were widely expected to bring about this resolution until a surprise ‘no’ vote was delivered by the Greek Cypriots.
Despite this ‘no’ vote the Greek Cypriot controlled “Republic of Cyprus” joined the EU on the 1st of May 2004 and every Cypriot carrying a Cyprus passport has the status of a European citizen.
To learn and understand more about why Cyprus is a divided island to this day, Shelter Offshore thoroughly recommend the following book
The Cyprus Conspiracy: America, Espionage and the Turkish Invasion
Brendan O’Malley & Ian Craig
This book can be quite hard to find, but it is well worth the hunt.
It provides a gripping account of global power politics.
The controversial revelation in this book have been described as ‘absolute dynamite’ by the Cypriot community in Britain, and have led one MP to put forward a motion to the House of Commons. Brendan O’Malley is Foreign Editor of the Times Educational Supplement, Ian Craig is Political Editor of the Manchester Evening News, and together they have spent 14 years researching the hidden history of this divided island.
Click here to order a copy directly from Amazon!
This will open a new browser window - if you have a pop up blocker you will need to hold down the control key and then click the link!
