Briefly about Cyprus For those who will sail to Cyprus I think it is important to have a broad image of what the recent political history and economic situation of the island of Cyprus is. Cyprus is divided, has an occupation force and refugees. It is a matter of respect to be somewhat aware of the history of the country you are visiting, I think. I know everyone's time is limited therefore I translated parts of two small but illuminating articles I found in a Greek newspaper this week: The Cypriot issue (a fraction of the whole article written by the Greek academic Eftihis Bitsakis) Today the responsibility for the future of Cyprus lies first of all upon the government of the Democracy of Cyprus, UN member etc. But how did we reach today's dead end? After the antifascist victory in 1945, the only solution of the Cypriot problem, the only one according to the declarations of the "allies" and the UN authorities, as well as to the aspirations of the (then!) majority of the population of the island (93% voted for the Unification in a related referendum) was the Unification.. Several members of the UN, the Soviet Union, countries participating in the non aligned movement etc, would have voted for the Unification solution that would have secured the Turk-Cypriot rights as well. Evidently the British diplomacy then as well made use of every possible means to abolish the Unification. Granted this fact, what did the then and following Greek governments do? First, they let valuable time to pass. (Those years by the way they were in need of Britain in order to deal with the "inner enemy" [tr: the writer means the communists, we had a civil war in Greece after WWII]. Then (1955) they sent in Cyprus the fascist Griva in order to organize the armed struggle. Griva's hordes were assassinating Turk-Cypriots and leftwing people. As a result, the relations of peaceful coexistence of the two communities became, up to a certain point, relations of hatred. The nationalistic policy was followed by the yielding diplomacy which resulted to the so called "traitorous" agreements of Zurich and London (1959). The possibility of the Unification had been annulled, along with the prospect of a united and independent Cyprus. Then followed the junta coup (1974) [tr: the Greek junta invaded Cyprus], the Turkish invasion and the de facto separation [of Cyprus]. This is how things happened. What did the Greek governments do then? They again let valuable time pass by and when the problem of the admittance of Turkey in the EU came forth, the Greek government did not make use of the veto weapon in order to demand the reunification of Cyprus. Instead of a veto the Greek government agreed to the candidacy of Turkey. A great sample of cravenness and conformity towards the demands of the "allies". That way we reached the dichotomic and non viable Anan draft which was approved by the two major parties of our country [tr: Greece], but was disapproved by the strong majority of the Cypriot people. After Griva, the hopeless compliant policy. And now what? The problem is first of all, a problem of the Cypriot people and it's government. But this does not imply a luck of responsibility for today and for the future of the Greek governments. So? The occupation is confirmed and the composition of the population of the island is convulsed. The aim of Turkey is the dichotomy and the annexation of one part of the Cypriot Democracy. Besides, the USA (and the British) are working on draft opposite to the Security Council's resolutions and to the prospect of the reunification. In the meantime, the audacity of Turkey and of the leadership of the pseudo-state [tr: he means the Turk-Cypriot state, which is not recognized by the International Community] has escalated to the point of protesting the "isolation" of the Turk-Cypriots. But, to the extent that isolation does exist, it is the direct result of the occupation and of the pro-Turkish stand of the EU and NATO. Even the UN general secretary Ban Ki Moun, has come to ask "the revocation of the isolation of the Turk-Cypriots". The sole "outside" voice for support towards Cyprus these days was the statements of the Foreign minister of Russia, who in fact criticized the Ban Ki Moun report and his stand towards the Cyprus issue in general. Are the West "humanists" really interested for the Turk-Cypriots? Let them press Turkey to withdraw its occupation army. So we are now in a dead end. The time is working for the benefit of the Turks minor imperialists. Perspective? In February (2008) the Cypriots will elect a new president. Economy in Cyprus today (abstract from an article by Moissis Litsis): Cyprus will become a member of the euro-zone in 2008. The Cypriot pound will become 1.71 euro. Cyprus is one of the most wealthy countries. With 16.626 euro per capita income is in the 16th place in the world. The development rate in the last five years is 3.8%, inflation is 2.3% and unemployment is 3.8%. In 2007 for the first time Cyprus will have 1.5% over plus GNP (gross national product), that will allow the decrease of the national debt under the 60% of GNP. This performance is particularly important granted that just in 1960 Cyprus was becoming independent and was coming out of the colonialism era, whereas the Turkish invasion of 1974, beside the cost in human lives and the wave of refugees, had serious economic impact. With the Turkish invasion Cyprus lost the 70% of its wealth sources, the industry of tourism lost the 65% of the hotels and the tourist infrastructures, the industrial sector lost the 46% of its infrastructures, whereas the mineral-ore production was reduced by 56%. In addition, Cyprus lost the Famagusta port, from which the 83% of the commodities was transferred, and the airport of Nicosia closed. Cyprus is also the fourth biggest shipping force in the world with 2.758 boats from at least 43 countries registered. … Georgia

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