Cyprus-Forum.com

[bha]

Hello,

I'd like to first, take the time to introduce myself, and say hi to everyone here.

Second, I was wondering if someone could explain the current status of Cyprus to me. There seems to be alot of tension regarding Greece and Turkey, and I do not want to be in the dark regarding it.

The reason I ask is that my band, "Freedom of Existence," is currently being spun on CyBC radio (have any of you heard the station or listen to it?), and we are also being called one of the most exciting new talents to emerge lately via the programmers. I am supposed to be doing a live radio interview soon via phone, and I like to be informed on the current happenings in places I do interviews, etc...

Cyprus seems cool and it would be nice to play a show there someday.

Let me know if any of you have heard of Freedom of Existence too. That would be cool!

[Piratis]

Hello bha, welcome to the forum.

CyBC has 3 radio stations. The "third CybC program" is one of the most, if not the most, popular radio stations.

Cyprus is divided since 1974 when Turkey invaded the island.

In brief, Cyprus is made by 78% Greek Cypriots and 18% Turkish Cypriots. Until 1959 Cyprus has been a British Colony. Greek Cypriots had demanded the union of Cyprus with Greece since 1920's, like it was the case with the other Greek islands.

However Turkey didn't want their enemy Greece to surround them, and they used the Turkish minority on the island to prevent this union. The British were also against the union of Cyprus with Greece since such development was against the British interests.

In 1960 Britain Greece and Turkey agreed that Cyprus should be "independent" with British keeping large military bases on the island. From that agreement the 18% minority of Turkish Cypriots was supposed to have 30% of the positions in the government, 40% in the army and police, and a veto power on everything.

In 1963 the 1960 agreements stopped functioning as they were supposed to mainly because Greek Cypriots didn't accept the unfair provisions of those agreements and the proposed changes to those agreements were rejected by Turkish Cypriots.

From 1963 until 1968 the Turkish and Greek Cypriots were in conflict and many people were murdered, mostly Turkish Cypriots.

In 1974 the generals that were ruling Greece created a coup in Cyprus to bring down the president of Cyprus, and unite Cyprus with Greece. Turkey used this excuse to invade Cyprus, but instead of restoring order as they should have done, they occupied 1/3rd of Cyprus and never moved out since then.

Thats in brief. To learn everything regarding the Cyprus Problem you have to study for ages

Let me know if any of you have heard of Freedom of Existence too

Now we do

[bha]

One asks, and one receives.

Thanks for the info regarding Cyprus. I need to check out some photographs now. I'm interested in what it looks like, as well as the culture.

Is the economy decent? Do people get along with all the differences, etc..

I can tell by the board that there seems to still be some tension.


Do any of you listen to "The Ship of Fools," or to "Rockline" on CyBC?

Once again, thanks for all of the info Piratis.

[cannedmoose]

One asks, and one receives.

Thanks for the info regarding Cyprus. I need to check out some photographs now. I'm interested in what it looks like, as well as the culture.

Is the economy decent? Do people get along with all the differences, etc..

I can tell by the board that there seems to still be some tension.


Do any of you listen to "The Ship of Fools," or to "Rockline" on CyBC?

Once again, thanks for all of the info Piratis.

BHA, welcome to the forum. Although it is correct in some respects, the version of Cyprus history given to you by Piratis is not generally accepted, displaying a certain hint of bias towards his own (Greek Cypriot) vantagepoint.

If you're really interested in a largely unbiased account of Cyprus history from year dot I'd advise you to read Andrew Borowiec's book 'Cyprus' for a more balanced view on things - you should be able to get it from Amazon. Piratis is definitely right in one respect though, to even attempt to understand the Cyprus problem, you do need to study for ages (2 years into my Ph.D. and I'm still confused by it!)

Despite the problem, there isn't really a palpable tension on the island right now, although things can change. I've never felt threatened or apprehensive anywhere on the island apart from the tourist resorts which are populated almost exclusively by Brits and Germans . Even on the Green Line (the de facto border dividing the two sides), it's a sad atmosphere rather than aggressive. Although by no means try to cross the Line apart from at the standard checkpoints, otherwise you could find yourself in trouble.

If you're just visiting Cyprus, to be honest it's probably best to be ignorant about the problem anyway, most people visit the island without any knowledge and leave without any, so it's not something that is clearly apparent to just a casual visitor to resorts.

As for your other, less contentious points, for photographs and words on culture (at least in southern Cyprus) check out:

http://www.cyprustourism.org/

If you're also interested in Northern Cyprus, this website is quite good and contains lots of links to sites in the North:

http://cyprusive.com/

Yes, the economy is vibrant and no different from most Western European economies. Visiting Lefkosia and the other major towns (Lemesos, Larnaka and Paphos) is just like visiting any southern European city, with the added bonus for English speakers that it's easy to communicate with most people in English - particularly in the major department stores where it's essentially the first language.

No, I don't listen to Rockline or Ship of Fools. Although I don't live in Cyprus right now, I tend to tune in to Kiss FM or Radio Proto rather than CyBC which I find a little staid.

Hope this is useful info.

[Liza]

Hi bha
Does your band have a website?

[bha]

Liza

The website for FOE is on http://www.otprecords.com

You can reach the band's page on OTP via http://www.freedomofexistence.com

Also, I wanted to share the mp3 with the forum for the interview that happened on 03.22.05 with Robert Camassa of CyBC.

Here is the entire interview for download:

http://www.otp.bz/downloads/JG_Cyprus_Interview.mp3