Cyprus-Forum.com

[sweetie pie]

The British have actually supported the Cypriot community well. The highest number of overseas students come from Cyprus and (Bulgaria I think). The UK gives opportunities in many ways.

What about the huge amount of EU money that has been invested into Cyprus into roads, hospitals etc? Everywhere you go there is a sign stating "financed with EU money". This never happens in the UK despite the fact the UK pays hundreds of thousands into the EU. We pay so much tax to finance this it encourages 500 British people per day to leave the country to live in another country. We are all paying for EU subsidising.

Nothing to do with the bases I know but "the British" seem to be criticised so much and they are far fom perfect but there is also good that comes out of the dubious relationship between Cyprus and the UK.

Actually Niki as much as I have sympathy with some of your argument there has been millions of EU money poured into the UK. I know because I was charged with spending some of it. Especially targetted were inner city areas and those areas in the country which were economically poor. South Yorkshire for example got millions and quite recently too.

[villawagen]

Niki, dont let them get you down, the bases will be staying for quite a while yet. Also would it be fair to say that if the Base on the eastern Side was not an SBA then Turkey would have completely cut off all the eastern side of the Island. Just a thought.
Bear

The last time I checked the british were quarantors of cyprus sovereignty. Would it be fare to say thet the British instead of just saving their arses in 1974, did something to honour their signature on the treaty of guarantee? Just a thought!

what did the british need to save there arse from in 1974 ??

I suggest you do some reading. In 1974 the only thing that the British did was to threatened Turkey not to try to capture Nicosia airport. I suggest you do some reseach on the correspondence between the Ecevit and the Brirish peiminister at the time of the invation. Bare in mind that at the time part of the Nicosia airport was used by the British military.

what they did was to do nothing !!!!!! hung you all out to dry, everyone knows that !!!!!
they did not need to save there own arse !!!!!!!

maybe you are right, afterall they allowed the turkish invation and did nothing to stop it as they were obliged by the Treaty of Guarantee. However, they are more than keen to safeguard another treaty that suits their imperialist goals, that is the Treaty regarding the british bases. Well they seem to have forgotten the part that says they have to pay rent! Very british, don't you think? i.e. We safeguard what suits us and don't give a shit about our obligations.

i think British imperialist goals are now a thing of the past, the empire days are over and they certainly do not want to build it back up
the truth is that Cyprus remains an important strategic gateway or runway into the middle east, where the real issue is

let me ask you another question askimwos if the British decided that they would pay rent for the land the bases were on, would you like the British to stay.
the British like a lot of powerful nations in the past, have done some pretty unsavoury things, including shafting a lot of small countries, not only Cyprus. that's history !!!! time to move on .

[shahmaran]

think British imperialist goals are now a thing of the past, the empire days are over and they certainly do not want to build it back up

Oh yeah, that's exactly why they are in Iraq along with their bestest mate; the other ever so "nonimperialist" country, the US!

....and its all because they are such amazing people and love to help others ...

[karma]

think British imperialist goals are now a thing of the past, the empire days are over and they certainly do not want to build it back up

Oh yeah, that's exactly why they are in Iraq along with their bestest mate; the other ever so "nonimperialist" country, the US!

....and its all because they are such amazing people and love to help others ...

t_c, pleace dont be so cruel to Villa, he is having alzheimer crisis sometimes

[shahmaran]

u mean me?

[askimwos]

No I wouldn'y like the british bases to stay. Cyprus is a member of the EU and an independent country and can decide herself whether to allow foreign powers to use it's territory and airspace to attack other nations. Britain knows very well that with the cyprus problem unsolved the cypriots will not revolt against the presence of the bases unless britain continues to provoke their feelings. The recent resolution of the cypriot parliament was not irrelevant with the recent policies of the UK on the cyprob and the recent arrest of an MEP (even though the guy is nuts).

Imperialist era may have long gone, the problem villawagen is that Britain continues to behave like this. Please note that I have nothing against british people, I lived and worked in the UK the past 6 years and I quite enjoyed my time there. It's the british policies that I am against.
Thank god that the cypriots number almost a million, had they numbered just 20,00 as the poor Diego Garcians did Britain would have also loaded us onto a ship and sent us to some place in the Indian Ocean and claim that Cyprus never had an indigenous population, as they did to these guys.
The last example of the Diego Garcians that want to return to their ancestral island is an even greater proof of the imperialist manner that britain still behaves.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/2380013.stm

[karma]

u mean me?

loooll, sorry, yes
seems I m having alzheimers too

[shahmaran]

u mean me?

loooll, sorry, yes
seems I m having alzheimers too

More like dyslexia

[T_C]

u mean me?

loooll, sorry, yes
seems I m having alzheimers too

More like dyslexia

[miltiades]

GetReal Wrote:

""""""""""Hang on a tick there Miltiades, you’re getting everything mixed up in your haste to give credit to the British! You need to go back and explain each of these “sources” CLEARLY please. I’ve numbered them to make things easier for you. """""""""

You have numbered them to make things easier for me , I appreciate your kind gesture you will forgive me though for suggesting that you look at the sources of revenue , and in Cyprus REVENUE , IS the King didn't you know .

All that I have stated is correct.The British financial contribution to Cyprus's economy far outstrips any earnings from any other single source.

Please note that my "support of Britain " as you state is not blind but well balanced and critical at times of both foreign and domestic policies. The undeniable fact that Britain had an obligation as a guarantor power and yet remained inactive in 1974 has been criticized by a select committee set up by the House of Commons in 1977 , I believe that was the year.

For your information I have lived in the UK since 1961. It is utterly irrelevant to suggest that living away from Cyprus one doesn't understand the issues , on the contrary , the issues are far more clear looking at them from the outside rather than from the inside where your vision is somewhat obscured by those around you. In one of my earlier posts I criticized strongly those Brits who stupidly purchase property in occupied Cyprus.
Some Brits have taken offence as its natural when your "own " site is criticized , therefore do not judge me harshly because I state the facts as they are.