Cyprus-Forum.com

[BC Numismatics]

To be frank,I reckon that both Greece & Turkey have got a lot to answer for for using Cyprus as a pawn in their arrogant game.Greece supported EOKA,especially between 1967 & 1974,when they tried to undermine the government of President Makarios III.Turkey have a lot to answer for as well,as they have been causing nothing but trouble in Cyprus.Their occupation of northern Cyprus is as legitimate as Spain's claim to Gibraltar & Argentina's claim to the Falkland Islands - illegal under international convention.

I knew 2 guys who served in the British Army in Cyprus back in the 1950's.One of them told me that he was in a section in which the commander got shot at.The commander turned around & shot the sniper,who later turned out to be an EOKA terrorist,who definitely deserved to have been put down.

Out of all the foreign powers that ruled Cyprus,the British were the best.If it wasn't for the British,Cyprus wouldn't have had a good administrative system.The Cypriot economy still benefits from the British rule of the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri & Dhekelia,as the British have provided employment as well as British citizenship to the native Cypriots who are gainfully employed in these 2 British territories.

Your views please.

[zan]

http://www.britains-smallwars.com/cypru ... units.html

[BC Numismatics]

Zan,that's very interesting reading.The guy that was in the section that got shot at was doing his national service up near Kyrenia in around 1955 or 1956,as he has got a 500 Mils note depicting Queen Elizabeth II in his British Commonwealth banknote collection.He was later shipped off to Kenya,where there was also a lot of trouble due to the Mau-Mau Rebellion.

Aidan.

[zan]

We should never forget the human suffering regardless of the situation.

[humanist]

Both Greece & Turkey have got a lot to answer for.

No joke! ;)

[halil]

Both Greece & Turkey have got a lot to answer for.

No joke! ;)

it is not joke . both of them has got responsibilities over Cyprus. Not only Turkey.
UK as well .

[Nikitas]

I recall those times under the British Empire- no running water in the villages, no paved roads, a single tap for water where women went with their clay pots, no electricity, the major roads were single lane and you had to drop two wheels off the road if there was oncoming traffic, one telephone per major village. Great times!

The first moves to get Cyprus into the 20th century came with independence. And we managed to achieve a lot more withouth the British. If the Kenyans and other people under the British lived like us in the 50s no wonder Britain lost the Empire.

[zan]

I recall those times under the British Empire- no running water in the villages, no paved roads, a single tap for water where women went with their clay pots, no electricity, the major roads were single lane and you had to drop two wheels off the road if there was oncoming traffic, one telephone per major village. Great times!

The first moves to get Cyprus into the 20th century came with independence. And we managed to achieve a lot more withouth the British. If the Kenyans and other people under the British lived like us in the 50s no wonder Britain lost the Empire.

Sounds like heaven to me and not because the British ruled....AHHH The simple life!!

[BC Numismatics]

Nikitas,the British Empire began to decline as a result of World War II taking its toll on the economy of the British Empire.The British were a much better colonial power than the other European powers such as the French & Spanish.

The British began to realise that they couldn't rule over an empire forever.In countries like Nigeria & Uganda,they ruled indirectly through the native rulers.Did the French ever do that? I don't think so.

India only has a good administrative system,thanks to the British.

The Spanish were very quick to leave their colonies,especially what is now Equatorial Guinea,in a mess.

Although I am a Royalist from New Zealand,I accept that all the proper British Commonwealth countries need to strengthen their ties.I reckon that New Zealand should have opened a High Commission in Nicosia instead of an embassy in Ankara.

Aidan.

[Nikitas]

A royalist from New Zealand. Well if Britain had provided for the rest of her empire the same standards of living it had for its Anglosaxon colonies the British Empire today would be the world's largest trading block, bigger than the EU and the USA combined. But no, Britain wanted captive markets for its increasingly shoddy industrial goods.

Britain could not see the way to turning the Empire into a true Commonwealth and it lost it. Lack of vision not lack of moneyh waas the problem.