Canned Moose said:
Exactly, it's not like being in the UK where it's a simple 5 hour journey (and relatively inexpensive). Therefore, many of the Cypriots who left for far-flung destinations during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s have little idea of how mentalities on the island itself have changed. In my experience they either tend to be very conciliatory or very hardline nationalistic. Distant separation from the scene of action doesn't appear to lend itself to centrism.
You cannot compare the experiences of an economic immigrant to that of a refugee.
Most Cypriots(over 60%) living in Australia left Cyprus as a direct result of the ethnic cleansing of Cyprus in 1974. That is to say they left under extreme circumstances-to be distinguished from the "economic" migrants who left Cyprus because they were hungry. You should also note that most Collaborators we're shipped to the UK so they could spend their bribes in the UK economy in safety.
Most Australian Cypriots being refugees or decendants of refugees from the occupied will obviously prefer a solution which will allow for their restitution to their homes. Nobody including people on this forum has succeeded in convincing me that this is a extreme demand.
To me the proposal that democracy applies every where in the EU et cetera except for Cyprus is Extreme.