Cyprus-Forum.com

[Nikitas]

"the startegic importance of Cyprus for US... "

So can someone provide proof that either of the superpowers sought to establish some kind of strategic presence on the island?

The US had a radio relay station in Mia Milia and that was about it. Have they asked for anything more, ever?

[CopperLine]

Nikitas, I agree with you. Cyprus is not and for long has not been (if ever) a strategic concern of the US. Certainly the official US position has been that Cyprus' division is not a problem for US interests; it would rather not see the division; it wants a UN-EU settlement; but insofar as there's no actual violence they're undisturbed by the long, protracted and hitherto fruitless negotiations.

[insan]

"the startegic importance of Cyprus for US... "

So can someone provide proof that either of the superpowers sought to establish some kind of strategic presence on the island?

The US had a radio relay station in Mia Milia and that was about it. Have they asked for anything more, ever?

Cyprus’ location in the Eastern Mediterranean endows it with a strategic significance far beyond its small size. The long-standing, unresolved conflict in Cyprus represents a major foreign policy concern for the U.S., whose regional interest is to secure strategic geopolitical stability and promote economic prosperity and security. The persistent division of the island and tension between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities is the consequence of a long history of conflict that erupted in inter-communal violence in the 1960s and which culminated in armed conflict in 1974 with Turkey’s military intervention following an unsuccessful coup d’etat directed from Greece. The unresolved conflict continues to raise tensions between important NATO allies Greece and Turkey. The U.S. Congress has, since the events of 1974, consistently backed this policy perspective with legislation and regular annual Economic Support Fund (ESF) earmarks “aimed at reunification of the island and designed to reduce tensions and promote peace and cooperation between the two communities on Cyprus.” September 2008 marked the official resumption of the United Nations-led peace process.

http://www.usaid.gov/locations/europe_e ... index.html

What other proofs you need Nikitas? British Bases in Cyprus, regional treaty of alliance and treaty of guarantorship between Greece and Turkey?

Do you think NATO-EU strategic partnership excludes Cyprus?

NATO-EU: a strategic partnership

NATO and the European Union are working together to prevent and resolve crises and armed conflicts in Europe and beyond. The two organizations share common strategic interests and cooperate in a spirit of complementarity and partnership.

However, Cyprus which is not a PfP member and does not have a security agreement with NATO on the exchange of classified documents, cannot participate in official NATO-EU meetings. This is a consequence of decisions taken by NATO and the EU in December 2002 – before the 2004 rounds of enlargement – when NATO had 19 members and the EU 15. Informal meetings including Cyprus take place occasionally at different levels (foreign ministers, ambassadors and military delegates).

http://www.nato.int/issues/nato-eu/index.html


As it can be seen very clearly, super powers have already had the strategic establishment in Cyprus via their strategic partners; EU, Turkey and Greece... even the current GC administration spend millions to promote Cyprus as very important for US' startegic interests...


Broaden and deepen your perspective Nikitas otherwise what you can see is just the tip of the iceberg...

[insan]

Now Washington wants to upgrade its half-century intelligence presence on the island into a full-fledged army base when - and if - the Greek and Turkish Cypriots sides agree on reunification. The Pentagon might begin by establishing a "bare-bones" military presence on the eastern Mediterranean island, following the possible reunification of the divided country, according to strategic analysts. That would facilitate US military interventions in the region.

The ongoing US occupation of Iraq, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO's) expansion east, terrorist attacks in Turkey and increasing pressure on Syria have all combined to put Cyprus back on the map as a key intelligence and logistics center.

"It's important that Cyprus not fall into hostile hands," a British security analyst said. "It's important to deny Cyprus to hostile powers."

There are high stakes in the region for Washington, not least of which are the energy markets of the Persian Gulf and North Africa, a booming military presence throughout the Caucasus and the ambitious Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. Should Cyprus evolve into an island of stability in the region, it could prove to be the ideal position from which to monitor the shifting tectonic plates of international diplomacy.

"The US has embarked on a generational project to promote liberal reforms in the Middle East," said John Sitilides, director of the Washington-based Western Policy Center. "Cyprus will be transformed into a beacon of what it can mean for the whole Middle East."

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FD10Ak04.html

Yeah... peace, stability, prosperity and blah blah... shortly, it means Cyprus becoming the target of anti-American-EU groups... armed or unarmed...

Grisly ain't it?

... but why the current political representatives of GC community, ex-communists are willing so much to make their "beloved" country a target of some political groups that for various reasons are anti-American, anti-imperialist, anti-EU(due NATO's global policies)...?

Kyprianou noted that the Cyprus problem would be indirectly promoted, mainly the aspect of the destruction of the island's cultural heritage, while tourism and Cyprus' strategic importance for the USA will be highlighted.

Minister of Foreign Affairs foreign affairs Marcos Kyprianou said his Ministry would be intensifying its actions in 2010 to prepare for the EU presidency in 2012.

Presenting his Ministry's budget before the House of Representatives' Committee of Finance, Kyprianou said the most important activities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have to do with ''the promotion of our positions for the solution of the Cyprus problem.''
of which 78.4 million is regular expenditure, compared to 75 million in 2009, and 5.3 million development expenditure, which was around the same amount in 2009.

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Cyprus+Fo ... 0211777770 [/quote]


There's no way out for them? Is it something GOG oriented common strategy that GC administration had to accept and act accordingly? Or an underhand plotting against US and EU together with Russia and China? So that status-quo suits their interests?

[humanist]

The US has no interests in Cyprus. However, keeping Turkey as an ally means they are also not prepared to do anything about the resolution of the Cypro.

However, one thing that the RoC government and Turkish leadership, if they want true unification is to attempt to link the RoC political parties with the TC political parties ...... ie RoC AKEL in forces with equivalent party in the TC political sphere

[insan]

The US has no interests in Cyprus. However, keeping Turkey as an ally means they are also not prepared to do anything about the resolution of the Cypro.

However, one thing that the RoC government and Turkish leadership, if they want true unification is to attempt to link the RoC political parties with the TC political parties ...... ie RoC AKEL in forces with equivalent party in the TC political sphere

Are you sure that US has no interests in Cyprus?

... but security analysts and most of the political analysts claim the otherwise... "the game" does not seem based directly and mainly on our local "actors"...

[insan]

ICJ rules for Kosovo independence declaration

The United Nations' International Court of Justice has deemed Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence from Serbia to be legal.

International law has no “prohibition on declarations of independence,” ICJ’s President Hasashi Owadi said announcing the opinion Thursday.

The decision, while nonbinding, makes way for Kosovo to seek broader international recognition of its statehood, which the U.S. and some 68 other countries have already recognized, while Serbia, Russia, China, Greece, Cyprus, Iran, Israel, and some 100 other countries have not.

Vice President Joe Biden called Serbian President Boris Tadic on Thursday in anticipation of the ICJ decision.

“The two leaders discussed the upcoming issuance of the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on Kosovo’s declaration of independence,” a read-out of the call said. “The vice president affirmed the United States’ full support for a democratic and multi-ethnic Kosovo, and he reiterated the United States’ unwavering commitment to Kosovo’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. He urged the Serbian government to work constructively to resolve practical issues with Kosovo to improve the lives of the people of Kosovo, Serbia, and of the region.”

The ICJ opinion is "something really positive — for the first time," Belgrade-based human rights activist Sonja Biserko, of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, told POLITICO in an e-mail. "Finally, [a] breakthrough."

But the Financial Times' Gideon Rachman notes that while the ICJ declared Kosovo's declaration of independence to be legal, "it has not pronounced on the legality of secession as such."

"This feels to me like an evasion," Rachman writes. "Common sense and the norms of free speech suggest that, of course, they are allowed to proclaim their independence. The question is whether the rest of us should recognise an independent Kosovo as a legal entity."

http://www.politico.com/blogs/lauraroze ... egal_.html

The so-called RoC will recognize Kosovo... and most probably the next will be the TRNC...

[humanist]

we have the future to see