Cyprus-Forum.com

[Paphitis]

...the word Occidental comes to mind.

Exactly!

The most common use of Occidental is as a Eurocentric term which refers to Western Europe or to Western Europe and all countries who were former colonies of a Western European country and are predominantly populated by people of European ancestry, such as North and South America, or to Western culture, the cultural values which are commonly held or commonly thought to be held by Western countries.

For example, Australia, NZ, Canada, US, many pacific island States, South and Latin America etc etc.

All European just like Cyprus!

All very European. Extremely European! Can't get more European. Probably a lot more European than Middle Eastern Germany, France, Greece and UK

[tsukoui]

Do you consider yourselves to be European or cypriots or GC s or greeks . What are you nowadays ?

We're Middle Eastern Christians with European affiliations.

GR's is the only sensible reply. I am happy to consider myself Asian as much as Middle Easterners are Asian.

The question is really about power and it doesn't help that it is being asked by a Turk.

If the power lay in the East with Turkey aligned to the West then we would all be clamouring to say we were Asian.

The ironic thing is that Turkey is already aligned to the West, which is why we were better off being Non-Aligned. We had moral integrity.

The reality is that we were forced to join Europe because of the occupation, so if we are now European it is Turkey's fault.

[GreekIslandGirl]

Do you consider yourselves to be European or cypriots or GC s or greeks . What are you nowadays ?

We're Middle Eastern Christians with European affiliations.

GR's is the only sensible reply. I am happy to consider myself Asian as much as Middle Easterners are Asian.

The question is really about power and it doesn't help that it is being asked by a Turk.

If the power lay in the East with Turkey aligned to the West then we would all be clamouring to say we were Asian.

The ironic thing is that Turkey is already aligned to the West, which is why we were better off being Non-Aligned. We had moral integrity.

The reality is that we were forced to join Europe because of the occupation, so if we are now European it is Turkey's fault.

And the genetic evidence, which GR! very kindly provided, contradicts both your preferences and provides evidence that Cypriots and other local Christians are European, similar to the Spanish and other western Europeans and very much also carrying some European crusader DNA (Lebanese more than Cypriots who still most closely align to Greeks, especially from Crete). So, sorry, but your wishful thinking is redundant.

(Not that genetic evidence should be looked at in isolation, but in this case it is very much further supported by cultural practices and historical corroboration.)

[tsukoui]

Do you consider yourselves to be European or cypriots or GC s or greeks . What are you nowadays ?

We're Middle Eastern Christians with European affiliations.

GR's is the only sensible reply. I am happy to consider myself Asian as much as Middle Easterners are Asian.

The question is really about power and it doesn't help that it is being asked by a Turk.

If the power lay in the East with Turkey aligned to the West then we would all be clamouring to say we were Asian.

The ironic thing is that Turkey is already aligned to the West, which is why we were better off being Non-Aligned. We had moral integrity.

The reality is that we were forced to join Europe because of the occupation, so if we are now European it is Turkey's fault.

And the genetic evidence, which GR! very kindly provided, contradicts both your preferences and provides evidence that Cypriots and other local Christians are European, similar to the Spanish and other western Europeans and very much also carrying some European crusader DNA (Lebanese more than Cypriots who still most closely align to Greeks, especially from Crete). So, sorry, but your wishful thinking is redundant.

(Not that genetic evidence should be looked at in isolation, but in this case it is very much further supported by cultural practices and historical corroboration.)

So there are genetic commonalities between Cypriots and Europeans, there are genetic commonalities between Greeks and Sub-Saharan Africans:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11260506

What are the genetic commonalities between Indians and Chinese? Yet they are both Asian.

Are you saying that it is wishful thinking for Lebanese to consider themselves Middle Eastern?

[Paphitis]

Do you consider yourselves to be European or cypriots or GC s or greeks . What are you nowadays ?

We're Middle Eastern Christians with European affiliations.

GR's is the only sensible reply. I am happy to consider myself Asian as much as Middle Easterners are Asian.

The question is really about power and it doesn't help that it is being asked by a Turk.

If the power lay in the East with Turkey aligned to the West then we would all be clamouring to say we were Asian.

The ironic thing is that Turkey is already aligned to the West, which is why we were better off being Non-Aligned. We had moral integrity.

The reality is that we were forced to join Europe because of the occupation, so if we are now European it is Turkey's fault.

You're completely misguided.

Cyprus is a Western Country and European.

The fact that we were non aligned was the biggest mistake in our history. Analyze it carefully and ask yourself why Greece got away unscathed while we were invaded. The answer is NATO but alas we were never clever or realistic enough.

[Paphitis]

Do you consider yourselves to be European or cypriots or GC s or greeks . What are you nowadays ?

We're Middle Eastern Christians with European affiliations.

GR's is the only sensible reply. I am happy to consider myself Asian as much as Middle Easterners are Asian.

The question is really about power and it doesn't help that it is being asked by a Turk.

If the power lay in the East with Turkey aligned to the West then we would all be clamouring to say we were Asian.

The ironic thing is that Turkey is already aligned to the West, which is why we were better off being Non-Aligned. We had moral integrity.

The reality is that we were forced to join Europe because of the occupation, so if we are now European it is Turkey's fault.

And the genetic evidence, which GR! very kindly provided, contradicts both your preferences and provides evidence that Cypriots and other local Christians are European, similar to the Spanish and other western Europeans and very much also carrying some European crusader DNA (Lebanese more than Cypriots who still most closely align to Greeks, especially from Crete). So, sorry, but your wishful thinking is redundant.

(Not that genetic evidence should be looked at in isolation, but in this case it is very much further supported by cultural practices and historical corroboration.)

So there are genetic commonalities between Cypriots and Europeans, there are genetic commonalities between Greeks and Sub-Saharan Africans:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11260506

What are the genetic commonalities between Indians and Chinese? Yet they are both Asian.

Are you saying that it is wishful thinking for Lebanese to consider themselves Middle Eastern?

Bottom line is that our culture and values are far more in line with any other European country than it is with many Middle Eastern countries.

And if you talk about geography, then politically we are an EU member which is far more important.

Not only this, but we actually share the same language, religion and our culture is almost identical to another European Country.

Strategically, we are becoming closely aligned to Israel which is to our East. That is another Western Culture.

We have relations with Eastern Countries as well, but this thread's purpose was to insinuate that Cypriots are not European because they view Europeans superior to Asians. Cyprus is European, and Asians are not inferior but Turkey and the Islamic Mujahideen are because of their deplorable and disgusting actions!

[miltiades]

There is not a shadow of a doubt that Cyprus and its culture is European / Western in every sense of the word.

We are as far away from the M.East culturaly as we are away from Martians.

We believe in monogamy, we are not ruled by pseudo religious doctrines, we do not sever hands of wrong doers, we do not mutilate our baby girls, neither do we expect our women to walk around covered from head to toe.

[Paphitis]

There is not a shadow of a doubt that Cyprus and its culture is European / Western in every sense of the word.

We are as far away from the M.East culturaly as we are away from Martians.

We believe in monogamy, we are not ruled by pseudo religious doctrines, we do not sever hands of wrong doers, we do not mutilate our baby girls, neither do we expect our women to walk around covered from head to toe.

That's right!

We usually want our women in sexy lingerie, bikinis or just naked!

[Get Real!]

And the genetic evidence, which GR! very kindly provided, contradicts both your preferences and provides evidence that Cypriots and other local Christians are European,

If that’s what you understood from that report then I doubt you ever had any tertiary education!

Christianity went to Europe via the Cypriot apostle Varnavas, Mnason, and others.

Cyprus is geographically Middle Eastern and the origin of native Cypriots was naturally Middle Eastern. Everything else is unsubstantiated baloney.

Pretending that there’s a gigantic wall that always separated Cyprus from her surroundings exists only in your head.

[Paphitis]

And the genetic evidence, which GR! very kindly provided, contradicts both your preferences and provides evidence that Cypriots and other local Christians are European,

If that’s what you understood from that report then I doubt you ever had any tertiary education!

Christianity went to Europe via the Cypriot apostle Varnavas, Mnason, and others.

Cyprus is geographically Middle Eastern and the origin of native Cypriots was naturally Middle Eastern. Everything else is unsubstantiated baloney.

Pretending that there’s a gigantic wall that always separated Cyprus from her surroundings exists only in your head.

I tell you what! If you think you're a Middle Eastern boudana then that is your choice but you leave the rest of us Cypriots alone.

Most of the Middle East are new arrivals from the 6th Century and onwards and have nothing to do with Cypriots that were around for more than 10,000 years.