Posts Tagged ‘cyprus’
[ISL] Four islands links: Cyprus and Northern Ireland, Fiji, Cayman Islands, New Brunswick
- Some think the Green Line in Cyprus can be a suitable model for post-Brexit Northern Ireland. So depressing. European think-tank Brughel reports.
- Fiji is already starting to see an influx of migrants/refugees from lower-lying Pacific island countries. DW reports.
- The Queen making use of Cayman Islands tax shelters only makes sense. She is queen there, after all. Open Democracy reports.
- Global News notes that a Québec family has put up for sale a private island in New Brunswick, on the Bay of Fundy.
[ISL] “Graves hidden for decades could hold key to peace in Cyprus”
CBC News’ Nil Köksal reports on the continuing, sad, and politically necessary search in Cyprus for the graves of the many Cypriots killed in that island’s recent history of ethnic war.
There were 84 skeletons, all in one place.
It wasn’t the first, or the last, mass grave Ceren Ceraloglu would search, but the feeling of standing over that particular pit, with its staggering number of victims, has stayed with her.
A field archaeologist with the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) in Cyprus, Ceraloglu has been sifting through the most painful parts of her island’s past.
It’s not the kind of work this mother of triplets imagined she’d be doing when she was studying archaeology in university. But it’s become a calling.
Not just because the excavations aim to return the remains of those killed in the conflict between Greek and Turkish Cypriots to their families, but because scientists from both communities work side by side, every day.
There is no room for conflict here.
[ISL] “Talks to secure Cyprus reunification enter ‘final stages'”
The Guardian‘s Helena Smith reports on the prospects for peace and eventual reunification in Cyprus. I only hope that the negotiating parties will not decide to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
After 18 months of intensive negotiations to settle inter-ethnic divisions, Nicos Anastasiades and Mustafa Akıncı will attempt to finesse the details of a peace deal in Geneva this week by poring over maps and discussing territorial trade-offs before tackling the potentially explosive issue of security.
Asked if he was optimistic as he arrived at the UN’s European headquarters on Monday morning, Anastasiades, the Greek Cypriot leader, said: “Ask me when we are finished.”
For an island the finer skills of peacemakers has long eluded, the talks are seen as a defining moment in the arduous process of resolving what has long been regarded as the Rubik’s cube of diplomacy.
On Sunday, the new UN secretary general, António Guterres, described the talks as a historic opportunity. In Nicosia officials on both sides of the buffer zone spoke of “the best and last chance” for a settlement. Other experts described the talks as the endgame.
“This is the final phase of the final phase,” said Hubert Faustmann, a professor of history and political science at the University of Nicosia. “It will be the first time since 1974 that Turkey and the Greek Cypriots will hold direct talks at the negotiating table.”
A week of fierce horse-trading lies ahead before Greece, Turkey and former colonial power Britain – the island’s three guarantors under its post-independence constitution – convene on 12 January to address the issues of troop presence and security in an envisioned federation. Both are seen as crucial to ensuring 1974 is never repeated.
[ISL] “When Brexit Hits Cyprus, Isle Of Offshore Banking And British Expats”
Worldcrunch’s Fabrice Nodé-Langlois reports on the potential impact of Brexit on the vulnerable island of Cyprus, member of the European Union and the Commonwealth both.
Cathi Delaney chooses a shady spot on the terrace to sip a refreshing cup of iced coffee. It’s October, but with temperatures well above 30°C (86°F), the nearly 60-year-old British woman is perfectly comfortable wearing just a floral dress. This, after all, is what brought her to Cyprus: the sun, the sea, the sweet life.
But in recent months, back in her country of origin, a majority of voters opted for Brexit, that will force the UK to leave the European Union — adding a major element of anxiety to her otherwise trouble-free existence. “Brexit raises a lot of uncertainties,” she says, noting the various legal and bureaucratic issues. “Will I get my state pension in six years? Will my husband benefit from the General Hospital Scheme that gives affordable access to health care?”
Delaney is one of an estimated 80,000 subjects of Her Majesty the Queen currently residing in Cyprus, an EU member for the past 12 years. Together they represent about 10% of the small republic’s population. Around half of these ex-pats are retired. The rest work in finance, tourism or in the military. Cyprus has two British bases.
A former insurance agent, she retired early with her husband, at 45, to move here to this house they had built in the village of Tala, where half of the population is foreign. That was 14 years ago. “We’d fallen in love with this quiet, cool place in the hills, 10 minutes from the Coral Bay beach,” she says.
The couple has lived on their savings. But like many Brits, they now fear they might need private insurance to cover their health care costs. Delaney, who serves as a town councilor (as allowed under EU rules), also worries about the impact Brexit may have on local commerce.
[ISL] Bloomberg on progress toward sthe reunification of Cyprus
Bloomberg’s “As Brexit Splits Europe, One Divided Island Edges Toward Unity” gives some hope for Cypriot reunification.
It looks like an ordinary summer’s evening on Ledra Street, the pedestrianized thoroughfare of stores and cafes that bisects Nicosia’s old town: Elderly Greek Cypriot men sip coffee as Turkish Cypriot teenagers rush through a border crossing at the end of the road to catch a local band.
This is the opposite side of the European map from the rift caused by the U.K.’s Brexit referendum, and the mood couldn’t be more different in the continent’s last divided capital city. The reunification of Cyprus — split between north and south since Turkey’s invasion in 1974, a little more than a dozen years after independence from Britain — is a tale of false dawns, but the feeling in Nicosia is that the stars in the eastern Mediterranean just might be aligning.
What’s changed is that the leaders of both parts of the island are pursuing talks on their own power-sharing arrangement rather than one imposed by the United Nations. While they have the traditional backing of the U.S. and European Union, Turkey now supports hammering out a deal in coming months.
“This time I feel we have a real chance as both leaders seem determined,” said Maria Sophocleous, a 60-year-old Greek-Cypriot pensioner whose home village now lies on the Turkish-speaking side. “They know that it’s the last opportunity for reunification.”
A Bit More Detail 