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Cyprus: Are old friends offering new hope for unity?

by 158 | May 10, 2009 at 03:13 pm

184 views | 14 Recommendations | 3 comments

It is still very

unlikely the island

will reunite soon.

Britain granted Cyprus independence in 1960. Only three years later, communal conflict led the Turkish Cypriots to withdraw from powersharing. In 1974, Turkey invaded in response to a Greece-supported coup against the president, Archbishop Makarios. Widespread fighting displaced a third of the island's population, leaving both the north and south ethnically homogeneous.

The coup collapsed, but Turkey's troops stayed on. The country still keeps between 25,000 and 35,000 soldiers in the north, and it pays at least a third of the TRNC government's budget.

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Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke

at 15:29 on May 10th, 2009

Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke

at 15:28 on May 10th, 2009

This was one of the longest peacekeeping missions Canada was involved in. Canada dispatched its first Battalion in October 1964. The mission lasted until around 1990. The link below is the Wikepedia description of the island.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyprus

158

at 15:30 on May 10th, 2009

A long time.

It did not lead to unification but it at least prevented another war.

Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke

at 15:53 on May 10th, 2009

That's true. Here is a history of the Canadian Airborne Regiment 1968 - 1993 with some comments on Nicosea and the coup.

http://www.canadiansoldiers.com/organization/specialforces/canadianairborne.htm

Uwe Paschen

at 16:39 on May 10th, 2009

The same success could have been achieved in the Israel-Palestinian conflic as well as the Sri-Lanka conflict had we led the UN Peace keeper in, however in both cases Israel as well as Sri-Lanka have favoured waging war rather then allowing peace to take a lasting hold and work out their differences over time with good will ad respect for Human lives.

Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke

at 17:07 on May 10th, 2009

I agree Paschen. The problem is that peacekeeping only works if there is a peace to keep. In fact Canadian peacekeepers were told to leave the Middle East in 1967.