Cyprus

Cyprus is an island off the southern Turkish coast, in the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea. At the moment, it's divided in two entities: the Republic of Cyprus to the south (commonly associated with the name "Cyprus"; member of the European Union and internationally recognized) and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) to the north (recognised by Turkey and almost nobody else).

It is one of the most religious countries in the EU.[1] It is also deeply racist, sexist, and homophobic[2][3].

Cyprus was a disaster in the European sovereign debt crisis; one has to wonder how it even got into the Eurozone with an economy almost entirely consisting of Russian oligarchs who'd rather want to store their cash in a much warmer place than Switzerland.[4]

A Tale of Two Cypruses

This division happened in a failed Greek attempt to establish a puppet state in Cyprus, using ethnic clashes between Turks and Greeks. Turkey invaded Cyprus (using the rights given to them by the Treaty of Guarantee, signed between Cyprus, Greece, Turkey and erstwhile colonial power the United Kingdom) to stop this attempt and successfully overthrew the puppet state, which actually caused the end of the military junta in Greece (yay!). Yet they kind of refused (and still refuse) to leave when they were done, citing "security reasons" (boo!).^{[citation needed]}

Northern Cyprus has been founded under the Turkish invasion, despite strong opposition by Britain and the whole United Nations. Turkish government recognised them immediately and sent (mostly under-educated and unqualified) people there as workforce and deliberately modifying the ethnic structure for their favour. These policies caused strong anti-Turkish sentiment in the whole Cyprus (even in the North, despite people there being Turkish).^{[citation needed]} The irony is that Northern Cyprus is a de facto Turkish puppet state, and is only recognised by Turkey.

Nowadays, Northern Cyprus has became the Turkish version of Las Vegas, with all that gambling and prostitution. It is also a tax haven and a place for criminals to escape from Turkish laws, all thanks to lack of legal infrastructure.^{[citation needed]}

Additionally, a UN-controlled buffer zone separates the two, and the United Kingdom retains two bases on the island. There's a whole town called Varosia or Maraş in the buffer zone, which used to be a very popular tourist destination, today standing totally desolated and forbidden to enter (unless you are a Turkish soldier), film or even photograph.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Cyprus FreeThinkers
• Greece
• Turkey

References

1. See page 204 of this Eurobarometer biotechnology report.
2. ILGA annual review 2013
3. The social situation concerning homophobia and discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation in Cyprus by the Danish institute for human rights, March 2009
4. Cyprus bailout: Deal reached in Eurogroup talks, BBC News, 25 March 2013

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