Regarding the Cyprus situation, even though i'm a Greek-Cypriot i have always acknowledged our own fault in this mess. Before 1974, us GCs tried to get rid of the TCs and achieve unification with our motherland (Greece). The plan backfired when Turkey invaded us, claiming they were only protecting the rights and lives of their citizens. That was of course not true. Their main goal was to capture the extremely strategical north side of the island. If another country (ie Greece) controlled that territory it meant they could easily assemble troups just a few miles outside Turkey's southern shores and have them ready for action at any given time.
The funny thing, based on what i've heard over the years, is that the US (think Kissinger) had asked us GCs for permission to build military bases on the island. The British Forces were already stationed here (as per the agreement of our independence in 1960) and the Americans wanted a part of the action. The island overlooks the whole Middle East and is ideal for all sorts of operations. It is rumoured that this did indeed happen and that we said NO. When the Turkish generals saw this opening to establish a presence on the island they knew they had to take it. Apparently, and again according to rumours, they had the blessing of all the right people. It was agreed that they would invade Cyprus and take over a specifically designated aread in the North. However, it seems they got a little bit too greedy in the process and proceeded further south. They ended up with about 37% of the country. If they had stopped when they were told to, the US is said to have promised them a strong international lobby in order to get that northern area recognised as a separate Turkish state.
Of course, it's very difficult to prove any of the above, unless the CIA or the Foreign Office release the relevant documents (IF there ever were any). The fact remains that the Greek-Cypriot state was invaded 32 years ago and we ended up in this mess, needing UN troops to patrol the "buffer zones" (the longest-running uninterrupted UN presence anywhere in the world i think).
Personally, i'd be ready to kiss and make up with the genuine Turkish-Cypriots at some point, but i'll never forgive Turkey unless they pull out all their troops and the thousands of settlers they sent over here through the years, in an effort to maximise the population of the occupied area.
It's an impossible situation and personally i wasn't happy with any of the proposed solutions so far.
Oh, and the imminent threat of the Turkish troops directly above us means i have to report for army duty 4 times a year, as a reserve. I thought the army was a waste of my time personally, so i'm not ecstatic to have to revisit the experience 4 times a year.
This was WAY OFF TOPIC so sorry to anyone who feels this is out of place here, but the conversation was building up to this and as a Cypriot i felt obliged to offer my perception of this situation.
