Cyprus adventures through times
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E-mail Xinhua, April 1, 2013
Most Cypriots reacted with anger and disbelief at the new troika bailout deal, while international media reacted with respect to the calmness and dignity when banks reopened after a two-week forced bank holiday.
Yet, the Cypriots consider it as another turbulent chapter in the long history of their country which will be faced and overcome as other adversities, recent and distant, have been.
HISTORY FULL OF ADVERSITIES
Actually, the story of Cyprus is one of constant conflict going back to the start of history about 9,000 years ago due to the island's geo-strategic position in the eastern Mediterranean basin.
In ancient times, it was a stepping stone for sea farers going south to Egypt and to the riches of the east. In Mediaeval times, it was a base for sea farers to control commerce, and in recent times, it has been called an unsinkable aircraft carrier controlling the Suez waterway, the passage to India and the Middle East oil fields.
Almost every kilometer of the island is dotted with signs of past conquerors -- ancient-walled Greek kingdom cities, Greco-Roman theaters, medieval castles and city walls.
The Cypriot society is held together by close family relations and the ideals of solidarity but also features a strong sense of ownership -- hence the anger at what they consider a lack of solidarity on behalf of their European partners and also an encroachment on their property in deciding the bailout.
When Cyprus became an independent country in 1960, its economy was based on agriculture, mainly exporting potatoes and oranges to Britain and northern European Countries.
However, Cypriot enterprises soon built up a substitution industry manufacturing previously imported goods, which soon replaced agriculture as the main contributor to the gross domestic product as tourism started to gain momentum.
In 1974, Turkey militarily intervened and controlled the north of Cyprus following a coup on the island by Greek army officers.
The event dealt an almost deadly blow to the economy which lost 75 percent of its agricultural land, its entire industry and all tourist infrastructure. But it took only about six years for Greek Cypriots to bring about what had been described as an economic miracle despite the economic recession-inflation crisis of the 1980s.
This was achieved by the country's efforts to develop tourism into a modern large-scale industry and establish a service and banking sector.
Cyprus introduced a low corporate tax of 10 percent and developed its banking services, attracting thousands of offshore companies and shipping companies.
The biggest push to the economy came after the collapse of the Soviet Union, when several thousand Russians made their home and established business in Cyprus, helping the banking sector to achieve an unprecedented development.
There have been claims of money laundering in Cypriot banks, to which the Moneyval, a Council of Europe team, is making an independent investigation.
However, the close relations between Cyprus and Russia were seen with a suspicious eye by some European countries. This became manifest when Germany tried to impose a loss on big foreign deposits.
Helped by the wealth brought by tourism and construction, the state built up a welfare state in which almost all Cypriots had free medical care, free education up to university level and pensions which allowed a comfortable living for all.
The government of former President Demetris Christofias continued to spend and burden the sovereign debt after the world economic crisis set in over two years ago.
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