April 26, 2004

Cyprus

Cyprus. Island where Aphrodite, godess of love (when was the last time you have worshiped her, I mean, REALLY worshiped her? Not when you casually tossed off over the latest J-Lo video!) was born.
Little of that romantic notion is left there now, if you discount the "sex scandals" that have been going on on the British bases on the island. It's now fulltime Greek-Orthodoxy and Islam that rules the rock.
The referendum last weekend on the Kofi Annan plan to reunify the island yielded a perverse result: the Greeks voted no to reunification and will get entry to the EU as a reward. The Turks voted yes but will be left out in the cold.
The EU should cold-shoulder the Greek Cypriots until the whole island can join. Walls and separation are unnecessary and counterproductive (see Israel: West Bank Wall, and Germany: Berlin Wall). Freedom of movement and secularism is what's needed to deal with religion-inspired conflicts, not caging in (unless it's consensual play between adults).

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