Cyprus

Cyprus exists because the British applied 'divide and rule' to Greek and Turkish Cypriots—and because Turkey invaded in 1974 to prevent union with Greece. This island has been contested for three millennia: Phoenicians, Greeks, Persians, Romans, Byzantines, Crusaders, Venetians, Ottomans, and finally British have all controlled the strategic crossroads between Europe, Asia, and Africa. The division that now defines Cyprus—a UN buffer zone cutting through Nicosia, the world's last divided capital—is merely the latest partition in a landscape shaped by empire.

The Ottoman conquest of 1571 brought the first Turkish presence; Britain took control in 1878 and made Cyprus a Crown Colony in 1925. Greek Cypriots sought 'Enosis'—union with Greece—while British colonial authorities cultivated Turkish Cypriot opposition as counterbalance. EOKA's armed campaign began on April 1, 1955, targeting British forces; the Turkish Resistance Organization (TMT) formed in response, advocating partition rather than union. The 1960 independence settlement satisfied neither community: Britain retained sovereign bases at Akrotiri and Dhekelia, and the constitution's power-sharing provisions collapsed into intercommunal violence by 1963.

The final rupture came in 1974. On July 15, the Greek military junta backed a coup against Archbishop Makarios III, installing Nikos Sampson with the goal of immediate Enosis. Five days later, Turkey invaded under the pretext of protecting Turkish Cypriots. By the August 18 ceasefire, Turkish forces controlled 37% of the island's territory—the more fertile, economically developed north. Nearly 200,000 Greek Cypriots fled south; 50,000 Turkish Cypriots moved north. The 'Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus' declared independence in 1983; only Turkey recognizes it.

The Republic of Cyprus joined the EU in 2004 as a de facto divided island—technically, the entire island is EU territory, but EU law is suspended where the Cypriot government doesn't exercise control. The eurozone accession in 2008 and the 2013 banking crisis (which saw depositors bailed in to save banks) marked the south's integration into European financial systems. GDP per capita now exceeds $42,000 nominal, with a 'very high' Human Development Index ranking.

The economy outperformed in 2024: 3.4% real GDP growth driven by private consumption, and the government posted a 4.3% surplus. Debt-to-GDP fell below 65.3%, on track for 58% by end of 2025. Growth in Q3 2025—at 3.6%—was the fastest in the EU after Ireland. The Republic of Cyprus has transformed from a banking-crisis casualty to a fiscal exemplar in a decade.

The north tells a different story. The Turkish Cypriot economy remains dependent on Turkey, vulnerable to the lira's depreciation and high inflation. A 2024 World Bank report noted recovery to pre-pandemic levels, supported by record 'Green Line' crossings—the checkpoints where divided Cypriots and tourists traverse the buffer zone. The EU's aid program aims to prepare the north for eventual integration, but reunification talks have repeatedly failed since the Annan Plan referendum of 2004, when Greek Cypriots voted 'no' while Turkish Cypriots voted 'yes.'

By 2026, Cyprus will likely continue its economic outperformance while the partition endures. The generation that remembers a united island is aging out; those born after 1974 know only division. The UN maintains a peacekeeping force along the Green Line, and the buffer zone contains abandoned buildings frozen in time. Like the biblical wheat and tares growing together until harvest, Greek and Turkish Cypriots share an island they cannot share politically—a partition that has lasted longer than the unified Cyprus that preceded it.