The Eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus is the homeland of two distinct peoples: the Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots. Their relationship is not one of a majority and minority, but one of equal partnership. The Turkish Cypriots speak Turkish, are Muslims and share the culture of their motherland, Turkey. The Greek Cypriots, on the other hand, speak Greek, are Orthodox Christians and profess the culture of their motherland Greece. After more than 300 years of Turkish rule, the island came under British influence in 1878, but sovereignty was formally transferred by Turkey to Britain in 1923. British colonial administration continued until 1960 when as a joint bi-communal state, the DRepublic of Cyprus was founded under international treaties, signed by Great Britain, Greece and Turkey, and by the leaders of both the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities in their separate capacities. The 1960 arrangements created a political partnership between the two national communities which would enable them to share power and cooperate in a bi-communal state, with the necessary checks and balances and guarantees. Unfortunately, this political partnership and the internationally sanctioned regime lasted only three years.
The Greek Cypriots continued unlawfully to campaign against a bi-communal independent state and on 21 December 1963 put into effect their plan for a general onslaught on the Turkish Cypriot community. The aim was to abrogate the constitution of the country ...
In 1992 (and with resolutions created earlier) Kosovo's Albanian majority also voted to secede from Serbia and Yugoslavia, hoping to unite with Albania. The conflict in Kosovo could be seen as t...
One of the main problems the city of Athens seems to be to be having is a lack of communication between the city’s Mayor Fred Jones, city manager Daphne Blake, and the citizens’ of Athens. Communication is important because an effective leader needs to get his/her point across on how they are going to fix these problems of the city, while also meeting the demands of the citizens on what they feel the city needs in order to improve. The primary cause of this problem comes from the city’s mayor being young and properly inexperienced to handle such a problem at the current moment, and the fact that the city is just starting to come back from a financial crisis that the mayor has his hands full at the moment, and is trying to fix everything and
Greece is the birthplace of today’s most popular form of government: democracy. Greece is also a beautiful country with a very rich culture and traditions, serving as a summer attraction for more than 15 million people every year. Greece’s influence in our daily lives is apparent around the whole world. We find characteristics of Greece’s culture in the literature we study, the buildings we work and live in, the food we eat and the artistic features of our entertainment. However, not even Greece’s bright and honorable past can avoid this brutal crisis that has affected various sectors of the country along with its population. Greece joined the EU in 1981 and two decades later, in 2001, Greece abandoned the Drachma (the old currency) and adopted the Euro. This decision, even today, has been controversial and has been the cause of many discussions and
...y gaining more support, and are not naturally withering away. Political Scientist have proven that excluding these extremist parties from the political sphere not only reduces violence and dramatically reduces their political power, but also forces the parties to take on a less ideologically extreme position. There is a clear problem, a clear pattern for the problem, and clear proof that the problem is not solving itself. Excluding extreme parties form the political sphere not only limits there influence, but forces them to adapt less extreme positions. Given these facts, the recent arrest of Gold Dawn officials is not a narrative of a state exerting unnecessary force, but rather the long overdue action of a government to quell violence, promote democracy and exert necessary force to ensure that every Greek citizen feels safe and secure within the nation’s borders.
Xenakis, S. (2012). A new dawn? change and continuity in political violence in greece. Terrorism and Political Violence, 24(3), 437-464. doi: 10.1080/09546553.2011.633133
Redmond, J. (2007). Turkey and the European Union:troubled European or European trouble? International Affairs, 305-317.
In 1998, the autonomous region of Kosovo inside Serbia was being torn apart. The entire Kosovo War had many key actors. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (consisted of Serbia and Montenegro) wanted to claim the region as theirs but not without the opposition of the Croats (Croatia). The two main bellig...
"Europe must prevent Greece from becoming an out-and-out catastrophe and make sure that the same fiscal 'remedy' is not applied to other weak economies" -- MEP, Franziska Brantner.
Ethnic Armenians have resided in the Middle Eastern region of the world since approximately 3500 BC. Armenians lived and still live in many Middle Eastern countries such as Armenia, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Azerbaijan, and the republic of Georgia. Armenians have their own language and alphabet and have a very unique culture, which has set them apart from other countries and ethnic groups. In 300 AD, there was not a single nation who had Christianity as their national religion. “Following the advent of Christianity, Armenia became the very first nation to accept it as the state religion.” Armenian pride in their culture and way of life never wavered, even throughout being conquered by different nations. Armenian lands were taken over by many different nations on several different occasions, but they finally ended up in the Ottoman Empire in the 1500s, when ...
Studying the factors that went into the Armenian genocide not only gives us an understanding of a historical moment but also provides us with the knowledge for finding out if the mass murders actually occurred. Did the Armenian genocide really happen? Or is it all just a myth? The history that comes with the Armenian genocide is a victim of historical distortion, state-sponsored falsification, and deep divisions between the Armenians and the Turkish people (Mustafa 1). In 1915, it was said that leaders of the Turkish government set in motion a plan to expel and massacre Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire. However, the Turkish government does not acknowledge these events, in fact it is still illegal in Turkey to discuss what happened to the Armenians (History.com Staff 1). The elimination of the Armenians was the model of modern genocide, the act in which a certain state adopts a scheme geared to the destruction of a group of its own citizens (Gust 1). In order to understand why the Turks continue the denial of being involved in the criminal act that was eliminating the Armenian people, we must first consider both the Armenian people and the Turkish peoples’ thoughts and knowledge of the events that took place, and only then, after extensive analysis of the evidence recovered, then we can come to a conclusion as to what really happened all those years ago.
Another day another bombing; an all to common story in Lebanon these days. So, is Lebanon on the brink? The easy answer, yes. The more complicated one? Well, the Lebanese are very resilient people, akin to a phoenix that rises from the ashes, only to burn up in flames again.
Peseka News Agency. (2012, March 31). Cyprus won't open EU accession chapters for Turkey. Nicosia, Cyprus, EU.
Thomas Jr., L. (2011, September 19). Greece Nears the Precipice, Raising Fear. The New York Times. Retrieved on February 10, 2013 from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/20/business/global/as-greece-struggles-the-world-imagines-a-default.html?pagewanted=all
Imagine waking up one day to the thundering of blows given at the door telling you to “open up or be shot down.” It is the Serb police, and they are telling you that you and your whole family had to leave your home immediately. This is how it went for many Albanian people during what some Serb extremists called “demographic genocide.” This was the beginning of what many would call the Kosovo War, and it lasted from March to June 1999. After NATO’s intervention in Kosovo, something strange happened. Now the people being victimized were the Serbs and anyone who was “friendly” to them. In this paper, I will speak about what happened before and after the war in Kosovo.
On the 25th of March 1821, the Greeks’ fight for independence from the Turks began. After about 8 long years of numerous battles, Greece was able to gain their independence in 1829. Their independence would not have been achievable without the help of their allies, who were mainly the French, Russia, and Great Britain. The philhellenes, or Greece-loving people, in those countries would rally support for Greece, and their revolution was a success because of their support. Greece would not have been able to attain their independence if not for the help of the various influential philhellenes in Great Britain.