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Sat 03 Mar 2007Cyprus gesture politicsAs the feuding tribes on one side of Europe inch towards an uneasy but deeply desired accommodation, so too on the other side of the continent. There are, however, important differences. Progress on one front is rooted firmly in the real politics of powersharing and cabinet building; the other remains mired in gesture politics, symbolisms that often come with more than a hint of one-upmanship.The east Mediterranean island of Cyprus was split in two abruptly in 1974 following an invasion by the Turkish army. That action was prompted by a Greek Cypriot coup, sponsored by the then ruling military dictatorship in Athens. Both actions could not have happened, however, were there not deep and real communal divisions on the island - ethnic, linguistic and religious - frequently exacerbated by the conduct of Athens and Ankara, both with a long track records of using their proxies on the island to fuel their own age-old antagonisms. The 1974 invasion shattered an - at best - uneasy and frequently imperfect peace following independence from Britain in 1960. The invasion and subsequent division of the island and capital city Nicosia into a (roughly) one third northern Turkish-dominated Cyprus and two thirds Greek dominated southern Cyprus created a status quo since recognised by no one, save Turkey. While the outcome has produced a stability of sorts, it is a "solution" which satisfies none of the parties. There remains but one UN recognised Republic of Cyprus which is, de facto, Greek Cypriot southern Cyprus.