@Hello

I've never before seen 2,500 years of history so concisely and accurately delineated in nine lines!!

Corruption exits anywhere you go If you compare the corruption in Cyprus with other countries like the US , you are looking for a pin in a haystack. Problems increased in Cyprus after the 1974 invasion and the arrival of different types of people. Having said that ,I don't blame all the non Cypriots for the woes of the country . Like any other place on this earth Cyprus has its bad apples also. I was born and grew up in Cyprus and I could honestly tell you that generally Cypriot people are warm,honest ethical and very hard working.
I am also a refugee and I would say that a lot of people in the south became very rich after the invasion and looked down on us for a long time . We cleaned up the messy south and made it cosmopolitan and all refugees should be highly respected. They are hard working and even though most of them did not make a lot of money they live a modest life away from their homes and everything they worked for, which they lost.
I am extremely proud of my family ,the people of my village and all my relatives who moved to the south and stayed strong to their beliefs and still have the strong love of the occupied north.
They are not corrupted and never became rich.They could have if they did not have strong ethics.
Let's not put everyone in the same basket.Long live Cyprus and Cypriots. Long live Free and Re United Cyprus one day soon

Val.

Many thanks indeed for your bravery in coming back to me and your constructive comments which are very much appreciated, particularly as I gave you a bit of an ear bashing!

Like you, I too am a refugee (I lived for many years in Famagusta and had a business there) and suffered loss and displacement like tens of thousands of others.
What I find nauseating, particularly over the past few months, are some of the more hateful, despicable posts that some have been submitting about each side. On several occasions, I and others have been trying to temper some of these in a vain effort to bring some balance and tolerance into the situation but as often as not it simply degenarates into a slanging match of monumental proportions: perhaps we should all take some deep breaths.

I happen to know many Turkish Cypriots who have suffered as much pain and loss as the Greek Cypriots and some of the stuff that has been posted about them defies belief. And yes, there are some on the other 'side' who also engage in the same vitriol.

One of my biggest beefs is the fact that we refugees, on both sides of the divide, are being mercilessly used as political pawns by both sides: the majority of Cypriots have lost nothing and many have done very nicely thank you from the current division.
The case of refugee women not having the same right to pass on refugee status to their children is a case in point and according to article 23 of the EU Charter, the Republic is in blatant breach of sexual discrimination. Whether the state can afford it or not is an irrelevance and I'm surprised that the Refugee Mothers Association hasn't gone to the ECHR as they'd win. (This is a topic which I've written about on many occasions).
To continue. Many refugees have built on Turkish Cypriot owned land but are not allowed by the Republic to obtain the title deeds from the Turkish Cypriots who, whether we like it or not, remain citizens of the Republic and holders of title deeds. I know I'm straying into the realm of legalities here and many would argue otherwise.
The list of anomalies goes on and these points are not a criticism of Cyprus per se but one of fair governance and the vagaries of circumstance.

In conclusion, it serves none of us to continually accuse one another of having done this, that or the other despicable act because we're all guilty. Perhaps we should use the Avis slogan: 'We try harder.'

Val.

When you refer to Cyprus having 'honest' people, are you including all lawyers and property developers or perhaps in your eyes they come into a different category? Pray do enlighten us. What I would NOT appreciate is the same tired excuse that it's the same everywhere else. No. It is not. Crooked lawyers, certainly in the West, are dealt with immediately and are struck off, fined and in some cases imprisoned. That is NOT the case here.

There's nothing worse than people making assumptions of others and putting them into boxes to suit their own prejudices. Are we to believe that if anyone DARES to point out injustices or general wrongdoings in a particular society, in this case Cyprus, then you take great exception to it and as good as try to vilify them?

On your post yesterday at 19.20, you say about me 'as far as you are concerned Cyprus and its people are beyond redemption so why don't you try another destination.' The cheapest shot is to tell someone who doesn't like it in a particular place to go elsewhere.
How dare you, madam.
My mother was a Cypriot and in my own right I have a long association with this island. I believe that wherever an individual resides he should stand up to any form of injustice and not take the easy, sycophantic route of burying his head in the sand and saying that everything in the garden's rosy.
Am I to suppose that you think that I should NOT have written the letter which was published yesterday in the Sunday Mail as it dares to highlight ongoing fraudulent behaviour in the housing market?
I would also refer you to my letter published in the Sunday Mail of 30th. May this year headed 'One small victory' which describes the fraudulent behaviour of my late mother's lawyer in getting control of my mother's estate. According to your logic, should I have kept quiet about this and 'saved' Cyprus' honour? Believe me, if these events had happened in Peru, America, India or wherever, I would have reacted in the same way and pursued the matter equally as vigorously and publicly.

For the record, my mother was asphyxiated in Paphos hospital (confirmed at the inquest) and I have sued the Republic for medical negligence. I repeat, mistakes and ineptitude happen in the most advanced countries and I would have done the same if these shocking events had happened there. Again, should I have accepted my mother's 'fate' and done nothing because I live in 'perfect' Cyprus?

What is so sad here in Cyprus is that there seem to be a great many people here who equate criticism as hatred for the island. Although I can't speak for others, I assure you that this is not the case.

In short, it's simply a question of obtaining justice and in many cases the authorities here are either unwilling or unable to ensure that this is served speedily - if at all. If you therefore take exception to a great many of us feeling this way, trying to make a difference and taking appropriate action, then so be it.

Seeing as Prince Al-Waleed has acquired 47 five star resorts already this year, does anyone think it possible that he is scouting the Anassa hotel where he is staying. It is locally renowned as by far the most luxurious hotel in Cyprus. www.anassa.com.cy

If he wants to develop luxury hotel resorts in Cyprus, this would be the one for sure!

Joe Citizen, you have the wrong logic there. Foreign investment is not happening in line with population figures, but where there is an attractive investment climate. There is absolutely no correlation between these two numbers.

Joe Citizen: irrelevant ratio! Try this with foreign investment in the USA. It's the absolute figure that counts.

Loriot from Lapta- Divide the different amounts by the relative populations and come back with the per capita figures. Come on cowboy!

It Was a ABU DUBAI who Bailed Dubai out, United Arab Emirates etc

Why,whenever there is anything positive posted on here do certain people kick off with constant, and usually unconnected, negative comments?

Fact is history cannot be changed, unless you are Superman of course, so let us look forwards and see if we can at least help shape it.

Dubai was recently (more or less) bought by the UAE so I presume Cyprus would be much cheaper if Saudi Arabia wants to buy it.

Why would that be a bad thing?

The President of the Republic is obviously in top form and he is going for gold. People from all over the world can see that the ROC has much to offer and rich or poor, they are flocking to Cyprus
either to find a better life or to invest their billions.Not bad for a little country that has almost half of its territory illegally occupied by the Turkish army under whose protection a disfunctional entity known as the "trnc" has been created but which in reality is only a bolt hole for criminals on the run and is even avoided by cabaret artists who refused to be lured even by offers of millions of pounds.