By Michael Peters Kyriacou, President, Cyprus Community of NSW
On 16 August 1960, the number one song on the music charts was ‘It’s Now or Never’ by Elvis Presley. Perhaps this song sums up the birth of Cyprus.
Cyprus was proclaimed an independent state on that day. It was a leap into the unknown.
The year 1960 gave the world much more than Cyprus.
It was the “Age of Aquarius” – a period of significant change and societal transformation, often associated with the hippie movement and alternative lifestyles in popular culture. It was also the year the Beatles were formed, the downfall of the British and French Empires, the total dominance of US culture and imperial power, and the height of the Cold War.
If a nation were to choose its birthday, 1960 was not an easy year.
Within days, the island had to deal with the divisions caused – if not engineered – by its former occupiers, who, unlike many before them, wanted to stay after the “birthday party”. Was it the lack of sunlight and beaches in their homeland, the warmth of Cypriot hospitality, or perhaps a yearning for “civilisation” as they saw it? Whatever the reason, they stayed – and remain to this day – enjoying the sun and the good nature of the locals. They are still foreigners pretending to be locals, not very convincingly.
The birth of Cyprus was not an easy one; the umbilical cord had yet to be cut and the child was still finding its feet.
Cyprus was a child born without the innocence of a baby. It was neither naïve nor unsure of what it could achieve; it already carried at least 3,500 years of history, full of ideas and milestones. It had already given the world the Greek alphabet and much of the grammar common in the Western world.
On its birthday, Cyprus had no need to discover the world – the world had already discovered, conquered, invaded, and taken much from it.
Cyprus was born to diversity and to the horrors of occupation; these were embedded in its psyche.
The Persians, Romans, Arabs, Richard the Lionheart, the Norman King of England, the Crusaders, the Franks, and the Venetians all exploited the little island.
The Venetians, who used Cyprus’ wealth to build their magnificent palaces, even gifted a Cypriot pigeon to Ms Lucrezia, wife of Elimio Alderoni, a Venetian leader of the 14th century. Today, the descendants of those pigeons deface the very buildings funded by the wealth extracted from Cyprus.
The Ottomans were no different – Cyprus became a “tax farm”. Finally came the British, another example of exploitation, this time under the guise of spreading civilisation.
These were the forces that moulded the child and gave its people their resilience.
At birth, Cyprus was already battered, wounded, exploited, and mistreated. It was not an easy birth.
What, then, does Cyprus have to celebrate on its birthday?
It still has an occupier in the north, another occupying force spread across enclaves in the south, and neighbours in turmoil.
Is there reason to celebrate?
It was a difficult birth and a very difficult childhood. At 65 years old, it is perhaps a miracle that it can celebrate at all.
Cyprus was already ancient at its birth – more ancient than every single occupier on record – and it has outlasted them all. Britain is now the UK. The Franks, Normans, Venetians, and Ottomans are all part of history.
If survival is a gift, then at 65 years of age, there is much to celebrate.
Cyprus is not only alive but also a bastion of stability and predictability. It is a safe place in an unsafe neighbourhood.
Its governments are neither extreme nor stubborn. Power is transferred civilly, elections are rarely contested, there is no campaign to undermine incoming governments, and it remains the region’s only pluralist liberal democracy.
Cyprus has set an example for all in the region. Even among our compatriots abroad, Cyprus remains a model of civility, order, respect, and patriotism.
On 16 August 1960, Cyprus leapt into the unknown – as Elvis might have suggested at the time, “It’s now or never.”
Happy Birthday, Cyprus.
