Will Events in Cyprus Trigger a War?

The Cyprus bank deposit tax fiasco could turn out to be more than just a domestic financial and economic morass; it could morph into a regional geopolitical quagmire or a potential tinderbox for an outbreak of military confrontation or war. 

Such are based on the Cyprus’ unresolved ethnic rivalries, conflicting territorial claims that covers energy resources with neighbors, and the realignment of alliances and rivalries within east Mediterranean region.

Here is a snapshot from historian Eric Margolis at the lewrockwell.com:

But there’s much more to the Cyprus crisis than its dubious banks. Cyprus has bedeviled Europe and world diplomacy since 1974, then Greek Cypriot far rightists staged a coup and sought union – or "enosis" – with mainland Greece. Turkey promptly intervened with 30,000 troops to protect Turkish Cypriots in the north. Many Greeks fled or were expelled to the south.

Europe and the UN have been trying to sort out the Cyprus mess ever since. After decades of mind-numbing negotiations, former UN chief Kofi Annan proposed a sensible deal in 2004 for a Greek-Turkish federation. Turks accepted, but Greek Cypriots blocked it. Britain, which has two important air bases in Cyprus, backed the status quo.

In the same year, the EU committed the grave error of admitting Cyprus as a member without first insisting that Greek Cypriots agree to a peace deal and Greek-Turkish federation.

Northern Cyprus was left in limbo while the south became part of the EU, assuring the island’s ugly dispute would be come part of the European Union. Cyprus should never have been admitted to the EU.

Europeans who opposed Turkish membership in the EU used Cyprus as a pretext to delay admission, infuriating Turkey.

After decades of patient work developing normal relations after centuries of conflict, Greece and Turkey are again up in arms again over Cyprus. Their dangerous problem of overlapping air and sea claims in the Aegean has revived - just when Greece must slash its bloated military budget.

Read the rest here

All political efforts to save and preserve the interests of the political class and their cronies have only opened up old wounds and continues to fan the flames of social enmity.