Revisiting the Cyprus Problem - by Brian Stout
To the average American, Cyprus is a nondescript island in the Mediterranean - or perhaps an ancient parchment used in the times of the Pharaohs. But to practitioners of international conflict management, it presents one of the world's most puzzling and intractable conflicts. Yet despite the relative peace prevailing between the two sides - free movement through checkpoints since 2003 means that citizens on both sides of the island can visit the other - a negotiated settlement remains stubbornly out of reach. The great irony is that the Cypriot people are already venturing where their leaders dare not. One of our government hosts in the south declared with pride that he had never been to the north. By contrast, when the border first reopened in 2003, his Greek Cypriot compatriots lined up for miles to cross. A similar attitude emerged in the north. When during an informal conversation I referred to my interlocutor as a Turkish Cypriot, he interrupted: "Not Turkish Cypriot. Cypriot."
