CYPRUS: GETTING THE SHOW ON THE ROAD

摘要

"Once more, well met at Cyprus," William Shakespeare wrote in Act II of Othello, and rarely have any of the Bard's timeless words been more prophetic. Four hundred years after they were penned, any tourist or business traveller can vouch for their truth. From its ancient Greek cultural origins to its position in the midst of Near Eastern trade in Shakespeare's day, through British control in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to the remarkably stable democratic republic which it has been for 45 years, Cyprus has become a byword for stable and rational business and tourism development. The Republic of Cyprus became a full member of the European Union in 2004. This was justifiably viewed on the island as recognition of decades of growth and stability in often adverse circumstances. These have left a legacy of the Turkish occupation of 37% of the Republic of Cyprus. Many Cypriots are prepared to believe that the time is not far off when all of the island's inhabitants will pull together again.