The divided island of Cyprus could soon be unified. The new Cypriot president has made reunification his top priority. Cyprus is a strategic piece of real estate; throughout history it has been used as a launchpad to the Middle East. The Republic of Cyprus is already an EU member. Unification would cement Europe’s hold on the island.

Cyprus has been divided for nearly 35 years. In 1974, a Greek military junta sponsored by the Greek government mounted a coup. It pledged to bring the whole island under Greek rule. Seventy-seven percent of the population is Greek, but 18 percent are Turkish. Turkey responded to the Greek coup by invading Cyprus. The northern third of the island has de facto independence from the south. The north proclaimed independence in 1983 under the name Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Turkey was the only nation to recognize it.

The situation has barely changed to this point. There have been attempts to broker a deal, but so far, they have failed. The elections, however, may have altered all that.

The former president of Cyprus, Tassos Papadopoulos, led the Greek Cypriots to reject a UN reunification plan in 2004. The new president, Demetris Christofias, leader of Cyprus’s Communist party, elected on February 28, has different plans.

“The solution of Cyprus problem is the main reason I took the decision to run for president,” Christofias said. “Solving the Cyprus problem will be the top priority of my government.” The United Nations is already preparing for a meeting between Christofias and his Turkish Cypriot counterpart. The meeting is scheduled for later this month.

So where does the European Union come in? Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry has pointed to the strategic importance of Cyprus many times. In the booklet The King of the South, he wrote:

More than one crusade has been launched from Cyprus. Will we see the last crusade launched from there as well? Is history about to repeat itself? … And why did the EU want tiny Cyprus to be a member? Is the EU already thinking about Cyprus as a launching pad from which to protect its Jerusalem interests? You can be certain that the EU is thinking about how to protect the holy places in and around Jerusalem. Catholic Europe has thought like this for almost 2,000 years!

In 2003, we wrote:

History shows that Cyprus has long been an attractive piece of real estate for Europe. Cyprus offers a political vantage point and a military stepping-stone, for influence and campaigns respectively, as the rising European phoenix once again spreads its wings to expand into the Middle East and beyond. In this vein, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres has stated publicly that Europeanization may not end in Cyprus, but extend into Israel to be welcomed even by the Israelis.

The EU knows the strategic importance of Cyprus. Reunification would give the EU jurisdiction over the whole island. With Turkish troops in the north, currently the EU effectively only has control over the southern two thirds of the island. Christofias has said that any peace deal would have to see Turkish troops leave. With the evacuation of those 30,000 Turkish troops, it would be far easier for a European force to move in.

The other part of the equation is how such a deal would affect Turkey’s relationship with Europe. Several analysts have said that Cypriot unification would make it easier for Turkey to join the EU. Europe has used the Cyprus situation as a reason for Turkey’s exclusion. It will probably use EU membership as a carrot to get Turkey to cooperate, but, ultimately, Turkey will not join. As the Turkish foreign minister has said, the EU is “a club of Christians.” For more information on Turkey, see our article “Outside Closed Doors.”