Friday 20 July marks the 44th anniversary of the Turkish invasion and occupation of the northern part of Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean. A diminishing number of Australian Cypriots who are refugees and remember the invasion [will] march in Melbourne to Parliament House on this day. They want the island reunited.

The forced division was a tragic event and was followed by a process of ethnic resettlement where villages that had lived in bi-communal peace were torn apart as Greek Cypriots were forced to move to the south and Turkish Cypriots went north. The capital Nicosia now has a Berlin-style dividing wall and a UN buffer zone.

So why should Australians care about this little country in the Mediterranean?

For a start, it’s a little-known fact that Cyprus represents the longest ever Australian overseas peacekeeping commitment, initially with soldiers and later with police. Peacekeeping has been conducted under the auspices of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) mission since the Turkish invasion.

Australia has contributed to peacekeeping on the island for 53 years, from 1964. A total of 111 contingents involving more than 1,600 personnel from all states and territories have served in Cyprus.

In Victoria about 70,000 people of Greek Cypriot or Turkish Cypriot background live in harmony and with respect. Most are Greek Cypriot but they all long for the day that an agreement is reached and the island reunited. In addition to the Cypriots, there are about 500,000 Victorian residents with some Greek or Turkish background. This means about one in 10 Victorians have a real interest, arising from their heritage, in what happens in Cyprus. Most want to see a fair settlement in Cyprus. Not just because it is good for Cyprus, but because it will give a significant boost to democracy and peaceful settlement of disputes which the region sorely needs. Potentially a settlement will break a deadlock with Turkey that has stalled oil and gas exploration in the seas around Cyprus. New gas finds off the coast of Israel and around Cyprus can potentially diminish Europe’s reliance on Russia, and help in the transition from coal to gas to renewable energy.

Importantly, with a unified Cyprus, Turkey will be able to progress its own application to join the European Union (Cyprus is already a member).

I know many oppose Turkey entering the EU because it is a predominantly Muslim nation. Some have even tried to stall a settlement in Cyprus in order to keep Turkey out of the EU. This is wrong. The entry of Turkey into the EU may be exactly what is needed to help deal with Europe’s refugee crisis, and strengthen democracy and religious tolerance.
For Turkey to enter the EU it will have to further democratise its structures and introduce more judicial independence and press freedoms. But Europe too will have to find ways of living with a large Muslim nation in its midst, and greater engagement with an essentially moderate Muslim citizenry. A new tolerant Europe could emerge as a model of world peace and understanding.
The Australian Government can help with a solution in Cyprus by promoting dialogue at [an] international level. But sometimes ordinary people can bring about change by example.

Victorians of Greek and Turkish Cypriot background have shown the world how they can live together despite differing religions and languages. The state parliament has had a number of Greek and Turkish background members who have worked together for a better Victoria. Parliament has its first female MP of Turkish Cypriot background in Natalie Suleyman, and if Kat Theophanous is elected in Northcote, the state will have its first woman of Greek Cypriot background.

What a wonderful thing it would be if these two women, representing Victoria, were to visit Cyprus and Turkey and Greece to show them and the world that here we can live and work together for the greater good of all our people. To show the world that there is much more that unites us than divides us. To show the world we can get past historical conflicts and religious or cultural politics to a more humanistic politics. With more border crossings opening up, younger generations of Greek and Turkish Cypriots in Cyprus are increasingly visiting each other and demanding a chance to live together in peace. We should support them. We can also show them that in Victoria Greeks and Turks, Christians and Muslims and other ethnic groups live harmoniously and can be elected democratically to parliament.

A settlement in Cyprus will not only change Cyprus but the whole geopolitical climate in Europe. And with Turkey in the EU, it could herald an era of democracy, inclusion, tolerance, understanding and sustained economic growth. And this can only be good for Australia.

*Theo Theophanous is a commentator and former state Labor minister and vice-president of Cypriot Community of Melbourne and Victoria. 
[This article was first printed in the ‘Herald Sun’ on Wednesday 11 July 2018]