CyprusVista

The case of the nine British soldiers accused of starting a fight in a Aiya Napa club has once again thrust the question of British troops in Cyprus into the limelight.

The nine soldiers, who were serving with the 2nd Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers at Dhekelia, were acquitted on all charges after the judge ruled there was insufficient evidence to link the men to the incident, and that the process of identification of the suspects at the local police station was not fair.

The simple truth is that the nine young soldiers should not have been in Aiya Napa at all on 2 February, 2008. The armed forces have banned all military personnel from the centre of the all-hours party town after a string of incidents.

While the soldiers have already been punished through the army’s own internal disciplinary processes, discipline on this so-called ’sunshine posting’ does still remain a concern. Speaking on BBCtv, the spokesman for the British forces in Cyprus, Nick Ulverts, admitted that the disciplinary record of troops on the island was only “relatively good”, and promised that less incidents should happen in the future. “There are checks and balances in place, … and they are there for a good reason”, he added.

The relationship between the local Cypriots and military personnel stationed on the two British bases at Akrotiri and Dhekelia is a delicate balance. The two bases cover more than 100 square miles of land, and employ over 3500 service personnel and civilians. The spending power of these personnel and their families contribute large amounts of money to the Cypriot economy. (Not every business in Aiya Napa welcomed the ban on generous-spending service customers. )

However, Cyprus businesses may need to make the most of this source of income before it disappears. Whilst the British Ministry of Defense are keen to keep their “foothold at (this) strategic point in the Mediterranean”, the situation in a non-divided future for Cyprus would be very different. President Dimitris Christofias has declared that there would be no place for foreign military forces in a unified Cyprus, which can only be bad news for beer sales….

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The summer sunshine in Cyprus will be temporarily disrupted by a partial solar eclipse happening this Friday 1 August. The eclipse will affect a large area of western and central Asia, northern Europe and Greenland, but in Cyprus the sun will only have 3% of its visible surface eclipsed. This (very) partial eclipse should be visible between 1.30pm and 2pm on Friday, if visibility is good.

To see the total solar eclipse, you’ll need to travel to some far-flung locations. The islands of Resolute, and Prince of Wales Island in the Northwest Passage in Canada should experience a total eclipse for just under 2.5 minutes, before the effect passes around the ‘top’ of the globe over Russia. Almost in time for the Olympics (how auspicious is that?), the eclipse will end at the town of Pingdingshan in China’s Xian province (home to the famous Terracotta Army).

Remember, never look directly at the sun to view an eclipse. As the Nasa web site says, and they should know: “Partial eclipses, annular eclipses, and the partial phases of total eclipses are never safe to watch without taking special precautions. Do not attempt to observe the partial or annular phases of any eclipse with the naked eye. Failure to use appropriate filtration may result in permanent eye damage or blindness!”

All you need to view the eclipse safely on your holiday in Cyprus is two A5 pieces of white paper or card, to create a pinhole camera. Punch a small hole in the centre of the first card and position it so the sun shines through it. Now hold the second piece of card around three feet in the shadow below the first piece, so the Sun’s image is seen projected onto the second piece. As the solar eclipse occurs, you will see the whole process projected onto the second card in minature. For clearer visibility, you can stick the first card on a window, and then draw your Cyprus holiday villa or hotel curtains around it to increase the visible effect on the second piece of card.

Alternatively, just sit back and enjoy your Cyprus meze lunch instead. Solar eclipses happen up to five times a year, so there is probably another one due before Christmas - somewhere!

The partial solar eclipse visible in Cyprus will end in the Xian province of China, home to the famous Terracotta Army. Photo by Frenkieb at flickr.com.

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It’s hard to miss the connection between the Greek goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite, and the island of Cyprus. According to legend, the goddess rose from the foam created when the god Chronos threw the castrated parts of Ouranos into the sea. The goddess was said to have drifted ashore at the famous Petra tou Romiou rock near Paphos, still a favourite spot for lovers to watch the sun set.

You’ll find evidence of Aphrodite’s temples and sanctuaries all over the island, not to mention her image adorning everything from wine labels to boxes of Cyprus delight!

To help you discover more about the goddess on your holiday, Cyprus tourism has created the Aphrodite Cultural Route, so you can discover these wonderful places at your leisure (if you hire a car in Cyprus). The three main sites to visit are:

The Sanctuary of Aphrodite (the Palaepafos Aphrodite Cultural Route)
It has to be said, it takes a bit of imagination to see the Sanctuary as it must have once been, from the rather unprepossessing collection of broken walls you see today. There were originally 12 sanctuaries all over the island, but the one at Palea Paphos (present day Kouklia) was the most elaborate. Many of the amphorae and ceremonial bowls found at the site give clues as to the sexual rites that took place in the temple gardens. It is likely that young women came to offer themselves to one stranger in homage to the goddess. Curiously, the goddess herself was worshipped in the form of a conical stones - most unglamorous to modern eyes!

The Romans continued the tradition of worship, and the Sanctuary was visited by several Roman emperors, including Titus in 69AD. The cult of the goddess was outlawed in the 4th century AD, and the Sanctuary fell in disrepair, while the locals raided the site used for stones for their houses during Byzantine times.

The ancient city of Kition (Kition Aphrodite Cultural Route)
If you are on holiday in Cyprus in the Larnaca or Ayia Napa areas, then you can explore the ancient city of Kition/Kathari, with its close links to the goddess. In fact, most of ancient Kition lies buried under modern Larnaca, but you can still see excavations of a Bronze Age settlement, with a more recent Phoenician settlement sitting on top. The main shrine discovered at the site may have originally been to Aphrodite, but was rededicated by the Phoenicians to their own goddess of fertility, Astarte. Today the site is sandwiched between new houses, reminding the visitor how modern development is just the latest layer to be added to the rich history of Cyprus.

The temple of Aphrodite at Amathus (Amathous Aphrodite Cultural Route)
Established in the 11th or 12th century BC, the ancient kingdom of Amathus worshipped Kyprida Aphrodite in style. Legend says it was founded by a son of the hero Hercules. This prosperous and successful ancient kingdom easily blended the worship of Greek gods such as Aphrodite with Egyptian and Asian deities, making the site a real mix of influences. The city survived into the Byzantine era, but after Arab raids and further destruction by Richard the Lionheart in 1191, the town was largely forgotten.

Today, you can see the agora, or marketplace, and imagine it filled with traders busy selling their wares between the impressive stone columns. You can also see the remains of Greek period houses and baths, as well as the walls of the temple itself, jointly dedicated to Aphrodite and Hercules, alongside a Byzantine Christian basilica.

For more information on the trails, type “Aphrodite Cultural Route” into the search box at www.visitcyprus.com.

Sunset at Petra tou Romiou, Cyprus. Photo by Max Bisschop (Maxey) at flickr.com.

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The Cyprus Olympic team for the forthcoming Beijing games will be led by skeet shooter Georgios Achilleos. Achilleos is the world champion at the sport, and is the island’s best medal hope. Marcos Baghdatis, a finalist in the 2006 Australian Open of the same sport, is also on the team. Cyprus has a good record in the sport; the Junior Men’s Team recently set a new world record of 356, achieved in Cyprus on July 9, 2008 at the European Championships.

Skeet shooting is one of three types of competitive shotgun shooting sports, the others being trap shooting and sporting clays (or clay pigeons). Competitors shoot at clay disks hurled into the air at various angles within a field of 180 degrees. In Olympic skeet shooting, the clay discs are 100mm in diameter, smaller than the average dinner plate, and just 25 mm thick. Hitting them takes a great deal of skill, timing and mental awareness, not to mention accuracy with a double-barreled shotgun or similar.

International skeet shooting has been an Olympic sport since 1968. Such is the popularity of the sport in Cyprus that there are five shooting clubs, including the Nicosia club with its Olympic shooting range. If you would like to shoot while on your holiday in Cyprus, you can discover more at the Cyprus Shooting Sport Federation website at cssf-shooting.org.

And finally… When the sport was first invented back in 1915, it was known as clock shooting. The original USA course involved traps that shot across a complete circle, but this had to stop when a chicken farm was set up next door to the original range…

Photo of skeet shooting by maverick2003 at flickr.com

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With soaring temperatures in Cyprus this week, one person definitely feeling the heat is Kyriakos Kyrrou from the Cyprus water department. The problems with the supply of water shipped from Greece and brought to Limassol via on offshore pipeline continues, with an air bubble blocking the pipe and causing a shut-down that may last until Sunday.

Limassol needs the first batch of over 8million cubic metres of water due to be shipped from Greece - and needs it fast. The city’s reservoir has only 800,000 cubic metres of water remaining to supply this busy holiday destination, which normally uses 45,000 cubic metres of water a day. The authorities are currently investigating diverting some of the output from the country’s two desalination plants, which produce 100,000 cubic metres of water a day, from Nicosia to Limassol.

Meanwhile, North Cyprus has been given the green light for a 110km water pipeline from Turkey. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that; “The project should be completed at the latest within three years beginning in June next year (2009). The government has given the necessary instructions to the environment ministry so the project can be finalised.”

Up to 80 kms of the new pipeline will run under the sea from the Turkish coast to North Cyprus, transporting up to 75million cubic metres per year. The pipeline, and similar water shipping schemes to the current south Cyprus arrangement have been under discussion for several years in North Cyprus.

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