Cyprus vital to western security, says ERPIC conference

The European Rim Policy and Investment Council (ERPIC) hosted the first of a three-part international conference last Friday focusing on the security of the Greater Middle East and the role of Cyprus.
The conference began with an address by Foreign Minister Marcos Kyprianou, which was delivered by Ambassador Michalis Stavrinos, followed by Air Commodore Andrew Lambert RAF (Retd.) and three historians – Professor Robert Holland of the University of London, Dr Philip Towle of the University of Cambridge and Dr Klearchos Kyriakides of the University of Hertfordshire.
A main theme of the conference was that despite earlier colonial ambivalence over its value, Cyprus has emerged as an integral part of Western regional security architecture. The future security of Cyprus depends on western security structures; but a stable and pro-western Cyprus is also essential to the effectiveness of such security structures.
Many threats and security challenges have emerged in recent years. Among them, the rise of Islamist militancy in Turkey, as well as elsewhere, international-terrorism and population growth present common threats to both Cyprus and the West.
Any settlement to the Cyprus Question must, therefore, ensure the necessary stability that will guarantee the security of the citizens of Cyprus and contribute to the security of the region, the conference concluded.
Discussion ensued over whether a bi-communal bi-zonal federation dependent on complex constitutional balancing to preserve racial or ethnic divisions could form the basis for sustained stability.