The Greek government on Cyprus has worldwide recognition but the island is still divided with 40 percent of the island an unrecognized Turkish state. A pleasant surprise is that the rivalry has not completely prevented the island from moving forward. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
This stamp issue shows a collection of neoclassic buildings on the Greek part of Cyprus. Left unstated on the stamps, is that most of the buildings featured are from the period when the whole of Cyprus was a British colony. Museums and libraries and important government buildings, built by the British and for everyone on the island. A legacy hard to replace but not adequately recognized as to how they happened. The British, who did their best to cope with the diversity that neither side wants to admit and as a result after the British left after repeated Greek attacks the island divided.
Todays stamp is issue A408, a 30 cent stamp issued by Cyprus on October 2nd,2007. This stamp featured the National Gallery of Contemporary Art and was part of a 8 stamp issue in various denominations. The stamp’s denomination is shown in both Cyprus and Euro cents as it was issued during the Greek part of the island switching to the Euro currency. The Greek part of Cyprus achieved membership in the EU separate from Greece in 2002. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $1.50 unused.
The British gave up on Cyprus in 1960. See https://the-philatelist.com/2018/02/07/the-british-in-cyprus-again-having-to-stand-between/ . Greeks expressed a desire for Enosis, which was union with Greece. However there was a large Turkish minority that was facing ethnic cleansing if the Greek wishes were allowed to occur. The Greeks began attacking British targets in the island while the British tried to come up with some power sharing arraignment so they could leave. Given that situation, it is a wonder that any of the architecture on this series of stamps survived. The Turks on the island promoted Taksim, a division of the island. After independence there was a small scale guerilla war between Greeks and Turks. In the early 70s, Greece was under a right wing military government that supported a coup, that ended power sharing arrangements toward integration with Greece.
The Greeks did not fully consider the arrangements the British had left for them. If one side tried to force an end to power sharing, the other or Britain had the right to intervene. A few days later, to Greek shock, the Turkish Army invaded and occupied 40 percent of the island. Taksim won over Enosis. The island required much ethnic cleansing to get everyone on their side of the line and Nicosia is now the only divided capital of Europe.
Greek Cyprus has done fairly well in recent years. The ancient sites and good weather attract tourists. The island as also become an offshore banking center mainly catering to Russian oligarchs. The wealth as seen some of the buildings on the stamps be replaced. The building on the stamp still houses a small art gallery but the art scene in Nicosia as a new dominant player. The A. G. Leventis gallery opened in 2014 in a large building resembling a prison with white marble walls. Though the gallery claims to feature local art, it also features a Paris collection, based on what the museum’s namesake kept in his Paris apartment. I get it, he’s rich and wants everyone to know it. My city also features a newer big gallery in white marble with some rich guy’s name on it. It is probably too late for both places to be recolonized by the British and have them build a tasteful gallery actually aimed at protecting and explaining the heritage.
Well my drink is empty and perhaps I should stop while I an ahead. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.