You may have heard of the “spoils of war” but I bet you haven’t heard of the “spoils of peace”… Yes, peace can equal prosperity and heaps of it. For an island for centuries plagued by a water shortage and for decades by an energy crisis, industry and citizen suffer its consequences without discrimination.  Meanwhile the Cyprus problem acts as a justification for the waiting game and the political failure in dealing with this severe handicap. Shackled by the weights of domestic division, only a Cyprus internally united and at peace with its neighbours can at long last tackle Cyprus’ dreaded water and energy crisis.  

NO LIFE AT ALL

For centuries Cyprus has been degenerated by annual water shortages. Moderate but also devastating to agriculture and horticulture, drought has reduced the once blooming farmlands of Mesaoria into a struggle for existence. In Guzelyurt / Morphou too, orangeries remain dry as a bone, while farmers count their losses. On a social level, water shortage can cause unnecessary havoc to people’s lives with some houses denied water supply for days while the more able are forced to drive miles to fill up their plastic containers. What’s worse, this year there is emergency rationing in place to deal with the water shortage.

But divided, Cypriots who have leapt forward into the 21st century with their luxury cars, cool gadgets and super fast motorways have yet to address the water shortage in their common island country; a basic amenity in most European countries. Politics between the two main Cypriot communities have long obstructed strategies to deal with this problem affecting all Cypriots while in Turkey water gushes freely into the sea, with excess water supplied to the Middle Eastern countries, whilst Cypriots are missing out.   
 

MISSING OUT

Yet Cypriots seem to missing out on other resources too. The new Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, a crude oil pipeline that covers 1,768 kilometres (1,099 mi) from the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli oil field in the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean Sea pumps oil to the port of Ceyhan, where tankers transport the oil to Europe and beyond. Opened in 2005, the pipeline has a projected lifespan of 40 years, and when working at normal capacity, beginning in 2009, will transport 1 million barrels (160 000 m³) of oil per day. It has a capacity of 10 million barrels of oil, which will flow through the pipeline at 2 metres (6.6 ft) per second, according to BP Caspian. Yet due to the lingering Cyprus problem, the purchasing of direct oil to Cyprus, less than a hundred kilometres away is restricted by a shipping embargo by Turkey on Greek Cypriot vessels. Transportation of oil, a blood line to Cyprus’ many industries thus remains restricted and involves expensive triangulation via third party ports. But there is no doubt that a direct delivery of Baku-Ceyhan oil to the island could slash fuel costs in Cyprus. 
 

ENERGY SOLUTION

For a growing island country with 2 million tourists combined resources can be scarce. Long suffering from an energy shortage, power cuts particularly in the north can last days while the cost energy increases. It is doubtful whether Cypriot power stations will be equipped to cope with a rising population and with increasing development. The energy issue like the water and fuel is yet another area that depends upon a reunified Cyprus at peace with its neighbours.

Meanwhile, Turkey plans to construct a Nuclear Power plant in Akkuyu, Southern Anatolia. To deal with its energy shortage and a growing population, the Turkish government plans three nuclear plants with a total of 4,500MWe by 2015. With a cost of $10-15 million the Nuclear Power Plants will address Turkey’s own energy crisis by providing cheap, clean and plentiful energy to industries as well as for personal use.

Again another one of the many spoils of peace, there is no doubt, a Cyprus reunited and at peace with its neighbours could import such energy from neighbouring Turkey. A vital issue for many states, in Britain’s latest Strategic Partnership Agreement with France, one of the key issues was the sale of electricity from France to meet growing British energy needs as France produces 85% of its electricity from nuclear power. With normalized relations with our own neighbours, Cyprus there will no doubt result in colossal savings for industry and individual savings for Cypriot households. 
 

COMMON STRATEGIES FOR COMMON PROBLEMS

As you can see the Cyprus problem seems to block everything. Consequently politicians on both sides of the divide have long used the Cyprus problem as a justification for playing the waiting and blaming games, while citizens suffer. Attempt to try to resolve the Cyprus problem part by part but this has always been unsuccessful and unfavoured by the international community. Strategies too have long been flawed by a series of unhealthy attitudes on both sides of the Green Line.

In the Republic, an historical aversion to all things Turkish by some nationalistic politicians is so ridiculous that it is beyond logic. Failing to address such issues as the water and energy crisis, real issues affecting Cypriots in their everyday lives, both nationalist and religious zealots have stated they would prefer Cyprus to turn into a desert. But despite the prosperity Cyprus, which is an EU member state, cannot avoid Turkey. Turkey is a subject that repeatedly appears on Greek Cypriot agenda and one from which there is no getting away from.

In the north, some politicians like the national Unity Party (UBP) have a phobia about meeting and resolving their problems with Greek Cypriots. They insist on the unrealizable, the recognition of the TRNC with lavish praise for their ‘motherland’ that even raises eye brows in Istanbul. But with a smattering of hotels, a region despoiled of its scenic beauty by unchecked construction, the north’s economy is stagnant and Turkish Cypriots hapless victims of this party’s isolationist policies over the past 33 years.

Dragooned into following nationalist policies that do not understand economics such parties like UBP have left a statelet teetering on the brink of bankruptcy with an unhealthy reliance of Turkey that even the Turks themselves resent. No closer to TRNC recognition no than they were 26 years ago, what is often forgotten is that Turkish Cypriots are sick of irksome restrictions and like their southern fellow Cypriots require a solution.

With common problems in a common island home, Cypriots need common strategies that can only be born out of a reunified Cyprus at peace with its neighbours. Sulking, resentment and nationalist animosity must be shunned by all and replaced by logic and reason with a vision of the future. Turkey's emerging market is one of the largest in the region and most promising.  Rather than be excluded, it is essential that all Cypriots benefit from such regional developments as the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline, and secure much needed water and energy supplies. Forget the spoils of war, let’s enjoy the spoils of peace.