NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Barbed wire-topped walls stretch across the narrow, twisted streets of Nicosia's walled medieval city, where abandoned buildings extend across a no-man's land.
To be sure, the north has long languished as an economic backwater, while the Greek Cypriots in the south enjoyed a post-invasion financial boom that many dubbed an 'economic miracle' and led to decades of sustained growth, eventually allowing them to clinch coveted EU membership.
For Greek Cypriots, being part of the euro club now seems in many ways a shackle — because of the harsh conditions imposed on staying inside, and the even more frightening consequences of leaving.
To the south of the dividing line, the Greek Cypriot economy recovered fast from the invasion, eventually turning its part of the island into an off-shore banking hub that grew to dwarf the island's gross domestic product by eight times — something economists had long warned was unsustainable.
European officials rushed to patch together some kind of rescue, but insisted that ordinary Greek Cypriot savers had to contribute, too.
A new last-minute bailout agreement sparing ordinary savers averted disaster — but for Greek Cypriots, the economic pain is probably just beginning.
Turkey suffered a deep financial crisis in 2001 that forced the country to overhaul its banking system by restructuring and recapitalizing failed banks.
To be sure, the north has long languished as an economic backwater, while the Greek Cypriots in the south enjoyed a post-invasion financial boom that many dubbed an 'economic miracle' and led to decades of sustained growth, eventually allowing them to clinch coveted EU membership.
For Greek Cypriots, being part of the euro club now seems in many ways a shackle — because of the harsh conditions imposed on staying inside, and the even more frightening consequences of leaving.
To the south of the dividing line, the Greek Cypriot economy recovered fast from the invasion, eventually turning its part of the island into an off-shore banking hub that grew to dwarf the island's gross domestic product by eight times — something economists had long warned was unsustainable.
European officials rushed to patch together some kind of rescue, but insisted that ordinary Greek Cypriot savers had to contribute, too.
A new last-minute bailout agreement sparing ordinary savers averted disaster — but for Greek Cypriots, the economic pain is probably just beginning.
Turkey suffered a deep financial crisis in 2001 that forced the country to overhaul its banking system by restructuring and recapitalizing failed banks.
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