Cyprus was a Geography and places good article nominee, but did not meet the good article criteria at the time. There are suggestions on the review page for improving the article. Once these are addressed, the article can be renominated. Editors may also seek a reassessment of the decision if they believe there was a mistake. Reviewed version: November 2, 2009

This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Cyprus article.
This is not a forum for general discussion of the article's subject. Put new text under old text. Click here to start a new topic. Please sign and date your posts by typing four tildes (~~~~). New to Wikipedia? Welcome! Ask questions, get answers.	Be polite Assume good faith Avoid personal attacks Be welcoming	Article policies No original research Neutral point of view Verifiability
Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

	Cyprus is a former featured article candidate. Please view the links under Article milestones below to see why the nomination failed. For older candidates, please check the archive.
December 15, 2006 Featured article candidate Not promoted

This article is within the scope of multiple WikiProjects. Click [show] for further details.

WikiProject Countries (Rated C-Class) CountriesWikipedia:WikiProject CountriesTemplate:WPCountriescountry articles Geography portal v • d • e This article is within the scope of WikiProject Countries, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Countries on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.  C  This article has been rated as C-Class on the project's quality scale. This article has not yet been checked against the criteria for B-Class status: Referencing and citation: not checked Coverage and accuracy: not checked Structure: not checked Grammar and style: not checked Supporting materials: not checked Accessibility: not checked To fill out this checklist, please add the following code to the template call: | b1 <!--Referencing & citations--> = <yes/no> | b2 <!--Coverage & accuracy --> = <yes/no> | b3 <!--Structure --> = <yes/no> | b4 <!--Grammar & style --> = <yes/no> | b5 <!--Supporting materials --> = <yes/no> | b6 <!--Accessibility --> = <yes/no> assessing the article against each criterion. WikiProject Countries To-do List: edit · history · watch · purge Help Reach FA Status: Afghanistan, Ecuador, Russia, United States of America, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Saudi Arabia Review and Assess: All De-Stub: None Create: Every nation has a WikiPage, but please add to those in need. Create: more "Wildlife of ....." articles for all countries; See Wildlife of India for reference. Add Gini coefficient to each country. See: Wikipedia:Bot requests/Archive 11#Can anyone create a bot that take Gini Coefficients from a page and add them in each country ? Template talk:Infobox Country/Archive 5#Adding Income inequality / Gini Index Update all national militaries with {{Infobox National Military}}. WikiProject Western Asia (Rated B-Class) Western AsiaWikipedia:WikiProject Western AsiaTemplate:WikiProject Western AsiaWestern Asia articles v • d • e This article is within the scope of the WikiProject Western Asia, which collaborates on articles related to Western Asia. To participate, you can edit this article or visit the project page for more details.  B  This article has been rated as B-Class on the project's quality scale.  ???  This article has not yet received a rating on the project's importance scale. WikiProject Europe (Rated B-Class) EuropeWikipedia:WikiProject EuropeTemplate:WikiProject EuropeEurope articles Europe portal v • d • e This article is within the scope of WikiProject Europe, an effort to build a comprehensive and detailed guide to European topics of cross-border nature on Wikipedia.  B  This article has been rated as B-Class on the project's quality scale.  ???  This article has not yet received a rating on the project's importance scale. WikiProject Cyprus (Rated B-Class, Top-importance) CyprusWikipedia:WikiProject CyprusTemplate:WikiProject CyprusCypriot articles Cyprus portal v • d • e This article is within the scope of WikiProject Cyprus, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Cyprus on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.  B  This article has been rated as B-Class on the project's quality scale.  Top  This article has been rated as Top-importance on the project's importance scale. Version 1.0 Editorial Team     (Rated B-Class) This article has been reviewed by the Version 1.0 Editorial Team. This article has been selected for Version 0.5 and subsequent release versions of Wikipedia. Additional information: B This article has been rated as B-Class on the assessment scale. Top This article has been rated as top-Importance on the assessment scale. This article is included in the 2006 Wikipedia CD Selection, or is a candidate for inclusion in the next version. Please maintain high quality standards and, if possible, stick to GFDL-compatible images.

A fact from this article was featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the On this day... section on August 16, 2004, October 1, 2004, August 16, 2005, October 1, 2005, October 1, 2006, October 1, 2007, October 1, 2008, and October 1, 2009.

This subject is featured in the Outline of Cyprus, which is incomplete and needs further development. That page, along with the other outlines on Wikipedia, comprise Wikipedia's Outline of Knowledge, which also serves as the table of contents or site map of Wikipedia.

Find sources: "Cyprus" — search, news, books, scholar, images

Contents 1 Good article nomination 2 Map 3 GA Review 4 part of this article is biased / opinionated 5 "Eurasian island" 6 pictures 7 Population and Education 8 Crosslinks 9 Whoever wants to visit Cyprus?

[edit] Good article nomination

I've nominated this for "good article" status, as the old edit wars seem to have finally calmed and a stable article is emerging. It would be nice to get to Featured Article status one day, but that's probably impossible given the nature of the topic: however, this is at least a start. Vizjim (talk) 09:20, 5 October 2009 (UTC)

Sorry, but how can this article become featured if the information on the page is incorrect? As you may have noticed this article is rather biased. In order for it to become a feature the article should aim to feature both cultural aspects of Cyprus, forget the war, that just brings up bitterness on both sides! just include relevent information about Cyprus now. 94.171.217.54 (talk) 18:38, 16 October 2009 (UTC)

I have to say this for Turkish people, we aren't spell Southern Cyprus Republic to Republic of Cyprus. So This article's name must change to Southern Cyprus Republic.(Güney Kıbrıs Cumhuriyeti) Because some countries don't accept cyprus one country. Note: Sorry, my english is terrible... --Ozozcan (talk) 11:33, 25 October 2009 (UTC)

Hi Ozozcan - Actually, all countries apart from Turkey recognise the Cypriot government as the government of Cyprus. Only the Turkish government has another policy. Vizjim (talk) 16:40, 25 October 2009 (UTC)

Not just Turkey, Pakistan and Turkey but Pakistan isn't very important. And yes you're right. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ozozcan (talk • contribs) 14:19, 29 October 2009 (UTC)

If you have evidence that Pakistan recognizes the TRNC, could you add it to Foreign relations of Northern Cyprus? As far as I know, your statement is not correct. I certainly wouldn't view Pakistan as "not very important." Vizjim (talk) 19:27, 29 October 2009 (UTC)

The idea that this is a good article is ridiculous. No objective editor is going to look past all the bias loaded inclusions and accept this nomination. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.135.27.28 (talk) 14:06, 15 November 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Map

I propose changing the map of Cyprus in the article — would it not be better to have one where the island was centralised, as is the case with most country articles, rather than being pushed aside to the corner? Additionally, as the map is EU-centric, a neutral version might appear more fair, especially as it would serve its geographical purpose instead of taking a social or political approach. Even the matter of the EU's position on "Northern Cyprus" makes it more complicated; some EU maps I've seen cut the island in half when highlighting member states. Furthermore, a neutral map would also be more representational of Cyprus being geographically in Asia and having been historically considered to be "Eastern" or "Oriental" compared to mainland Europe (a view apparent in a large amount of Colonial literature; and one which, arguably, stems back to Herodotus: NB: Irwin, Elizabeth K., Reading Herodotus: A Study of the Logoi in Book 5 of Herodotus' Histories, p.273, 2007). —Olympian (talk) 17:34, 16 October 2009 (UTC)

I see little reason to as yet. Other things mentioned aside, maps for all EU countries are similar in format. Bosonic dressing (talk) 19:08, 16 October 2009 (UTC)

[edit] GA Review

This review is transcluded from Talk:Cyprus/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Reviewer: SilkTork *^YES! 17:12, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

GA review – see WP:WIAGA for criteria

1. Is it reasonably well written?

   A. Prose quality:

   B. MoS compliance:

2. Is it factually accurate and verifiable?

   A. References to sources:

   B. Citation of reliable sources where necessary:

   C. No original research:

3. Is it broad in its coverage?

   A. Major aspects:

   B. Focused:

4. Is it neutral?

   Fair representation without bias:

5. Is it stable?

   No edit wars, etc:

6. Does it contain images to illustrate the topic?

   A. Images are copyright tagged, and non-free images have fair use rationales:

   B. Images are provided where possible and appropriate, with suitable captions:

7. Overall:

   Pass or Fail:

I will look over the article over the next few days and give an initial impression. SilkTork *^YES! 17:12, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

I am struck that there are a number of sections which are uncited - indeed there are several "uncited" tags on the article. SilkTork *^YES! 17:32, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

I've only looked back a few edits and I note that there have been a number of reverts. Most of the reverts are of IP vandalism, so I will semi-protect the article, and then consider if the other reverts amount to significant edit warring. SilkTork *^YES! 10:05, 25 October 2009 (UTC)

The lead section needs to be a summary of the article. See WP:Lead. There should be an overview of the history of Cyprus in both the lead and the introduction to the history section. SilkTork *^YES! 10:11, 25 October 2009 (UTC)

Images are OK for GA criteria, though many of them need information to be completed. Also, consideration needs to be given to the amount and usefulness of some of the images - the transportation section in particular is rather cluttered - and we have six maps of the island. SilkTork *^YES! 10:25, 25 October 2009 (UTC)

To bring an article about a country to GA status is quite difficult as there is so much to cover. In the case of Cyprus the recent political situation makes that task even harder. I should imagine that there has been some difficulty in covering that aspect because of the differences of opinion between Greek and Turkish Cypriots - and that is probably why there is not a section devoted to the issue rather than information being scattered in the history and government sections.

In addition tourism is not adequately covered, nor is there adequate discussion of notable sites such as Kourion. SilkTork *^YES! 10:38, 25 October 2009 (UTC)

I think there are a number of issues with this article, and it would be very difficult to address them all in a short space of time. I am stopping my assessment and I will contact the nominator to discuss the matter. The options are to put this on hold to see if progress can be quickly made to address the concerns, or to close this review and let the article build for a while before applying again for GA status. SilkTork *^YES! 10:43, 25 October 2009 (UTC)

Putting on hold allow time for nominator (or other interested party) to respond to my concerns. If there is no response by the start of November I will close this review as a fail. SilkTork *^YES! 10:31, 26 October 2009 (UTC)

I've started working on the article. My plan is to start with the history section and work my way down, leaving the lead for last. Any comments/suggestions would be tremendously appreciated. Best, --Athenean (talk) 03:02, 29 October 2009 (UTC)

I've spoken with the nominator who agreed that the current review should be closed to allow editors more time to deal with the issues - User_talk:Vizjim#Cyprus_article. However I will keep the review going if I see more positive work on the article, such as that done by Athenean. I'll make time later to finish the assessment. SilkTork *^YES! 10:42, 29 October 2009 (UTC)

I will give a hand too.Alexikoua (talk) 10:47, 29 October 2009 (UTC)

I am closing this as a fail. I think there are too many issues to resolve in a short space of time, and there needs to be an agreement on the terminology of the location that uses reliable sources (other encyclopedias say "an island in the eastern Mediterranean). While discussions like this: Talk:Cyprus#.22Eurasian_island.22 are happening it indicates it is too soon for the article to be reviewed. I'd be quite willing to review this when it has been suitably sourced, the lead has been written to follow WP:Lead, and there is a general agreement as to how the article should be presented and structured. The question of where etymology information belongs in Wikipedia articles is under discussion - however, the guidelines do currently suggest that the information is placed in the history section. It is usually wise to follow guidelines when going for a GA status. SilkTork *^YES! 11:47, 2 November 2009 (UTC)

A clearer reference corroborating the location terminology has since been added. [1] That should settle the matter. Nonetheless, while the article is not up to GA standard yet, to use the location issue as the dominating rationale to fail the nomination (by gauging how much of the above comment is devoted to it) is preposterous. Bosonic dressing (talk) 05:22, 27 November 2009 (UTC)

[edit] part of this article is biased / opinionated

where the article talks about prostitution, it refers to Cyprus as a portal from which prostitutes enter the European Union. There is no evidence to back this and it is pure speculation. In the same section, it is also noted that some laws are not enforced properly and it talks about "the republic in the north" and law enforcement there. This article is about the Republic of Cyprus and not about an unrecognized group who call themselves a republic in the north. This section of the article fails to distinguish between the goverment controlled areas and the turkish controlled areas and thus talks in general about things that do not apply in both sides. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.109.71.121 (talk) 00:58, 29 October 2009 (UTC)

I also found that section a concern. SilkTork *^YES! 01:18, 29 October 2009 (UTC)

The situation has changed since that paragraph was written (though its point about Cyprus being a route for trafficking is backed up by two references, and the fact that the US State Department places it on Tier 2 for trafficking). The current government has made some good efforts towards overcoming sexual exploitation of foreign workers. I will update as/when. Vizjim (talk) 19:33, 29 October 2009 (UTC)

There is also a bias issue in the part which discusses the Turkish intervention in '74. It heavely favor<script type="text/javascript" src="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Omegatron/monobook.js/addlink.js&action=raw&ctype=text/javascript&dontcountme=s"></script>s the Greek Cypriot side of the <script type="text/javascript" src="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Omegatron/monobook.js/addlink.js&action=raw&ctype=text/javascript&dontcountme=s"></script>st<script type="text/javascript" src="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Omegatron/monobook.js/addlink.js&action=raw&ctype=text/javascript&dontcountme=s"></script>ory and only mentions the negative aspects of the Turks, not the Greeks who (if not equally so) were atleast partially to blame for the incident and treated Turkish Cypriots no better than the Turks treated them. As an American, I also find it somewhat offensive when the article insinuates that the U.S. aided the Turkish invasion. There is no evidence that the Turks used U.S. intelligence, and throughout the crisis the U.S. pleaded for both sides to use restraint. I think more discretion needs to be used and the writer should stick to the facts and the facts alone. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.218.40.66 (talk) 23:52, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Also, the article gives an effect, that Cyprus isn't a seperate country. Cyprus is seperated by Turkish and Greek Cypriots. Turkish cypriots don't live in the south. And, the article must write cyprus as a seperate country. The nortern part of the island doesn't belong to Greeks! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Omerli (talk • contribs) 15:32, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

In fact, there is a small Turkish Cypriot population in the south, around 5,000 people.Vizjim (talk) 08:49, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

The name of the article must change as"Southern Cyprus Republik". —Preceding unsigned comment added by Omerli (talk • contribs) 15:38, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

Yes, this article is a joke article about an imaginary place, a united island of Cyprus. What next, an article about modern Europe that suggests it is still all part of an ongoing Roman Empire. The number of Wikipedia rules and guidelines this article breaks must be many. Meowy 22:39, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

The article follows international norms that do not recognise the right of conquest claimed by Turkey. It also states in its earliest paragraphs (and elsewhere) that the island is de facto but not de jure divided, which is the actual situation however much your own biases lead you to believe it should be otherwise. Vizjim (talk) 08:47, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Wrong. This article follows the POV opinions of a little clique of editors who have no interest in reality. A Wikipedia article is meant to reflect and explain things as they are, not as some editors would like them to be. Meowy 16:48, 24 November 2009 (UTC)

Sources? Specific criticisms? Maybe you could actually try editing the article? Vizjim (talk) 17:18, 24 November 2009 (UTC)

I've already given my specific criticism: this article is about an imaginary place, a united island of Cyprus. I won't be editing this article have because it is probably owned by a clique of editors who will just revert or remove anything that moves this article beyond its current unsatisfactory state. Meowy 03:42, 26 November 2009 (UTC)

[edit] "Eurasian island"

To me, this is meaningless as well as inelegant. What is a "Eurasian" island? I have never heard that term in the literature. Cyprus is an island, so it is not part of the Eurasian landmass. Is Japan a "Eurasian" island? Is Rhodes? Do we say that Sicily is a "Eurafrican" island? I don't see why Cyprus should be singled out in this manner. To me, the most elegant solution is "Cyprus is an island country in the Mediterranean". The "Eurasian" bit is clunky as well as unnecessary. Anyone who looks at the map can see where Cyprus is located with respect to the major landmasses. We don't need to tell them. --Athenean (talk) 01:16, 1 November 2009 (UTC)

The concept of Eurasia is well documented, and any online search will reveal a multitude of references both germane to Cyprus and not. We do not say that the Italian island of Sicily is Eurafrican (though that is not inaccurate) as that is not necessarily required and given its proximity to Italy (Europe) ... but it is in this case given the ambiguous nature of the country's location (subject to prior edit warring) and various conflicting sources (which may say it is in Asia or Europe). Bosonic dressing (talk) 01:21, 1 November 2009 (UTC)

No source on Cyprus that I have seen describes it as "Eurasian" [2]. I searched each of these books for "Eurasian" and...nothing. I will look at encyclopedias as well, but I'm rather skeptical any of them describe Cyprus as such. I think it's best to let the map do the talking. "Cyprus is an island country in the Mediterranean" is about as neutral as it gets, and far more elegant than "Eurasian". If you want to minimize edit-warring, that's probably the way to go. Lastly, what about Malta or Lampedusa? They too are close to Africa and their position is ambiguous, and we could easily say that they are "Eurafrican". But we don't, do we? --Athenean (talk) 01:59, 1 November 2009 (UTC)

CIA World Factbook: [3], Lonely Planet [4], EU [5], Library of Congress [6]. All describe Cyprus as a Mediterranean island. None do as a "Eurasian island". Islands are described in terms of which body of water they are in. Not which landmass they are closest to. It just doesn't make sense to describe an island in terms of the nearest landmass. --Athenean (talk) 02:05, 1 November 2009 (UTC)

Actually, the CIA includes it in the Middle East (using a map of Europe to locate it), the EU website refers to it also (obviously) as a European country, Lonely Planet notes it flows on the waters of the "European Mediterranean", etc.

Inexactitude aside, its fairly common in geopolitics: a link has been provided to a volume about Eurasia that devotes an entire chapter to Cyprus; other notations can be found.[7] The fact that it is described as a Mediterranean island is not in dispute, but the long-standing lead appears to have been constructed to preclude edit warring by those who opt to mention that it is part of Asia (given its proximity to Anatolia) OR Europe (given its history and EU membership) -- which a host of sources also indicate in some measure -- when it is arguably a component of both. That mention was removed without comment, and I challenge why. And, of course it makes sense to describe an island in relation to what body of water it is in AND the nearest landmass -- after all, Japan, Indonesia, and a host of other territories are explicitly described this way. Cyprus is little different. As for Malta and Lampedusa, that's for their respective editors to decide. I'm frankly unsure where the skepticism is coming from. Bosonic dressing (talk) 03:29, 1 November 2009 (UTC)

Actually, 'Eurasian' means virtually nothing here: 36% of earth's land is 'Eurasia'. 'Mediterranean' is for sure a more specific term.Alexikoua (talk) 17:33, 1 November 2009 (UTC)

If one supplanted that with 'Asian', which is 30% of the Earth's landmass, it would mean almost as much and be more pointed (as has been done, and for which there is very strong rationale) -- many other articles do just that when it comes to describing similar locales. Take a gander at the article leads of the states in the Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia) and you get the drift. Bosonic dressing (talk) 17:50, 1 November 2009 (UTC)

A clearer reference corroborating the location text has since been added. [8] That should settle the matter. Bosonic dressing (talk) 05:17, 27 November 2009 (UTC)

[edit] pictures

just a little detail: those leaves next to the halloumi cheese are not mint leaves, but parsley leaves.

Mrtyalcin (talk) 10:04, 2 November 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Population and Education

The new estimate for the population on Jan 1st 2009 is 796 875 Source: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&language=en&pcode=tps00001&tableSelection=1&footnotes=yes&labeling=labels&plugin=1

Education: % of the GDP spent on Education: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&language=en&pcode=tsdsc510&plugin=1

% of GDP spent on education privately: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&language=en&pcode=tps00068&plugin=1

Foreign language learning: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&language=en&pcode=tps00056&plugin=1

Expenditure on Education based on GDP per capita: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&language=en&pcode=tps00069&plugin=1

Tertiary Education: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_PUBLIC/3-28042009-AP/EN/3-28042009-AP-EN.PDF —Preceding unsigned comment added by WhiteMagick (talk • contribs) 14:00, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Crosslinks

Somehow I cannot edit this page, may be due to my account being Dutch. However, the page for northern Cyprus exists, but it doesn't show in the disthinguish template because the crosslink is wrong. If someone able to edit could change;

to

it would work. HoundDog (talk) 18:42, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Thanks
Link to disambiguation works as well, whatever everyone prefers. Just thought I'd clear up that the page exists but the link was simply wrong - HoundDog (talk) 20:13, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Whoever wants to visit Cyprus?

Whoever wants to visit cyprus. They can see there are two countries in the island. It is clear that the south cyprus rules don't work north of the island! People who are asking refference this is so clear just come and visit. Maverick16 (talk) 19:47, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

However There is a border between two country. Maverick16 (talk) 19:48, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

While it is true that Cyprus is de facto partitioned, your additions are unnecessary, as the info you have put into the lead is already mentioned several times in the article (lead, infobox, History and Geography sections). Don't be surprised if it is removed. --Athenean (talk) 20:30, 22 November 2009 (UTC)