Fur flies as divided Cypriots fall out over breed of cats

For the normally bone-dry Brussels information network EurActiv.com, it must have made a refreshing change from stories dealing with the Lisbon treaty and the future of enlargement.

"A row over cats has erupted between Cyprus and Turkey," its website reported last week, "adding a surprising new flavour to a long-standing stalemate between the communities of the divided island and its difficult relationship with Turkey."

The cats in question are the "aphrodite giants", a beautiful, extremely large and gentle-natured creature, and the equally attractive St Helena breed. Not surprisingly, the Cypriot Feline Society (CFS) is attempting to register the breeds as national cats, but allegations have emerged of a plot to claim the cats for the Turkish north of the country, depriving Greek Cypriots of breeds that have begun to win prizes abroad.

The CFS fears Turkish-Cypriots are keen on cross-breeding the aphrodite and the St Helena with a Turkish cat and registering the new breeds as Turkish.

"The cat belongs to its people," said the popular daily Politis. "The Cyprus Feline Society, as it must, has taken the initiative to stop the efforts of foreigners - and particularly Turkey - to cross their own cats with the Cypriot kind, [efforts] that are aimed at changing and, as suspected, perverting yet another of the island's historical realities."

Thirty-five years after the Turkish invasion, Cyprus remains a divided and suspicious island. But this is the first time it has come down to cats.

The Archbishop of Cyprus, Chrysostomos II, has made his feelings clear: "It goes without saying that, as these breeds belong to the history and tradition of our country, the church will support in any way the effort being made [on behalf of the Cypriot cat]."

Teresa Litherland, a British breeder living in Cyprus, is the main breeder of the aphrodite giant, having successfully bred two local cats after retiring to the island four years ago. Starting a political fracas involving the Orthodox church, the Cypriot Chamber of Commerce and Green Party was "the very last" thing on her mind, she said.

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