Cyprus is both a meeting point and a point of confrontation between the East and the West. After becoming fully Greek, at the beginning of the 11th century BC, Cyprus is marked out as a large Greek island sharing much of the fortunes of its metropolis, that of mainland Greece. Assyrians, Lusignans, Venetians, Persians, Egyptians and Ottomans all set foot on the island. Having won its independence from the British through armed struggle, half of Cyprus’s territory was doomed to fall once again to the Turks in 1974. Greek Cypriots look towards metropolitan Greece and the common heritage they both share, in their struggle for a united, independent and undivided Cyprus.