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defensive or paranoid attitude based on the assumption of the hostility of others" 35 .
As the first definition can be applied literally to recent Cypriot history, the latter
two definitions also have some applicability. The above definition of a 'siege
economy' is relevant when applied to aspects of economic management and the
definition of a 'siege mentality' is relevant when applied to the dominant social and
political structures of the two societies.
With varying degrees of accuracy, both sides of Cyprus can be described as 'siege
economies'. The Turkish-Cypriot enclaved community experienced varying degrees
of life under siege between 1963 and 1974. After 1974 their economy in the north
conformed closely with the above definition of a 'siege economy', while a siege
mentality was not entirely absent from the attitude of commentators, administrators
and representatives, though this may not necessarily suggest paranoia. Import
controls existed from the foundation of the 'Turkish Federated State of Cyprus'
(1974) and "the export of capital is [still] curtailed" (as the creditors of Polly Peck
discovered to their cost). In the north, Turkish military involvement and the Greek-
Cypriot sponsored "embargo" are said to provide overwhelming constraints on
political pluralism and open market economics. Though the north is possibly, first
and foremost a strategic entity, where the rules of accountability, modern economic
management and efficiency take second place. This raises the question: to what
extent is the north an autonomous, sovereign economy which can be studied as
35 BrownL. (ed.) 1993. The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionarv on Historical Principies.
Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 2856.
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