The island of Cyprus is occupied mainly by Greeks in the south and Turks in the north. One of the biggest stumbling blocks to any kind of north / south reunion is that Greek houses and land in the north have been occupied by Turks for nearly fifty years; churches have been pillaged or destroyed, with no one to look after them. Now, with three exceptions, the remaining Orthodox churches in the north will only be allowed to have religious ceremonies once a year. Speaking to a Turkish Cypriot newspaper, the minister responsible for this new policy said they were restricting ceremonies rather than forbidding them. One reason for this decision is the large numbers of people crossing the border from south to north to attend services in the churches where they used to worship. The division between the two parts of Cyprus is one of the most politically contentious anywhere in the world, dating back to 1974. See also