Composition : 99.99% Pure Silver
Mintage : 8,500

''[The]best defense to peace is not power, but the removal of the causes of war, and international agreements which will put peace on a stronger foundation than the terror of destruction''  - Lester B. Pearson

Keeping the Peace

It takes strength of character and a special sensitivity to maintain peace in a hostile environment. Such neutrality became essential during the 1950's while Britain was decolonizing areas of Asia and Africa. Multinational forceshad to intervene to prevent the outbreak of violence between Egypt and Israel during the Suez Crisis; and later, between Greek and Turkish communities following the declaration of independence of Cyprus.

Lester B. Pearson, then Secretary of State for External Affairs, and later Canada's 14th Prime Minister, was instrumental in bringing a diplomatic resolution to the Suez Crisis, a visionaryendeavour that popularized the word ''peacekeeping,'' and earnedPearson a Nobel Peace Prize. It was no surprise then, thatCanada was welcomed as a key participant in the United Nation's efforts to bring peace to Cyprus.

UNFICYP (United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus) began on March 27, 1964, and would prove to be Canada's longest peacekeeping mission. After a decade, peace was still elusive, and the conflict threatened to escalate during a coup d'etat. Canada's Colonel Clay Beattie, commander of the Canadian contingent and Chief of Staff to Indian Lieutenant-General Prem Chand, leader of the UN Forces in Cyprus, responded to the situation with a new style of peacekeeping - playing an active role between the adversaries rather than passively occupying the ground between them to supervise ceasefires and the withdrawal of troops.

Canadian battalions remained in Cyprus until the mid-1990's and a small group of observers is still present today. UNFICYP is now in its 50th year and has witnessed a minimum of one tour from virtually every infantry battalion in Canada, with armoured and artillery regiments also serving.

Over the years, Canada's role as a peacekeeping nation has evolved beyond its initial function as a neutral overseer to include delivering humanitarian aid, organizing and supervising elections, repatriating refugees,disarming warring factions, clearing mines, nurturing stable governments and human rights, as well as training police forces and the judiciary.

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50TH ANNIVERSARY OF CANADIAN PEACEKEEPING IN CYPRUS - 2014 CANADIAN COINS is categorised COINS AND PAPER MONEY / 08- ROYAL CANADIAN MINT / 02- FINE SILVER and sold by l'Imaginaire, a store and specialised website.