Why is the culture of Cyprus mostly Greek? It seems given its location that it would be closer to Semitic or Arabic than anything Greek but over thousands of years it has remained mostly Greek in culture. Why?
Cyprus was settled by Greeks in the late Bronze Age. Throughout the Archaic and Classical periods, despite the regional dominance of Eastern powers like the Assyrian and Persian empires, Cyprus remained inhabited chiefly by Greeks, living in Greek city-states and participating in the trappings of Greek culture.
That said, its eastern location and proximity to great cultures like Egypt, Assyria and the Phoenician city-states made it a hotbed of cultural interaction and interchange. Modern DNA research confirms that the population is of very mixed origin, with people having moved to the island from all parts of the Levant as well as from mainland Greece to contribute to the gene pool. Cyprus was a trade hub for the Eastern Mediterranean; it was probably the conduit through which most of the "orientalising" features of Greek culture (art and architecture, luxury items, the alphabet) found their way west.
This is probably the reason why Cyprus, like other regions on the fringes of the Greek world, was always a bit odd. For one thing, it retained monarchy as the prevailing form of government long after the city-states of the mainland had switched to oligarchies and democracies. For another, its proximity to the great eastern empires forced it to find a place in the Mesopotamian world order. It was conquered by the Assyrians in the 8th century BC, by the Egyptians in the early 6th century BC, and by the Persians in the later 6th century BC. It rebelled against Persia along with the Ionian cities in 499 BC, but its rebellion was quickly crushed. The Athenians tried to liberate the island in the late 450s BC, but their expedition ended with the death of their great general Kimon and the withdrawal of the fleet to Egypt, where it was destroyed. The island tried to gain independence under King Evagoras of Salamis in the 380s BC, but the Persians responded in force, and Evagoras was forced into a settlement. Cyprus rebelled again in the 350s BC, but the rebellion was again put down by the Persians.
Nevertheless, all this time the communities on Cyprus remained unquestionably Greek; the island was part of Greek mythology and featured in the works of Homer. Its Greekness took hold early and never left, even with later conquest by the Crusaders, the Venetians, and the Ottomans.
Follow up question, why did Greek culture stick in some colonies, but not others?