Cyprus dispute Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
"Cyprus dispute" refers to the dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots over Cyprus, an island in Mediterranean Sea. This dispute led to the de facto separation of the island into a mostly Greek speaking southern and a mostly Turkish speaking northern part, the latter being occupied by Turkish troops.
When British troops took over the island in 1878, the Cypriots requested the new occupying force to vacate the island. The bishop asked the first British governor to reunite the island with the Greek motherland. This was only the first of many voices in favor of a so-called Enosis (Ένωσις), the unification with Greece.
For Greek Cypriots - regarding themselves as ethnic Greeks -, Greece meant not only a shared culture, language and religion, but also the hope for economic development - the general living conditions were bad, as the British crown did not invest much into the island. The Turkish Cypriots, however, were very skeptical of the Enosis as they feared a following oppression from the Greeks. They were mostly in favor of a continued colonial status, or a returning of the island to Turkey.
In the beginning, this dissension did not bear any consequences to either of the two ethnic groups. Only in the course of the events of the First World War, the Balkan Wars, the breaking up of the Ottoman Empire and the Asia Minor catastrophe, did the questions of nationality and citizenship gain importance among the Greek Cypriots. After the foundation of the Turkish state in 1923, this topic entered the discussions of Turkish Cypriots, and the first aggressions between the two ethnic groups started.
These social tensions led ot an uprise of Greek Cypriots against the British colony, in the course of which the house of the governor was burnt. These events led to the arrest of 2000 Greek Cypriots, the prohibition of all political parties and media censorship. Enosis Propaganda was prohibited too.
After the Second World War, the cry for Enosis became louder, but the British government did not want to give up an island in an exceptional strategical and geopolitical position such as Cyprus. In 1954, the Greek government started its involvement on the side of the Greek Cypriots; and in 1956 the Turkish government claimed for the island to be a continuation of the Turkish mainland. This gave an international dimension to the dispute, and the Cyprus Dispute was born. An important turning point in the conflict was shortly afterwards marked by the decision of the Cypriot archbishop Makarios III and his confidant General Grivas to fight for the Enosis using armed force.
April 1, 1955 saw the birth of the "National Organisation of Cypriot Combattants" (EOKA), an organisation seeking Enosis by force, when a series of bomb attacks hit the capital city of Nikosia. Even using house searching, curfews and mass arrests, the British could not gain control of the situation; so they decided to recruit an "anti-terrorist force" among the Turkish Cypriot population.
At the same time, a Turkish Cypriot group emerged on Cyprus - with the support of the Turkish govenment in Ankara - which wanted to
precipitate the division of the island, the Taksim, using armed force. A bloodshed seemed to be unavoidable. Then, on June
7, 1958, a bomb exploded in a Turkish press agency in Nikosia. This was the spark that lit the civil war
- Turkish Cypriots against Greek Cypriots. Mosques and Churches were set on fire, houses and apartments were looted, people were forced to leave their homes, and towns were divided into Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot districts. While the island had become a battlefield, Greece and Turkey were on the brink of war. The USA tried to settle the dispute, and even Makarios now declared that he did not necessarily hold on to the Enosis by all means.
The treaties of Zurich and London were concluded, laying down that Cyprus should be an independent state. Yet, the Cypriots did not take part in the drafting of the contracts - their only right was to sign them. Once again, they felt patronised by the British colonial power.
These treaties, however, emphasized the separation of the two ethnic groups: The Turkish Cypriots obtained the right to veto in all political matters, giving them the possibility to block majority decisions. The constitution with its multitude of ethnic clauses, made it even more difficult to develop a feeling of Cypriot nationality: One felt either Greek or Turkish. With the independence of Cyprus on August 16, 1960, Cyprus was free to go towards an uncertain future.
Most of the Greek Cypriots and their leadership (the majority of the population) found themselves in a state they did not approve of. The thought of Enosis was still quite alive, and the new constitution granted rights to the Turkish Cypriots that many of the Greek Cypriots regarded as exaggerated and unjustified. For the Turkish Cypriots, the new independence also meant resigning on some of their original demands. On the one hand, their demands for Taksim had not been implemented, on the other hand their political rights were clearly described in the new bicommunal constitution, and the guarantee treaties granted them protection from their Turkish motherland.
The constitution had a very bicommunal orientation: The post of president was always reserved to a Greek Cypriot, while the vice president was reserved to a Turkish Cypriot. Both of them had a right to veto, and were elected by their respective ethnic group only. The council of ministers featured a ratio of 7:3, with a guarantee for the Turkish Cypriots to obtain one of the "hard" ministries (Ministry of Finance, of Defense or of Foreign Affairs). For the distribution of administration posts, the ratio was the same. The implementation of the new constitution was very difficult. The Greek Cypriots considered the overproportional representation of the Turksh Cypriots and the veto right as inadequate. As a consequence, central federal bodies could not be established. The Cypriot armed forces, for instance, could not be created as the political leaders from both sides could not come to an agreement. In the end, the vice president used his veto right to completely impede the creation of the army. In the same way, the structure of the communal administration led to a lot of controversies: While the Turkish Cypriots were mostly in favor of a separate administration, the Greek Cypriots denied this wish; consequently, one side blocked the other with vetoes.
Right after the island's independence, a lot of paramilitary Greek Cypriot organisations emerged, mostly recruiting their members among the former EOKA staff. The latter group had officially dissolved in March 1959, with its leader Grivas returning to Greece. The weapons of the newly founded groups were combined left-overs of the former EOKA with newly acquired arms from the Greek army. The Turkish Cypriot community reacted by founding its own paramilitary organisation, the Türk Mukavemet Teskilati (TMT), which bought weapons from the Turkish troops that were stationed on the island.
On November 30, 1963, president Makarios presented a 13-point memorandum for changes to the constitution, including among others the abolishment of the veto rights. The Turkish government rejected these proposals. In this politically charged atmosphere, violent unrest ensued. Intercommunal violence erupted, leading to the deaths of 1000 Turkish and 200 Greek Cypriots. At the same time, Greece and Turkey (NATO member countries at the time) were on the brink of military conforntation. Following the armistice of December 24, 1963, the UN established the United Nations Peace-keeping Force on Cyprus (UNFICYP), and the two ethnic groups separated themselves. Furthermore, the Turkish Cypriots withdrew from the young republic's administration and government fearing for their own safety, thereby ending the "government of partnership". Most of the Turkish Cypriot population withdrew to enclaves. This relocation was and still is viewed by Turkish Cypriots as a forced expulsion from their homes, while most Greek Cypriots claim it happened out of free will. The enclaves formed an separate administration centering around the vice president Fasil Kücük, and demands for a complete separation of the two ethniae began to arise.
The Greek Cypriots imposed an embargo on the Turkish Cypriots, controlling the entries to the Turkish Cypriot enclaves. The UN, however, managed to make them lift the sanctions. The living conditions in the enclaves were very poor, even though the Turkish government sent food and supplies. Following the military putsch in Greece in 1967, president Makarios distanced himself from his earlier Enosis convictions, and began propagating the further independence of Cyprus. The Greek junta, however, began supporting armed Anti-Makarios groups. After some armed conflicts in the course of 1967, both sides reached an agreement and lived in relative peace until 1974. In 1971, Grivas - former leader of the EOKA - returned to Cyprus and started a guerilla war against Makarios.
As a reaction of the military putsch of Greek Cypriot nationalists against president Makarios in 1974, Turkey dispatched troops to the North of the island, with reference to the guarantee treaties as well as the Cypriot constitutional prohibition of annexation to other states. The "Green Line" was later fixed to be the "border" between the two ethnic groups. On November 15, 1983, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus declared itself as a republic, but up to date it is only recognised by the Turkish state. The TRNC covers about 3,400 square kms of the island (that is 37 %) and counts about 201,000 Cypriot inhabitants (1996). 30,000 Turkish troops and 100,000 settlers from Anatolia live there too. In 1992, Northern Cyprus joined the OATCT as an observer.
Since the declaration of independence of Cyprus in 1960, Great Britain still holds about 99 sq km sovereign territory: about 50 sq km west of Limassol, close to Episkopi, and another 50.5 sq km east of Larnaca. There are about 16,000 Cypriot and British people in the area.
The Turkish military invasion of 1974 changed the attitude of the United Nations towards the conflict on the island. By its resolution No 353 (external link), the UN Security Council called upon all states to "respect the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Cyprus" and demanded "an immediate end to foreign military intervention" as well as the "withdrawal ... of foreign military personnel present otherwise than under the authority of international agreements" (remark: the Turkish government claimed that their intervention was within the guarantee treaties, something which is heavily contested by the Greek government). After the second military intervention of Turkey on Cyprus, right after the failed negotiations in Geneva, the UN in its general assembly resolution 3212 demanded negotiations, which eventually took place in 1975.
During the Intercommunal Talks following the invasion, three agreements between the negotiating parties could be achieved. The first one was the agreement on the exchange of population, which allowed 60,000 Turkish Cypriots to settle in the North. On the other side, only a small percentage of Greek Cypriots were allowed to move to the South. These, however, were offered help from the part of the Northern administration to continue to live in relative normal conditions, including the right to practice their religion. This population exchange marked the completing of the segregation of the island into two parts. On February 12, 1977, Makarios and Denktaş signed an agreement laying the basis for further negotiations. Both sides agreed on their common aim to form an independent and bicommunal federal republic. The definition of the respective territory should be made according to the principles of economic potential, productivity and landownership. On March 19, 1979, Kyprianou - successor of the late Makarios - and Denktaş concluded an agreement consisting of 10 major points. In this agreement, both parties agreed that the agreement dating from 1977 and the UN resolutions should form the basis of further negotiations. The human rights as well as the civil rights of all citizens should be respected. Both parties agreed that the independence, sovereignty and non-alignment of Cyprus should be upheld; and it was also agreed that neither the island nor part of it would search to unite with any country, and that it was one country with no room for either Enosis or Taksim.
On May 16, 1983, the UN General Assembly passed the resolution no. 37/253, initiated by the Kyprianou (external link). The Greek Cypriots celebrated it as a victory on international level, while the Turkish Cypriots called it an "execution order". The resolution demanded "the immediate withdrawal of all occupation forces from the Republic of Cyprus", welcomed the proposal for total demilitarization made by the Greek Cypriots and considered "that the de facto situation created by the force of arms should not be allowed to influence or in any way affect the solution of the problem of Cyprus". The Turkish Cypriots' reaction was to declare the independence of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Only three days later, the UN Security Council declared this declaration of independence to be invalid. Ever since, only Turkey has recognised the Northern Cypriot state.
In September 1984, the negotiations continued in New York. At the end of the third round of negotiations, on November 24, 1984, the Secretary General made a proposal for an independent, non-aligned, federal and bizonal republic, in which both communities were to enjoy equal political status. The proposal also included the conceding of 25% of the territory the Turkish Cypriots controlled in 1974 to the Greek Cypriots and it also provided for the partial withdrawal of Turkish troops. The Turkish Cypriot leader of the negotiations, Rauf Denktaş, accepted the agreement with the provision that the Greek Cypriot side were to accept it without any changes. A breakthrough seemed possible. In January 1985, however, when the agreement was to be signed, Kyprianou hesitated, as the agreement only provided for a partial withdrawal of the Turkish troops, not a total one. He asked for a reopening of the negotiations. Kyprianou's hesitation was not met with full support from the Greek Cypriot population, especially the opposition heavily criticised him. The Foreign Secretary Rolandis did not agree with his position either, and took her leave a few weeks later. The Turkish Cypriots considered this position a rejection of the solution in form of a bizonal federal state. A new proposal worked out by the UN Secretary General Perez de Cuellar was rejected by Denktaş in April 1985, the reason being that the Turkish Cypriot side had not taken part in the working out of this plan.
The negotiations were stalled for a few years. Only when Vassiliou was elected president of the Republic of Cyprus in 1988 were the negotiations reopened. On January 30, 1989, the general conditions for the foundation of a federal republic and the solution of the Cyprus issue were presented to the UN. The talks between Vassiliou and Denktaş were conducted without help of the UN, but did not produce any results, as no compromise could be achieved regarding the level of sovereignty of the two constituent states.
The set of ideas, worked out by the UN Secretary General Perez de Cuellar, was the most extensive and detailed proposal for the solution of the Cyprus conflict up until then. Its intension was to have both parties distance themselves from former positions; it provided for the establishment of three basic rights, it denied however the Greek Cypriot demands that all Greek Cypriots should have the right to return to their former homes. The treaties of guarantee dating form 1960 were confirmed, leaving both Greece and Turkey with the right to station troops of equal force on the island. Vassiliou agreed to the set of ideas; this time, the negotiations were blocked by Denktaş, who rejected the planned border drawing.
After the failure of the set of ideas, the UN put a stress on confidence-building measures on Cyprus. These included a perceivable reduction of Turkish troops on Cyprus, a reduction of Greek Cypriot military expenses, bicommunal contacts on expert level, cooperation on the issue of fresh water supply (a topic problematic for both sides) and on the reopening of the airport of Nikosia, as well as the return of the abandoned city of Varosha to the Greek Cypriots. After a promising start of negotiations, these proposals failed to produce any results. The Greek Cypriots feared that these confidence-building measures would recognise the existence of a Turkish Cypriot state. In the end, the Greek Cypriot president Glafkos Klerides aborted the negotiations, accusing the UN to have unilaterally concluded deals with the Turkish Cypriots.
The application for accession to the European Union by the Republic of Cyprus in 1990 introduced another controversial topic into the discussion of the Cyprus situation. The Turkish Cypriot government as well as the Turkish one protested, claiming that the Greek Cypriot government could not claim sole representation of the island. While the Greek Cypriots praised the positive effect the accession would have on the solution of the Cyprus issue, Denktaş rigorously rejected this argumentation and put as conditions for his approval to the plan the EU membership of Turkey and the solution of the Cyprus question.
In June 1997, Klerides and Denktaş met in New York; the talks yielded no results, however both politicians agreed on discussing humanitarian questions during the following round of talks. The last round of negotiations took part in Switzerland in 1997, again without any results: The EU in the meantime had decided to invite the Republic of Cyprus for accession negotiations.
A possible reunification of the island will affect four parts with a different legal status:
On December 13, 2002, the European Union at its Copenhague summit ratified the accession of Cyprus, Malta, and eight Eastern European countries (cf. 2004 Enlargement) to take place on May 1st, 2004. The Cypriot parliament ratified the EU accession treaty on July 28, 2003. The internationally unrecognised TRNC is not a member of the EU; following international law, however, the Northern part of the island is part of the EU, because the whole island joined in 2004. Thus, the inhabitants of the Northern part (at least those that held the Cypriot citizenship in 1974 and their descendants) have the right to obtain a EU passport. Technically, the EU laws apply for the North as well as for the South. The main problem in the ongoing negotiations about the status of the island is not only the territorial and strategic situation (including the high number of Turkish troops), but also the status of the Anatolian settlers that moved to Northern Cyprus after the separation. A disputed issue is the handling of properties acquired by British, Swiss and Germans citizens in the North, who will face legitimate claims of return or reimbursement from their former Greek Cypriot owners. Both parties - the Anatolian settlers and the foreign citizens - ceded full authority to the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan for the solution of these questions, yet only the inhabitants of the Northern part responded in favor of the solution proposed at the referendum in April 2004.
The proposed government form was a confederation of two associated states. The Northern Turkish Cypriot state should emcompass about 28.5% of the total surface, the Southern Greek Cypriot one 71.5% (currently the Turkish army holds about 36% of the total surface). Kofi Annan had presented two different maps for the partitioning.
Each part having its own parliament, with a bicameral parliament on the federal level. In the House of Representatives, each ethnic group would have a representation according to its part of the total population (one third Turkish Cypriots, two thirds Greek Cypriots). The Senate would consist of equal parts of members of each ethnic group.
A demilitarisation was envisioned: A reduction of the stationed Turkish troops from 35,000 to 6,000 was planned; the Greek state would have had the right to station 4,000 troops on the island. Both states, as well as the British Crown, would have remained guarantors of the peace.
At the end of the final negotiations in Switzerland in March 2004, a consensus was not achieved. The aim of the negotiations was to reunify the island before the Enlargement of the EU in 2004. Under leadership of the UN and most especially Kofi Annan, the plan was revised several times. It provided for a confederation of the two parts according to the Swiss model, yet including a lot of constraints for the Greek Cypriots, most significantly a limited right of return to the Northern confederate state.
The referendum on April 24, 2004, put an end to the plan: While the Turkish Cypriots approved the plan with a two third majority, only one quarter of the Greek Cypriots voted in favor. For the plan to be put in effect, both parts of the island would have had to approve it. As a result, only the internationally recognised southern part of the island joined the EU on May 1, 2004.
Detailed results:
Enosis or Taksim - starting point of the conflict
The development between 1960 and 1974
The state of affairs
The constitution and its consequences
The heirs of the EOKA
The events of 1963 and their consequences
From the conflict to the Turkish Invasion
The Turkish occupation of Cyprus
Negotiations and developments between 1974 and 1979
How the negotiations began
Results of the negotiations
Negotiations and developments between 1980 and 1997
UN Resolution No. 37/253
The New York negotiations
The set of ideas
More measures taken by the UN
Endeavours on reunification and accession to the EU
Four parts with a different legal status
In the case of a reunification, the UN and the UK have already announced that they would give up at least part of their territories. Simultaneously, a tripling of the UN contingent is expected. Currently, however, the EU has decided to ignore the separation of the island and has thereby allowed the free travel of persons in both directions, for the first time since 1974.Cyprus' EU accession
The UN plan for the reunification of Cyprus (Annan Plan)
Final negotiations and referendum
| !Yes | No | Turnout | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (Turkish) | 64.90% | 35.09% | 87% |
| Republic of Cyprus (Greek) | 24.17% | 75.83% | 88% |
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