A Brief History of Cyprus' Recent Past

The recent history of Cyprus provides an important insight into why the island is divided today and how the Turkish Cypriot people came to live under embargoes.

For thousands of years, Cyprus has been the home of diverse nations, conquered by many foreign rulers. Today, although the island remains geographically and ethnically divided into Turkish North and Greek South Cyprus, on both sides one still finds evidence of a mosaic of influences, including British, French, Italian, Lebanese and Persian, that reflects the island's rich cultural heritage.

Below is a brief summary of the recent key dates, from the Ottoman conquest of the island to the outbreak of the Cyprus conflict that raged from the 1950s to the war of 1974, together with important events up to the present day.

• The Ottomans defeated the Venetians to take the island in 1571, supported by the Greek Orthodox population of Cyprus who were now free of Catholic rule. The Turkish and Greek Cypriots, who were the two main ethnically distinct communities on the island, both flourished under Ottoman rule.
• In 1878 the Ottoman Government handed over the administration of Cyprus to Britain, whilst retaining its sovereignty of the island. This period saw the first major British involvement in the affairs of Cyprus.
• With the Ottoman Empire crumbling, the British annexed the island in 1914. This period was marked by a major agitation by Greek Cypriots for Enosis (the union of Cyprus with Greece), resulting in tensions between Greek and Turkish Cypriots.
• On 1 April 1955, the Greek Cypriots started a guerrilla war against British colonial rule, waged through a terrorist group called EOKA (National Organisation of Cypriot Combatants). Britain responded by forming a paramilitary police force of Turkish Cypriots.
• Between 1955 and 1959, inter-communal conflict erupts across the island as EOKA pushes for Enosis led by their leader Archbishop Makarios who is subsequently deported from Cyprus in 1956 in a bid to quell the troubles.
• Relations between Greek and Turkish Cypriots break down, with the Turkish side demanding TAKSIM (partition) for their own safety.
• At its height, more than 30,000 British troops are deployed to deal with EOKA, who were targeting all opponents including other Greek Cypriots. Up to 1,000 people were killed during the trouble of the 1950s and double this injured, predominantly through EOKA attacks.
• In 1959, Britain pulls together an agreement that has the backing of the two mother nations, Greece and Turkey. Under the Treaties of Guarantee and Independence, colonial rule would end. However, Britain would maintain sovereignty over its military bases and all three countries would act as Guarantors to ensure the rights and well-being of both communities on the island are preserved. The Treaties also set out a power-sharing formula that would allow the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities to govern the island jointly as political equals.
• In 1960, Cyprus became an independent republic. Its Constitution set out governance between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities, as well as safeguards to preserve the cultural rights of each ethnic group. For example the right for each community to govern separately their own educational, religious and sporting affairs, and for Greek and Turkish to become official languages of the new State.
• Evidence emerged that the Greek Cypriots were determined to overthrow the newly independent Republic of Cyprus from the very outset. On 21 December 1963, the Greek Cypriots implemented the infamous Akritas plan, resulting in a series of co-ordinated violent attacks on Turkish Cypriots in Nicosia, which quickly escalated to the rest of the island. The aim of the plan was to force the collapse of the infant Republic by terrorising Turkish Cypriots into accepting minority status, allowing Greek Cypriots to become the sole legitimate authority on the island.
• The savage onslaught against Turkish Cypriots lasted for 11 years, with sporadic and severe pogroms throughout.
• The international community, in a frantic effort to send a United Nations peace force to prevent the persecution of Turkish Cypriots passed UN Resolution 186 on 4 March 1964. In it, the UN refers to working with the "Government of Cyprus" to solve the problem. At this time, the Cypriot government was composed solely of Greek Cypriots, which went against both the Treaty of Guarantee and Cyprus' Constitution. By treating Greek Cypriots as the 'legitimate government' of the Republic of Cyprus at the expense of Turkish Cypriot rights, the UN inadvertently sealed the power struggle on the island, which continues until this very day.
• 1964 and 1967 resulted in some of the worst atrocities perpetrated against Turkish Cypriots - many commentators described the actions of the Greek Cypriot authorities as attempted genocide. Backed by a covert Greek military presence, Greek Cypriots ethnically cleansed Turkish Cypriots from 103 villages. In 1960 Turkish Cypriots owned 33% of the land; by 1974 half the Turkish Cypriot population had become refugees, condemned to live in enclaves covering just 3% of Cyprus. Hundreds were killed and buried in mass graves. More than 800 people were forcibly taken from their homes and workplaces by Greek Cypriot gunmen, never to be seen again.
• On 15 July 1974, the Greek Cypriot Government led by Archbishop Makarios was deposed by a terrorist organisation, EOKA-B, and the Greek army, who declared Enosis (Union with Greece). During this period, they began to attack and kill Turkish Cypriots with a renewed vigour, while the Greek invasion also led to the deaths of hundreds of Greek Cypriots who opposed the coup.
• The deposed Archbishop Makarios arrived in New York and pleaded at the UN on 19 July for the other two Guarantor Powers to rescue Cyprus and its people, as required by The 1960 Treaty of Guarantee. Britain refused to act, but Turkey intervened on 20 July 1974.
• Even after Turkey's arrival, there were other acts of genocide against Turkish Cypriots. On 14 August, 84 Turkish Cypriots were seized from the village of Tochni, in the Larnaca district, and executed by Greek Cypriot irregulars. In three other villages, Aloa, Maratha and Sandalari, where all the adult men had been taken away to prisoner-of-war camps in Limassol, the remaining villagers - from babies to the elderly - were found murdered and dumped in mass graves [this tragedy has been captured in a documentary called Voice of Blood II by Greek Cypriot director Antonis Angastiniotis].
• Within 30 days of arriving, Turkey's action had stopped all the bloodshed on the island - a feat the UN had not been able to achieve in 10 years it had been on the island. A safe haven was created for the Turkish Cypriots in the north of the island, allowing them to feel safe for first time since 1963.
• Greek Cypriots also suffered enormous trauma during the war of 1974 and its aftermath. In a series of retaliatory actions, many Greek Cypriots were killed or disappeared, never to be seen again, while a third of their population were displaced following the island's split into two ethnic zones.
• Under the terms of the 1975 Population Exchange Treaty agreed between the two sides, Greek Cypriots in North Cyprus were forced to leave their homes and became refugees, as did thousands of Turkish Cypriots from South Cyprus.
• After the events of 1974, the two communities tried to negotiate a political settlement, applying the principles of the 1960 Constitution to the new realities on the island. In the High Level Agreements of 1977 and 1979, both sides agreed to work towards creating a bi-zonal, bi-communal federal Cyprus.
• The failure of numerous UN-sponsored talks between the two sides eventually led to the declaration of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in 1983. Yet this did not resolve the Cyprus situation as only the Greek Cypriot state in South Cyprus continued to receive international recognition, while Turkish Cypriots remained politically, socially and economically isolated.
• From 2001 the United Nations, under the auspices of Secretary General Kofi Annan, began more intensely to address the Cyprus Conflict. The two leaders at the time were TRNC President Denktas and South Cyprus President Klerides, who were subsequently replaced by Mr Talat and Mr Papadopoulos.
• On 21 April 2003, the Turkish side announced it would open its side of the Ledra Palace checkpoint in the capital Nicosia, prompting the Greek side to agree to the same. On 23 April, the borders came down for the first time in thirty years, allowing Cypriots to cross freely into the other zone.
• The new UN initiative culminated in the Annan Plan, which was formulated after protracted negotiations with both sides as well as with Greece and Turkey. Two separate and simultaneous referenda were held on 24 April 2004, with the plan approved by 65% of Turkish Cypriots, whereas 76% of Greek Cypriots rejected it.
• South Cyprus had been guaranteed entry into the European Union on 1 May 2004, regardless of the result of the Annan Plan referendum. Many commentators now believe this was a major tactical error by the international community, as well as a serious breach of EU protocol to give membership to a divided country.
• In February 2008, Demetrius Christofias was elected leader of South Cyprus on a mandate to solve the Cyprus Problem, even though he and his AKEL party were part of the 'No' camp in the run up to the Annan Plan referendum.
• Following the Presidential elections in South Cyprus, the TRNC President Talat wanted direct negotiations to start immediately with a fixed deadline to settle the dispute, but his counterpart Christofias was against this. It wasn't until 3 September 2008 that fully fledged negotiations started. In July of the same year, the UN appointed Alexander Downer, the former Australian Foreign Minister, as the UN Secretary General's Special Advisor, to help facilitate the talks.
• Following the 2004 referendum, world leaders pledged to end the isolation of North Cyprus. The Turkish Cypriots are still waiting for these promises to be fulfilled.