Cyprus was declared an independent state on August 16, 1960. The constitution of the new state, which was defined by the Zürich and London Agreements, was drawn up in terms that explicitly defined the two main ethnic communities in Cyprus, the numerically larger Greek Cypriot community at approximately 80% of the total Cypriot population and the numerically smaller Turkish Cypriot community at approximately 18% of the total Cypriot population. These agreements were atypical in that they granted the numerically smaller Turkish Cypriot community political rights within the new republic greater than those of just an ethnic minority community. They were also atypical in that they placed certain limits within the constitution on the absolute independence of the new republic, with certain articles deemed unalterable as well as granting rights and responsibilities to the external guarantor states of Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom. The complexity and limits on the new Republic’s independence of these agreements was a reflection of the complex situation in Cyprus pre independence, where there was little or no cohesive pan Cypriot national identity, with each of the two main ethnic communities seeking to pursue purely ethnic based visions for Cyprus’ future. Pre independence the Greek Cypriot community, on the whole considering themselves Greeks that happened to live in Cyprus rather than Cypriots with a Greek ethnic background, sought a Cypriot future based on Enosis, the ceding of Cyprus to Greece, as a natural stage after the end of British rule and a fulfilment of the Greek nationalist Megali Idea. For the Turkish Cypriot community who also on the whole tended to see themselves as Turks that happened to live in Cyprus rather than Cypriots with a Turkish ethnic background, the idea of Cyprus being handed over to Greece after the end of British rule and of them becoming Greek citizens in a Hellenic republic, with them having no effective say as a community in this fundamental matter related to their own lives, was an anathema. Largely in response to calls from the Greek Cypriots community for enosis the Turkish Cypriot community developed the concept of Taksim, the partition of Cyprus into a Greek Cypriot controlled part, which would be free to pursue enosis as it saw fit and a Turkish Cypriot controlled part, despite the fact that the two ethnic communities were geographically intermingled throughout Cyprus and taksim by its very nature would have required mass population movements.[5] It is against this background that the Zürich and London Agreements were drawn up after lengthy negotiation principally by Greece Turkey and the United Kingdom and why they ended up being both complex and atypical granting the Turkish Cypriot community political rights disproportionate to their numerical numbers and containing permanent restrictions on the pursuit of both enosis and taksim alike. It is a common Greek Cypriot position that these agreements were imposed on them against their will by external powers and that despite Archbishop Makarios, as the recognised leader of the Greek Cypriot community putting his signature on them he did so only because he was forced too. There is no real doubt that great pressure was placed on Archbishop Makarios by both the United Kingdom and by Greece to sign the agreements, however it should also be pointed out that there is also little doubt that had the agreements been put before the two communities in referenda, which was not a legal requirement for them to carry legal validly, the two communities would have given their support to these agreements, as even the pro enosis authors of the Akritas plan were to admit.[6]

In the period from independence in 1960 to 1963 a series of disputes arose between the two communities over the implementation and interpretation of the agreements and constitution. These disputes centred on 70;30 ratio of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots in the public service mandated by the constitution but never achieved in practice, the establishment of separate municipalities as required by the constitution also not achieved, the use by the Turkish Cypriot leadership of its veto on tax legislation as a means of gaining leverage on the other areas of dispute and the status of the Turkish Cypriot vice president who constitutionally had a veto on foreign policy but complained of frequently not being informed of foreign policy initiatives by the Greek Cypriot foreign minister. Relations between the two communities became increasingly strained in this period and distrust on both sides grew with both sides preparing for physical confrontation with the establishment of armed irregulars as well as military officers from the two communities respective ‘motherlands’.[7] In November 1963 Archbishop Makarios, by then the first President of the Republic of Cyprus, proposed thirteen amendments to the constitution. It is claimed then and now that the intent of these amendments was simply to try and make the cumbersome 60’s agreements and constitution more workable and remove causes of friction. Whilst it is true that the amendments did address these issues they also removed nearly all of the political protections the Turkish Cypriot community had gained in the 1960 agreements and essentially represented a fundamental altering of the entire basis of the 1960 agreements.[8] The proposed amendments were immediately reject first by Turkey and then later by the Turkish Cypriot Vice- President Dr. Kutchuk. On 21 December 1963 a street brawl in a Turkish quarter in Nicosia between a Turkish Cypriot crowd and Yorgadjis’, the Greek Cypriot interior minister, plainclothes special constables was followed immediately by a major Greek Cypriot attack by the various para-military forces against the Turkish Cypriots in Nicosia and in Larnaca.[9] Against this background of a breakdown of internal security in Cyprus and inter-communal violence that threaten to bring into direct conflict the two NATO members of Greece and Turkey during the height of the cold war, the United Kingdom and the USA first tried to implement a neutral NATO force to be stationed within Cyprus to prevent further inter-communal conflict. The Makarios government blocked this move and the United Kingdom then raised the matter with the UN security council in a letter of 15 February 1964. The Makarios government also raised issues of alleged preparation by Turkey for an imminent and obvious invasion of Cyprus in a letter to the Security Council also on the 15 February 1964. The Security Council debated the unfolding crisis in Cyprus at its 1094th to 1103rd meetings from the 17 February to 4 March 1964,[10] the result of which was UN Security Council resolution 186 of the 4th March 1964,[11] which established a UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus that remains to this day.

By 1974, dissatisfaction among Greek nationalist right-wing elements in favour of the long-term goal of unification with Greece precipitated a coup d’etat against President Makarios which was sponsored by the military government of Greece and led by Greek officers in the Cypriot National Guard. The Greek military junta and their suporters attempted to assassinate President Makarios. The new regime replaced Makarios with Nikos Giorgiades Sampson as president, and Bishop Gennadios as head of the Cypriot Orthodox Church. Seven days after these events Turkey invaded Cyprus by sea and air on 20 July 1974. At the time Turkey claimed it was invading to uphold its obligation under the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee “to re-enstate the constitution of the Republic of Cyprus”. The coup was dissolved after strong resistance by the Greek Cypriot people, however the constitution was replaced only in the free areas of Cyprus, not under the Turkish occupation army. Talks in Geneva involving Greece, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the two Cypriot factions stalled and on August 12 Turkey offered a proposal for a communal system, with confederate cantons, and gave Greece 24 hours to accept.[12] The talks soon collapsed after Turkish planes attacked Nicosia,[13] and Turkish forces subsequently moved from the previous cease-fire lines to gain control of 37% of the island’s territory. During the invasion, 200,000 Greek Cypriots[14] were displaced from their home land. While this was happening, the entire Turkish Cypriot male population of Tokhni was massacred by Greek Cypriot paramilitaries in reprisal for the landings. Further mass graves were uncovered in Aloa, Sandalaris and Maratha.[15] As of today, there are still 1,468 Greek Cypriots and 502 Turkish Cypriots unaccounted for as well as over 150,000 Greek Cypriot refugees and over 60,000 Turkish Cypriot displaced persons.[16] The events of the summer of 1974 have dominated Cypriot politics ever since and have been a major point of contention between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, as well as Greece and Turkey.
Limassol seafront
Limassol seafront

Since 1974, there have been continual efforts to negotiate a settlement, which met with varying levels of disagreement from either side. The Turkish government arranged an influx of settlers from Turkey whose exact numbers are disputed, but believed to be in the range of over 100,000, thus altering the demographics of the island against the rules of the Geneva Convention. Turkey counters that the Turkish Cypriots - before 1963 - owned and farmed 33% of Cypriot land before being forced into enclaves by the TMT (the Turkish Cypriot counter organisation to EOKA and later EOKA-B), thus the take-over of one-third of Cyprus was seen as compensating the Turkish Cypriots for their lost land. These figures are rejected by both the Colonial land registry and the Cyprus Republic Authorities as fictional. According to the records held by the Cyprus Land Registry, only 12.3% of all Cypriot land, or 16.7% of privately owned land was owned by Turkish Cypriots. Of the 3,240 square kilometres of the occupied area, 60.27% is owned by Greek Cypriots, 16.39% is owned by Turkish Cypriots and 23.09% is state owned land.

Turkish Cypriots proclaimed a separate state, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), under Rauf Denktaş on November 15, 1983. The UN Security Council, in its Resolution 541 of November 18, 1983, declared the action legally invalid and called for a withdrawal of Turkish troops. The above-mentioned Resolutions also asked all states to refrain from recognising the declaration, which was created through secessionist actions, and not to facilitate or in any other way aid the secessionist entity. Turkey is the only country to date that recognises the administration on the northern third of Cyprus in violation of the resolution. Turkey does not recognise the Republic of Cyprus’s authority over the whole island, and refers to it as the Greek Cypriot administration.

In 2004, the UN-backed Annan Plan for Cyprus sought to reunify the island before EU accession. Turkish Cypriots accepted the plan whilst Greek Cypriots rejected it, with the result that the island entered the EU as a divided country. EU countries recognise the official government and still officially treat the North as a militarily occupied area: although this has affected discussions with Turkey over accession, it has not prevented them, and EU ministers have repeatedly stressed their intention to open direct trade links with the occupied area. The EU Acquis communautaire applies only to those (Greek) areas under the control of the Republic of Cyprus.

Since the invasion, the economy of Cyprus has grown greatly and citizens of the Republic in particular enjoy a high standard of living. The north maintains a lower standard of living due to international embargoes, and is still reliant on Turkey for aid, though increased revenues through tourism and a recent construction boom have led to rapid economic development in recent years. The Turkish Cypriot administration has allowed the illegal sale of real estate, consisting almost entirely of property and land still owned by Greek Cypriots from before the 1974 Turkish invasion, to private buyers from overseas. In 2005, the UK’s Guardian newspaper reported that up to 10,000 Europeans had invested in property in the north of Cyprus, a trend that still causes concern in the south. This concern was highlighted by the UK’s Daily Telegraph newspaper in 2006 when Cherie Blair, the wife of Britain’s prime minister, touched a diplomatic nerve; Mrs Blair, in her capacity as an advocate at law, represented a UK couple, the Orams, who had been taken to court by Greek Cypriots who claimed ownership of the land on which the Orams had built a house. President Tassos Papadopoulos referred to Blair’s decision to represent the Orams as “a provocative action”.

On 5 December 2006, the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan recommended a further six-month extension in the mandate of the UN mission that has been deployed on the island for over four decades. Mr. Annan said that while the situation remained “calm and stable with no major violations of the ceasefire lines,” he regretted the continued stalemate in the political process and the “missed opportunities” over the past 10 years. In July of 2006, the Island served as a safe haven for Lebanese displaced by the conflict between Israel and

Cyprus became part of the Byzantine Empire after the partitioning of the Roman Empire in 395, and remained so for almost eight hundred years, interrupted by a brief period of Arab domination and influence.

After the rule of the rebellious Byzantine Emperor Isaac Komnenos, King Richard I of England captured the island in 1191 during the Third Crusade. On May 6, 1191, Richard’s fleet arrived in the port of Lemesos and took the city. When Isaac arrived to stop the Crusaders he discovered he was too late and retired to Kolossi Castle. Richard called Isaac to negotiations but Isaac broke his oath of hospitality and started demanding Richard’s departure. Richard ordered his cavalry to follow him in a battle against Isaac’s army in Tremetusia. The few Roman Catholics of the island joined Richard’s army and so did the island’s nobles who were dissatisfied with Isaac’s seven years of tyrannical rule. Though Isaac and his men fought bravely, Richard’s army was bigger and better equipped, assuring his victory. Isaac continued to resist from the castles of Pentadactylos but after the siege of his castle of Kantara he finally surrendered. In a fit of sardonic irony, Richard had Isaac confined with silver chains, scrupulously abiding by a previous promise that he would not place Isaac in irons should he be taken prisoner. Richard became the new ruler of Cyprus, gaining for the Crusade a major supply base that was not under immediate threat from the Turks as was Tyre. Richard looted the island and massacred those trying to resist him. He and most of his army left Cyprus for the Holy Land early in June. In his absence Cyprus would be governed by Richard Camville.

In 1192, the French knight Guy of Lusignan purchased the island, in compensation for the loss of his kingdom, from the Templars. The Republic of Venice took control in 1489 after the death of the last Lusignan Queen.

Throughout the period of Venetian rule, Ottoman Turks raided and attacked the peoples of Cyprus at will. The Greek population of Cyprus were given weapons by the Venetians and fought the attacking Ottomans.

In 1489, the first year of Venetian control, Turks attacked the Karpasia Peninsula, pillaging and taking captives to be sold into slavery. In 1539 the Turkish fleet attacked and destroyed Limassol. Fearing the ever-expanding Ottoman Empire, the Venetians had fortified Famagusta, Nicosia, and Kyrenia, but most other cities were easy prey.

In the summer of 1570, the Turks struck again, but this time with a full-scale invasion rather than a raid. A fleet commanded by Piyale Pasha carried about 60,000 troops, including cavalry and artillery, under the command of Lala Kara Mustafa Pasha to the island and landed unopposed near Limassol on July 2, 1570, and laid siege to Nicosia. In an orgy of victory on the day that the city fell (9 September 1570), 20,000 Nicosian Greeks were put to death, and every church, public building, and palace was looted. Word of the massacre spread, and a few days later Mustafa took Kyrenia without having to fire a shot. Famagusta, however, resisted and put up a heroic defense that lasted from September 1570 until August 1571.

Ottoman rule brought about two radical results in the history of the island. For the first time since the Phoenicians in the ninth century BC, a new population group appeared, the Turks. The Ottoman Empire gave timars – land grants – to soldiers under the condition that they and their families would stay there permanently. This event radically changed the demographics of Cyprus. During the seventeenth century the Turkish population grew rapidly. Most of the Turks who had settled on the island during the three centuries of Ottoman rule remained when control of Cyprus – although not sovereignty[citation needed] – was ceded to Britain in 1878. Many, however, left for Turkey during the 1920s. By 1970, ethnic Turks represented 18% of the total population of the island, with ethnic Greeks representing the remainder. The distinction between the two groups was by religion and language.
Kykkos monastery in the District of Nicosia.
Kykkos monastery in the District of Nicosia.

The second important result of the Ottoman conquest benefited the Greek peasants who no longer remained serfs of the land they were cultivating. Now they could acquire it by purchase, thus becoming owners of it. In reality, they were purchasing their own land from invaders and conquerors. The Ottomans also applied the millet system to Cyprus, which allowed religious authorities to govern their own non-Muslim minorities. This system reinforced the position of the Orthodox Church and the cohesion of the ethnic Greek population. Gradually the Archbishop of Cyprus became not only the religious but the ethnic leader as well. In this way the Church undertook the task of the guardian of Greek cultural legacy, which is partly carried on even now, although diminished after independence. The Church itself paid no taxes to the Ottoman conquerors but was responsible for collecting taxes from the population and passing it on to the rulers.

The heavy taxes and the abuses against the population on the part of the Ottoman rulers in the early years after the Ottoman conquest gave rise to opposition, following which the Sultan ordered the Governor (the “Kadi”) and the Treasurer to govern with justice.[citation needed] While the Sultan’s orders indicated his goodwill towards the local population, the local administration proved indifferent, arbitrary and often corrupt, along with imposing a heavy burden of taxes.[citation needed] Cypriots disappointed at the mismanagement of Ottoman governors, soon turned to Western Europe in search of help for liberation as their motherland, Greece, was also under the Ottomans.

Between 1572 and 1668, around twenty-eight bloody uprisings took place on the island and in many of these both Greeks and Turk peasants took part.[citation needed] All ended in failure.

About 1660, in order to eliminate the mismanagement of the Ottoman administration, the Sultan recognised the Archbishop and the Bishops as “the protectors of people” and the representatives of the Sultan. In 1670, Cyprus ceased to be a “pasaliki” for the Ottoman Empire and came under the jurisdiction of the Admiral of the Ottoman fleet. In his turn, the Admiral sent an officer to govern in his place.

In 1703, Cyprus came under the jurisdiction of the Grand Vizier (Anthony Petane) who sent to the island a military and civil administrator. The title and function of this officer were awarded to the person who could raise the highest revenues in exchange. As a result, even heavier taxation was imposed. About 1760 the situation in Cyprus was intolerable. A terrible epidemic of plague, bad crops and earthquakes, drove many Cypriots to emigrate. In addition, what was worse for the Greeks and Turks of the island, the newly- appointed Pasha, doubled the taxes in 1764. In the end, Chil Osman and 18 of his friends were killed by Greek and Turkish Cypriots, but the two ethnic elements had to pay a huge sum of money to the Sultan and the families of the victims. The latter did not accept this judgement and broke into an open rebellion, having Khalil Agha, the commander of the guard of the castle of Kyrenia, as their leader. Finally the uprising was crushed and Khalil Agha was beheaded.

Detailed population statistics from Cyprus are available going back to the 1830s. The first large scale census of the Ottoman Empire in 1831 included Cyprus. Only men were counted and information on religion was recorded. The male population at the time was 14,983 Muslims and 29,190 Christians.[3] This implies a total population of 88,000 for the island.

By 1872, the population of the island had risen to 144,000 comprising 44,000 Muslims (mostly Turks) and 100,000 Christians (mostly Greeks).[4]

Cyprus was placed under British control on 4 June 1878 as a result of the Cyprus Convention, which granted control of the island to Britain in return for British support of the Ottoman Empire in the Russian-Turkish War.

Famagusta harbour was completed in June 1906; by this time the island was a strategic naval outpost for the British Empire, shoring up influence over the Eastern Mediterranean and Suez Canal, the crucial main route to India.

Cyprus was formally annexed by the United Kingdom in 1913 in the run-up to the First World War, since former British ally (Turkey) had joined the Central Powers. Many Cypriots, now British subjects, signed up to fight in the British Army, promised by the British that when the war finished Cyprus would be united with Greece. This happened twice both in the First and in the Second World War.

During the 1900s and 1950s, Greek Cypriots began to demand union with Greece. Various referenda were held, mainly organised by the church of Cyprus. In January 1950, a clear majority of Cypriots voted in a referendum in support of enosis (union). Turkish Cypriots claim that the enosis movement largely ignored the Turkish Cypriots minority presence on the island, but all peoples of Cyprus recognize that the British sought to quell any movement which could threaten their possession of the island. In 1955, the struggle against British rule erupted with the foundation of EOKA, which lasted until 1959. In this struggle the overwhelming majority of the island (the Greek Cypriots) took part.

Independence was attained in 1960 after exhaustive negotiations between the United Kingdom, as the colonial power, and Greece and Turkey, the cultural ‘motherlands’ for both the majority and minority communities in Cyprus. The UK ceded the island under a constitution allocating government posts and public offices by ethnic quota, but retained two small Sovereign Base Areas.

Cyprus is the legendary birthplace of the goddess of beauty and love, the beautiful Aphrodite (also known as Kypris or the Cyprian). According to Hesiod’s Theogony, the goddess emerged fully grown from the sea where the severed genitals of the god Uranus were cast by his son, Kronos, causing the sea to foam (Greek: Aphros). Her birth was famously depicted by the artist Botticelli in The Birth of Venus. The legendary site of Aphrodite’s birth is at Petra Tou Romiou (”Aphrodite’s Rock”), a large sea stack close to the coastal cliffs near Paphos. Throughout ancient history, Cyprus was a flourishing centre for the cultic worship of Aphrodite.

Other mythological characters associated to Cyprus are King Cinyras, Teucer (founder of Salamis), the Cypriot sculptor Pygmalion, and (in some versions) Adonis.

Over the past twenty years there have been a number of discoveries that have greatly enhanced our knowledge of the early prehistory of Cyprus. Currently, the earliest confirmed site of human activity on the island is Aetokremnos situated on the Akrotiri Peninsula on the south coast. This site indicates that hunter-gatherers were active on the island from around 10,000 BC. There is also new evidence that suggests that there may be short lived occupation sites contemporary with Aeotokremnos on the west coast of the island in the area of the Akamas.
“Temple to Apollon Ilatis” outside the city of Limassol.
“Temple to Apollon Ilatis” outside the city of Limassol.

At present the archaeological record presents us with a chronological gap in the use or occupation of the island between the earliest hunter-gatherers and the appearance in the record of more settled village communities at around 8200 BC. These people probably practiced a limited form of agriculture and animal husbandry, supplemented by hunting. Important remains from this early-Neolithic period can be found at Mylouthkia, Shillourokambos, Kastros, Tenta and later towards the end of this period the famous village of Khirokitia.

During the Painted-Pottery Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods that follow small scale settlements and activity areas were in use all over the island. During this period the people of Cyprus produced decorated pottery and figurines of stone quite distinct from the cultures of the surrounding mainland. This has traditionally led some archaeologists to consider the island as being somewhat isolated and insular at this time. More recently this idea is being challenged.
Ruins of ancient Salamis, near Famagusta.
Ruins of ancient Salamis, near Famagusta.
Kourion Theatre outside the city of Limassol.
Kourion Theatre outside the city of Limassol.

The Bronze Age is also rich in finds. The people learned to work the rich copper mines of the island. The Mycenæan culture seems to have reached Cyprus at around 1600 BC and several Greek and Phœnician settlements that belong to the Iron Age can be found on the island. Cyprus came into contact with Egypt about 1500 BC and became an important trade partner.

Around 1200 BC, the Sea Peoples may have arrived in Cyprus, although the nature of their influence is disputed. The Phœnicians arrived at the island in the early first millennium BC. In those times, Cyprus supplied the Greeks with timber for their fleets.

In the sixth century BC, Amasis of Egypt conquered Cyprus, which soon fell under the rule of the Persians when Cambyses conquered Egypt. In the Persian Empire, Cyprus formed part of the fifth satrapy and in addition to tribute it had to supply the Persians with ships and crews. In their new fate, the Greeks of Cyprus had as companions the Greeks of Ionia (west coast of Anatolia) with whom they forged closer ties. When the Ionian Greeks revolted against Persia (499 BC), the Cypriots, except for the city of Amathus, joined in, led by Onesilos who dethroned his brother, the king of Salamis, for not wanting to fight for independence. The Persians reacted quickly, sending a considerable force against Onesilos. The Persians finally won despite Ionian help.

After their defeat, the Greeks mounted various expeditions in order to take Cyprus from Persian rule, but all their efforts bore only temporary results. Eventually, under Alexander the Great (356-323 BC) the island went over to the Macedonians. Later, the Ptolemies of Egypt controlled it; finally Rome annexed it in 58-57 BC. Cyprus was visited by the Apostles Paul and Barnabas accompanied by St Mark who came to the island at the outset of their first missionary journey in 45 AD. After their arrival at Salamis they proceeded to Paphos where they converted the Roman Governor Sergius Paulus to Christianity.

The name Cyprus has a somewhat uncertain etymology. Suggestion is that it comes from the Greek word for the Mediterranean cypress tree (Cupressus sempervirens), κυπάρισσος (kypárissos) or even from the Greek name of the henna plant (Lawsonia alba), κύπρος (kýpros). Another school suggests that it stems from the Eteocypriot word for copper. Dossin, for example, suggests that it has roots to the Sumerian word for copper (zubar) or even the word for bronze (kubar), due to the large deposits of copper ore found on the island. Through overseas trade, the island has already given its name to the Classical Latin word for the metal, which appears in the phrase aes Cyprium, “metal of Cyprus”, later shortened to Cuprum.[2]Cyprus is also called “the island of Aphrodite”, because according to Greek mythology the goddess of love, Aphrodite (Venus), was born in Cyprus.

Cyprus (Greek: Κύπρος, Kýpros; Turkish: Kıbrıs), officially the Republic of Cyprus (Greek: Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία, Kypriakí Dhimokratía) is a Eurasian island country in the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea, south of Turkey (Anatolia). It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean and one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Mediterranean, attracting over 2.4 million tourists per year.[1] A former British colony, it gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1960 and became a Commonwealth republic in 1961. The Republic of Cyprus is a developed country, and has been a member state of the European Union since 1 May 2004.

In 1974, following a period of violence between Greek and Turkish Cypriots and an attempted Greek-sponsored coup, Turkey invaded and occupied one third of the island; this led to the displacement of thousands of Cypriots and the establishment of a separate Turkish Cypriot regime to govern the invaded area in the north. This ongoing dispute has contributed to the island’s de facto partitioning into four main parts:

* the Republic of Cyprus, the internationally recognized island country with de facto dominion over the south of the island;
* the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (recognized only by Turkey), in the north;
* the United Nations-controlled Green Line, separating the two; and
* two Sovereign Base Areas, over which the UK retained jurisdiction after Cypriot independence.