International disputes:
hostilities in 1974 divided the island into two de facto autonomous
entities, the internationally recognized Cypriot Government and a
Turkish-Cypriot community (north Cyprus); the 1,000-strong UN
Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) has served in Cyprus since 1964
and maintains the buffer zone between north and south; March 2003
reunification talks failed, but Turkish-Cypriots later opened their
borders to temporary visits by Greek Cypriots; on 24 April 2004, the
Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities voted in simultaneous
and parallel referenda on whether to approve the UN-brokered Annan
Plan that would have ended the thirty-year division of the island by
establishing a new "United Cyprus Republic," a majority of Greek
Cypriots voted "no"; on 1 May 2004, Cyprus entered the European Union
still divided, with the EU's body of legislation and standards (acquis
communitaire) suspended in the north.
The third-largest island in the Mediterranean (one and one-half times
the size of Delaware), Cyprus lies off the southern coast of Turkey and
the western shore of Syria. The highest peak is Mount Olympus at 6,406 ft
(1,953 m).
Government
Republic. Mediation efforts by the UN seek to reunify the Greek and
Turkish areas of the island under one federated system of government.
History
Cyprus was the site of early Phoenician and Greek colonies. For
centuries its rule passed through many hands. It fell to the Turks in
1571, and a large Turkish colony settled on the island.
In World War I, at the outbreak of hostilities with Turkey, Britain
annexed the island. It was declared a Crown colony in 1925. The Greek
population, which regarded Greece as its mother country, sought
self-determination and union (enosis) with Greece. In 1955, a
guerrilla war against British rule was launched by the National
Organization of Cypriot Combatants (EOKA). In 1958, Greek Cypriot
nationalist leader Archbishop Makarios began calling for Cypriot
independence rather than union with Greece. During this period, Turkish
Cypriots began demanding that the island be partitioned between the Greek
and Turkish populations.
Cyprus became an independent nation on Aug. 16, 1960, after Greek and
Turkish Cypriots agreed on a constitution, which excluded both the
possibility of partition as well as of union with Greece. Makarios became
the country's first president.
Fighting between Greek and Turkish Cypriots flared up in the early
1960s, and a UN peacekeeping force was sent to the island in 1965. On July
15, 1974, Archbishop Makarios was overthrown in a military coup led by the
Cypriot National Guard. On July 20, Turkey invaded Cyprus, asserting its
right to protect the Turkish Cypriot minority. Turkey gained control of
30% of northern Cyprus and displaced some 180,000 Greek Cypriots. A
UN-sponsored cease-fire was established on July 22, and Turkish troops
were permitted to remain in the north. In Dec. 1974, Makarios again
assumed the presidency. The following year, the island was partitioned
into Greek and Turkish territories separated by a UN-occupied buffer
zone.
Turkish Cypriots proclaimed a separate state under Rauf Denktash in the
northern part of the island on Nov. 15, 1983, naming it the “Turkish
Republic of Northern Cyprus.” The UN Security Council, in its Resolution
541 of Nov. 18, 1983, declared this action illegal and called for
withdrawal. No country except Turkey has recognized this entity.
In 1988, George Vassiliou, a conservative and critic of UN proposals to
reunify Cyprus, became president. The purchase of missiles capable of
reaching the Turkish coast evoked threats of retaliation from Turkey in
1997, and Cyprus's plans to deploy more missiles in Aug. 1999 again raised
Turkey's ire.
The continued strife between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots
threatened Cyprus's potential EU membership—it had met all the economic
standards—and provided a great incentive to both sides to resolve their
differences. UN-sponsored talks between the Greek and Turkish leaders,
Kleridas and Denktash, continued intensively in 2002, but without
resolution. In Dec. 2002, the EU invited Cyprus to join in 2004, provided
the UN plan was accepted by February 2003. Without reunification, only
Greek Cyprus was to be welcomed into the EU. But just weeks before the UN
deadline, President Kleridas was defeated by right-wing candidate Tassos
Papadopoulos, a hard-liner on reunification. The UN deadline passed, and
the UN declared that the talks had failed. In April 2004, dual referendums
were held, with the Greek side overwhelmingly rejecting the most recent UN
reunification plan, and the Turkish side voting in favor. In May, Greek
Cyprus alone became a part of the EU.
In April 2005, Turkish Cyprus elected pro-reunification leader Mehmet
Ali Talat as their president, ousting longtime leader Rauf Denktash, who
staunchly opposed reunification. In July 2006, the UN sponsored talks
between President Papadopolous and Talat.
In the second round of presidential elections in February 2008,
Community Party leader Dimitris Christofias won 53.4% of the vote,
defeating right-wing candidate Ioannis Kasoulidis, who took 46.6%.
Christofias, who is Cyprus's first Commnunist president, vowed to work
toward reunification and said he would meet with the Turkish Cypriot
president, Talat. Papadopoulos was eliminated in the first round of
voting.
On March 21, 2008, President Christofias started talks of reunification
with Turkish Cypriot president, Talat, as promised.
On April 4, 2008, Ledra Street Crossing was torn down—an important
symbolic step towards reunification. The checkpoint divided Greek and
Turkish Cypriots in the capital city of Nicosia for decades.
