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The Cyprus dispute is the ongoing dispute involving the Republic of Turkey, Greece, the Republic of Cyprus, the European Union and the United Nations. The dispute began after Cyprus gained its independence from the United Kingdom in 1960 and was invaded by Turkey in 1974.

Aspects of the dispute include the issue's of the Military occupation of Cyprus, the Displacement of Populations, Property Rights, the Missing Persons, the Destruction of Cultural Heritage and Colonisation.

Historical Background Prior to 1960

Start of British Rule

As with so much relating to the Cyprus Dispute, the starting date of the conflict is open to argument and controversy. Most Greek Cypriots will point to an uninterrupted Greek presence on the island dating back four thousand years and note that the Turkish presence on the island is far more recent, dating back to the conquest of the island by the Ottoman Empire in 1571. However, as many Turkish Cypriots will point out, this nevertheless gives the Turkish Cypriots a four hundred year old right to regard the island as their home. In more contemporary terms, the Cyprus dispute has been less about who has the right to live on the island. Instead, it has been focused on which country has the greater right to control the island - Greece or Turkey. Starting in the early-nineteenth century, the Greek Cypriots sought to bring about an end to almost 250 years of Ottoman rule over the island and unite Cyprus with Greece, a process called enosis. This call for enosis grew louder after Britain took administrative control of the island in 1878, following the Congress of Berlin. Under the terms of the agreement reached between Britain and the Ottoman Empire, the island would remain an Ottoman territory. However, the Christian Greek-speaking inhabitants of the island saw the arrival of the British as a chance to lobby for the island's union with Greece. Britain refused to consider the idea.

Demands for Enosis

When the First World War began in 1914, Britain annexed Cyprus. Soon afterwards, it offered it to Constantine I of Greece on condition that Greece join the war on the side of the British. Although the offer was supported by Eleftherios Venizelos, the Greek prime minister, it was rejected by the King, who wished to keep Greece out of the war. The offer therefore lapsed. After the foundation of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, the new Turkish government formally recognized Britain's ownership of Cyprus. In 1925 Britain declared Cyprus to be a Crown Colony. In the years that followed agitation for enosis continued. In 1931 this led to open rebellion. A riot resulted in the death of six civilians, injuries to others, and the burning of the British Government House in Lefkosia. In the months that followed about 2,000 people were convicted of crimes in connection with the violence. Britain reacted by imposing harsh restrictions. Military reinforcements were dispatched to the island, the constitution suspended, press censorship instituted, and political parties banned. Two bishops and eight other prominent citizens directly implicated in the riot were exiled. In effect, the governor became a dictator, empowered to rule by decree. Municipal elections were suspended, and until 1943 all municipal officials were appointed by the government. The governor was to be assisted by an Executive Council, and two years later an Advisory Council was established; both councils consisted only of appointees and were restricted to advising on domestic matters only. In addition, the flying of Greek or Turkish flags or the public display of portraits of Greek or Turkish heroes was forbidden.

Claims for enosis were put on hold during the Second World War, during which time many Greek Cypriots (and Turkish Cypriots) joined the British armed forces. In return, they expected that Britain would be prepared to discuss their political wishes at the end of the war. In 1946, the British government announced plans to invite Cypriots to form a Consultative Assembly to discuss a new constitution. As a demonstration of good will, the British also allowed the return of the 1931 exiles. Instead of reacting positively, as expected by the British, the Greek Cypriot hierarchy reacted angrily because there had been no mention of enosis. The Orthodox Church of Cyprus had expressed its disapproval, and twenty-two Greek Cypriots declined to appear, stating that enosis was their sole political aim. The efforts to bring about Enosis now increased, helped by active support from the Church of Cyprus, which was the main political voice of the Greek Cypriots at the time. However, it did not have the sole right to speak for the Greek Cypriots. The Church's main opposition came from the Cypriot Communist Party (officially the Progressive Party of the Working People; Ανορθωτικό Κόμμα Εργαζόμενου Λαού; or AKEL), which viewed itself as the alternative political voice to the Orthodox Church of Cyprus, which opposed Enosis on the grounds that union with Greece would lead to the party being outlawed.

In 1950, Michael Mouskos, Bishop Makarios of Kition (Larnaca), was elevated to Archbishop Makarios III of Cyprus. In his inaugural speech, he vowed not to rest until union with "mother Greece" had been achieved. In Athens, enosis was a common topic of conversation, and a Cypriot native, Colonel George Grivas, was becoming known for his strong views on the subject. In anticipation of an armed struggle to achieve enosis, Grivas visited Cyprus in July 1951. He discussed his ideas with Makarios but was disappointed by the archbishop's reservations about the effectiveness of a guerrilla uprising. From the beginning, and throughout their relationship, Grivas resented having to share leadership with the archbishop. Makarios, concerned about Grivas's extremism from their very first meeting, preferred to continue diplomatic efforts, particularly efforts to get the UN involved. The feelings of uneasiness that arose between them never dissipated. In the end, the two became enemies. In the meantime, in August 1954, Greece's UN representative formally requested that self-determination for the people of Cyprus be included on the agenda of the General Assembly's next session. Turkey rejected the idea of the union of Cyprus and Greece. The Turkish Cypriot community had consistently opposed the Greek Cypriot enosis movement, but had generally abstained from direct action because under British rule the Turkish minority status and identity were protected. The expressed attitude of the Cypriot Turks was that, when Britain withdrew, control of Cyprus should simply revert to Turkey – although Turkey gave up all rights and claims to Cyprus in the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne. Meanwhile, Turkish Cypriot identification with Turkey had grown stronger, and after 1954 the Turkish government had become increasingly involved as the Cyprus problem became an international issue. In the late summer and fall of 1954, the Cyprus problem intensified. On Cyprus, the colonial government threatened advocates of enosis with up to five years' imprisonment. In December, the UN General Assembly announced the decision "not to consider the problem further for the time being, because it does not appear appropriate to adopt a resolution on the question of Cyprus." Reaction to the setback at the UN was immediate and violent, resulting in the worst rioting in Cyprus since 1931.

The EOKA Campaign, 1955-59

In January 1955, Grivas founded the National Organization of Cypriot Fighters (Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston – EOKA). On April 1, 1955, EOKA opened a campaign of violence against British rule in a well-coordinated series of attacks on police, military, and other government installations in Lefkosia, Famagusta, Larnaka, and Lemesos. This resulted in the deaths of over 100 British servicemen and personnel and Greek Cypriots suspected of collaboration and an equal amount of Greek Cypriots whe were members of EOKA or were suspected of giving it support. As a result of this many Greek Cypriots began to leave the police. They were replaced by Turkish Cypriots. This served to reinforce the impression that Britain was engaging in a divide-and-rule policy. At the same time, it led to tensions between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities.

A bombing incident at the Turkish consulate in Thessaloniki, Greece, in June led to rioting in İstanbul and İzmir. The pogroms in İstanbul caused the majority of Greeks, Armenians and Jews to emigrate. It was later learned that the bombing had been carried out by a Turk, and that the riots had been prearranged by the government of Turkey to bring pressure on the Greeks and to show the world that Turks were keenly interested in Cyprus. Greece reacted by withdrawing its representatives from the NATO headquarters in Turkey, and relations between the two NATO partners became quite strained.

In 1957 the Turkish Resistance Organization (Türk Mukavemet Teskilati – TMT), was formed by Rauf Denktash to fight EOKA. In response to the growing demand for enosis, a number of Turkish Cypriots became convinced that the only way to protect the interests and identity of the Turkish Cypriot population in the event of enosis would be to divide the island – 'taksim' ("division" in Turkish) into a Greek sector and a Turkish sector.

On 7 June 1958 the Turkish press office in Nicosia was blown up by the TMT on the orders of the Turkish foreign ministry. Afterwards the TMT murdered eight unarmed Greek Cypriot civilians that were deliberately stranded by the British SBA authorities near the Turkish Cypriot populated village of Geunyeli in a totally unprovoked attack. These were the first reported inter-communal killings. In the same summer, in the mixed suburb of Omorphita in Nicosia, the TMT evicted 700 Greeks from their homes. The riots in Nicosia caused by the bomb in the Turkish press office resulted in the deaths of 56 Greek and 53 Turkish Cypriots.

Several attempts to present a compromise settlement had failed. Thefeore, beginning in December 1958, representatives of Greece and Turkey opened discussions of the Cyprus issue. Participants for the first time discussed the concept of an independent Cyprus, i.e., neither enosis nor taksim. Subsequent talks yielded a compromise agreement supporting independence, laying the foundations of the Republic of Cyprus. The scene then shifted to London, where the Greek and Turkish representatives were joined by representatives of the Greek Cypriots, the Turkish Cypriots, and the British. The Zurich-London agreements that became the basis for the Cyprus constitution of 1960 were the Treaty of Establishment, the Treaty of Guarantee, and the Treaty of Alliance. The general tone of the agreements was one of compromise. Greek Cypriots, especially members of organizations such as EOKA, expressed disappointment because enosis had not been attained. Turkish Cypriots, however, welcomed the agreements and set aside their demand for taksim. According to the Treaty of Establishment, Britain retained sovereignty over 256 square kilometers, which became the Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area, to the northwest of Larnaka, and the Akrotiri Sovereign Base Area to the southwest of Lemesos.

Cyprus achieved independence on August 16, 1960.

Constitutional Breakdown, Violence and Intercommunal Talks, 1960-74

The 1960 Constitution

According to constitutional arrangements, Cyprus was to become an independent, non-aligned republic with a Greek Cypriot president and a Turkish Cypriot vice-president. General executive authority was vested in acouncil of ministers with a ratio of seven Greeks to three Turks. (The Greek Cypriots represented 78% of the population and the Turkish Cypriots 18%. The remaining 4% was made up by the three minority communities: the Latins, Maronites and Armenians.) A House of Representatives of fifty members, also with a seven-to-three ratio, were to be separately elected by communal balloting on a universal suffrage basis. In addition, separate Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot Communal Chambers were provided to exercise control in matters of religion, culture, and education. According to Article 78(2) any law imposing duties or taxes shall require a simple majority of the representatives elected by the Greek and Turkish communities respectively taking part in the vote. Legislation on other subjects was to take place by simple majority but again the President and the Vice-President had the same right of veto--absolute on foreign affairs, defence and internal security, delaying on other matters--as in the Council of Ministers. The judicial system would be headed by a Supreme Constitutional Court, composed of one Greek Cypriot and one Turkish Cypriot and presided over by a contracted judge from a neutral country.

Constitution Breakdown and Violence

Within a short period of time the first disputes started to arise between the two communities. Issues of contention included taxation and the creation of separate municipalities. Repeated attempts to solve the disputes failed. Eventually, on November 30, 1963, Makarios put forward a thirteen-point proposal designed, in his view, to eliminate impediments to the functioning of the government. The thirteen points involved constitutional revisions, including the abandonment of the veto power by both the president and the vice president. Turkey rejected it on December 16, declaring the proposal an attempt to undermine the constitution. A few days later, on 21 December 1963 fighting erupted between the communities in Nicosia after a shoot-out left one policeman wounded and one Turkish Cypriot dead. In the days that followed it spread across the rest of the island. Within a week the Turkish garrison captured a strategic position across the Lefkosia to Kyrenia main highway which it held onto until the Turkish invasion of 1974. Turkish commandos were parachuted in and were shot down by the Cypriot security forces and Greek Cypriot civilians.

At the same time, the power-sharing government collapsed. How this happened is one of the most contentious issues in modern Cypruot history. The Greek Cypriots argue that the Turkish Cypriots withdrew in order to form their own administration. The Turkish Cypriots argue that they were forced out. In any event, in the days that followed the fighting a frantic effort was made to calm tensions. Fighting in Nicosia ended on 27 December 1963 when British forces intervened at the request of President Makarios. The Green line was established between the Greek and Turkish quarters of Nicosia and became a permanent feature of the city. The demarcation of the capital was followed by the eviction of the entire Armenian community which happened to fall in the Turkish sector. By February 1964 5,500 Turkish Cypriots and 1,600 Greek Cypriots had been displaced because of the fighting. Later 19,500 more Turkish Cypriots left their homes most of which were in mixed villages and moved into Turkish Cypriot only enclaves for better security.

Sporadic fighting continued untill UNFICYP, was formed following UN Security Council Resolution 186, passed on 4 March 1964. This resolution also drew attention to the fact that the Treaty of Guarantee could not be used to justify unilateral military action by any of the guarantor powers since this violated Article 2 Paragraph 4 of the UN Charter. The resoultion made it clear that the Cyprus government "has the responsibility for the maintenance and restoration of law and order" and asked it "to take all additional measures necessary to stop violence and bloodshed in Cyprus." This lead to the formation of the Cypriot National Guard.

Renewed Violence

In August attempts of the Cypriot National Guard under control of General Grivas, to re-capture a beach-head at Kokkina which would enable a Turkish military supply route caused the intervention of the Turkish airforce which bombed the area with rockets, bombs and Napalm. A Turkish naval invasion was being prepared. In reply to this, Makarios threatened that unless these air attacks and invasion were called off within two hours he would order an attack on all Turkish forces on the island. In the end US President Lyndon B. Johnson intervened and threatened Turkey with retaliation; lacking direct military support from Greece and the Soviet Union, Grivas was forced to recall his forces. A UN mediated ceasefire was accepted by both Cyprus and Turkey afterwards.

The total reported number of casualties over the period 21 December 1963 to 9 August 1964 vary only slightly. Turkish sources estimate about 350 Turkish deaths and about 200 Greek fatalities. The numbers include deaths resulting from rogue paramilitary action, as well as from exclusively military confrontations.

At the request of the Cyprus government Greece sent 10,000-20,000 armed soldiers to Cyprus undercover. By this time in Lefka alone the TMT had 8,000 well-armed Turkish Cypriots and 1,000 TMT fighters at its disposal whose weapons were smuggled in by Turkey.

Peacemaking Efforts, 1964-1974

At the same time as the UN established a peacekepeing force for the island, it also instructed the Secreetary-General to appoint a mediator. In 1964-65 two major attempts to settle Cyprus by outside mediation failed: Dean Acheson proposed giving Cyprus the choice of unity with Greece, in exchange for self-administration of some predominantly Turkish Cypriot areas and a Turkish sovereign military base on the Karpas peninsula. George Papandreou's comment was : "We are offered a building with only being asked for the penthouse", however both his son and minister Andreas Papandreou and Makarios were not satisfied considering it a partition plan. The UN mediator's report (26 March 1965) foresaw that Cyprus renounce a union with Greece by popular referendum (not only were the wages higher on Cyprus, but also there was not an overall support for enosis even among the Greek Cypriots). Rejecting the Turkish proposal of a federation, it proposed a unitary constitutional system that embodied generous provision for minority rights, some of them of a transitional nature until Turks would have been more integrated into the Cypriot community. This attempt was instantly rejected by the Turks as being "grossly partisan" in its conclusions.

Athens Coup and more violence

Following the military coup d'état in Greece in 1967 and the installation of an American backed junta, Turkish Cypriot paramilitary action intensified as the Turkish military saw an opportunity to form a bridgehead in the south. Turkish paramilitaries occupied positions on the high ground above Ayios Theodoros, the neighbouring village to Kofinou and thus prevented access to the junction of the Larnaka to Limasol main highway. Cypriot police patrols that tired to keep the junction open were repeatedly fired at and eventually armed conflict resulted prompting an appeal from the President of the Security Council on 24 November 1967. American intervention led to the withdrawal of the Greek army division. President Makarios distanced himself from his earlier enosis convictions in his 1968 presidential campaign and argued for the independence of Cyprus. There were negotiations between the two communities and there was relative peace until 1974. The Greek junta, however, began supporting armed Anti-Makarios groups with the backing of the American CIA such as Ethniko Metopo (National Front) and EOKA B.

In 1971, General Grivas returned to Cyprus and started a guerilla war against Makarios resurrecting EOKA (as EOKA B) which he led until his death in January 1974.

Invasion, Ethnic Cleansing and Occupation, 1974-1975

The Turkish Invasions of Cyprus of July and August 1974

During the spring of 1974, Cypriot intelligence found evidence that EOKA B was planning a coup and was being supplied, controlled, and funded by the military government in Athens. Early in July, Makarios wrote to the president of Greece, accusing the junta of plotting against his life and against the government of Cyprus.

In the autumn of 1973 there had been a further military coup in Athens in which the original Greek junta had been replaced by one still more obscurantist headed in fact by the Chief of Military Police, Brigadier Ioannides, though the actual head of state was General Phaedon Gizikis. Makarios wrote to President Gizikis on 2 July 1974 in a letter which he made public complaining bluntly that 'cadres of the Greek military regime support and direct the activities of the 'EOKA B' terrorist organization'. The Greek Government's immediate reply was to order the go-ahead to the conspiracy that had been long maturing against Archbishop Makarios. On 15 July 1974 the National Guard, led by its Greek officers, overthrew the Government with the support of the United States CIA and Henry Kissinger who believed that Makarios was too pro-Russian.

Makarios narrowly escaped death in the attack. He fled the presidential palace and went to Pafos, where the British managed to retrieve him and smuggle him out of the country.

In the meantime, the EOKA B member Nicos Sampson was declared provisional president of the new government after Glafkos Clerides who was the coupists original candidate declined the offer at the last moment.

After unsuccessfully trying to get support from one of the other guarantor forces - Britan -, Turkey invaded on July 20, 1974, with troops landing shortly before dawn at Kyrenia (Girne) on the northern coast. Ankara claimed that it was invoking its right under the Treaty of Guarantee to protect the Turkish Cypriots and guarantee the independence of Cyprus – a claim which is still being contested by Greeks and Greek Cypriots. The operation, codenamed 'Atilla', is known in the North as 'the 1974 Peace Operation'.

Democracy was restored in Cyprus eight days after the coup against Makarios. By the time the UN Security Council was able to obtain a cease-fire on the 22 July the Turkish forces had only secured a narrow corridor between Kyrenia and Nicosia, which they succeeded in widening during the next few days in violation of the cease-fire. At a conference on 14 August 1974, Turkey demanded from the Cypriot government to accept its plan for a federal state, with 34% of the territory under Turkish Cypriot control. When the Cypriot president Clerides asked for 36 to 48 hours in order to consult with Athens and with Greek Cypriot leaders, the Turkish Foreign Minister denied Clerides that opportunity on the grounds that Makarios and others would notoriously use it to play for still more time. An hour and a half after the conference broke up, the new Turkish attack began. It rapidly occupied even more than was asked for at Geneva. Thirty-six-and a-half per cent of the land came under Turkish occupation reaching as far south as the Louroujina salient. In the process about 200,000 Greek Cypriots who made up 82% of the pupulation in the north became refugees; many of them forced out of their homes (violations of Human Rights by the Turkish army have been acknowledged by the European Court of Human Rights), the rest fleeing at the word of the approaching Turkish army. 5,000 Greek Cypriot civilians were killed, over 1,000 women were raped. Approximately 1,600 Greek Cypriots were abducted and remain missing, their whereabouts never disclosed by the Turkish authorities. There were also over 200 deaths among the Turkish Cypriot community.

The ceasefire line from 1974 today separates the two communities on the island, and is commonly referred to as the Green Line (or Atilla Line).

By 1975 on 20,000 Greek Cypriots remained in the north, enclaved in the Karpass peninsula.

Facing threats of a renewed Turkish offensive as well as threats to ethnically cleanse the enslaved Greek Cypriots the Cyprus government and the United Nations consented to the transfer of the remainder of the 51,000 Turkish Cypriots that had not left their homes in the south to settle in the north, if they wished to do so. While the Cyprus government de juro allows Turkish Cypriots to return to their homes in the south should they wish to do so (2,000 Turkish Cypriot have exercised this right), Greek Cypriots do not have equivalent rights in the north.

On 13 February 1975 Turkey declared the occupied areas of the Republic of Cyprus to be a "Federated Turkish State" to the universal condemnation of the international community (see UN Security Council Resolution 367 (1975)).

Human Rights Violations

In 1976 and again in 1983 the European Commission of Human Rights found Turkey guilty of repeated violations of the European Convention of Human Rights.

The European Commission of Human Rights reports of 1976 and 1983 state the following:

"Having found violations of a number of Articles of the Convention, the Commission notes that the acts violating the Convention were exclusively directed against members of one of two communities in Cyprus, namely the Greek Cypriot community. It concludes by eleven votes to three that Turkey has thus failed to secure the rights and freedoms set forth in these Articles without discrimination on the grounds of ethnic origin, race, religion as required by Article 14 of the Convention."

The 20,000 Greek Cypriots who were enclaved in the occupied Karpass peninsula in 1975 were subjected by the Turks to violations of their human rights so that by 2001 when the European Court of Human Rights found Turkey guilty of the violation of 14 articles of the European Convention of Human Rights in its judgment of Cyprus v. Turkey (application no. 25781/94) less than 600 still remained. In the same judgment Turkey was found guilty of violating the rights of the Turkish Cypriots by authorising the trial of civilians by a military court.

Since the Turkish invasion over 120,000 Turks have been brought to the north from Anatolia in violation of Article 49 of the Geneva Convention, to occupy the homes of the Greek Cypriot refugees.

Approximately 70,000 Turkish Cypriots have been forced to emigrate from the north because of hardship brought on by the isolation of the subordinate local administration.

Missing Persons

Over one and a half thousand people went missing after the Turkish invasion. This tragic problem of a purely humanitarian nature remains unresolved to this day.

Greek Cypriot Military personnel and reservists, as well as civilians, including women and children, were captured by the invading Turkish armed forces, or disappeared, after the cessation of hostilities, in areas under the control of the Turkish army. Some were listed as prisoners of war by the International Red Cross. Television footage taken by a BBC crew in Turkish jails in Adana in September 1974 shows some persons who have later been identified by their own relatives as missing.

In 1981 the UN Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) was established.

On 5 October 1994, the US Senate unanimously adopted an Act for the ascertainment of the fate of five US citizens missing since the Turkish invasion. Following this, the US President appointed Ambassador Robert Dillon, who came to Cyprus to carry out investigations. Andreas Kasapis’ grave was discovered in January 1998 in the occupied part of Cyprus and his remains were sent to the US for DNA testing and identified, yet the Turkish side has still failed to provide reliable information as to the fate of another 1587 Greek Cypriots.

Facts and information on the death and the burial site of 201 out of 500 cases of Turkish Cypriot missing persons were provied by the Cyprus government on 12 May 2003.

On 6 December 2002, excavations at the village of Alaminos, led to the discovery of human remains, which according to existing testimonies, belonged to Turkish Cypriots who lost their lives during a fire exchange with a unit of the National Guard, on 20 July 1974.

Exhumations carried out by British experts in the Turkish occupied village of Trahonas which was a burial site designated by the Turkish side in 1998 were completed on 11 January 2005 but failed to locate any remains belonging to Greek Cypriots listed as missing. After this failure the Cyprus government raised questions over the willingness of the Turkish side to resolve this humanitarian issue.

Destruction of Cultural Heritage

After Turkeys invasion of Cyprus all but 5 of the 500 Greek Orthodox Churches were looted, desecrated, or destroyed.

Treasures from looted Cypriot churches appeared on the international black art market including the much publicised Kanakaria mosaics.

In 1989 the goverment of Cyprus took an American art dealer to court for the return of four rare 6th century Byzantine mosaics which that survived an edict by the Emperor of Byzantium, imposing the destruction of all images of sacred figures. Cyprus won the case and the mosaics were eventually returned. In October 1997 Aydin Dikmen who had sold the mosaics was finally arrested in Germany in a police raid and found to be in posession of a stash consisting of mosaics, frescoes and icons dating back to the 6th, 12th and 15th centuries worth over 50 million dollars. The mosaics, depicting Saints Thaddeus and Thomas, are two more sections from the apse of the Kanakaria Church, while the frescoes, including the Last Judgement and the Tree of Jesse, were taken off the north and south walls of the Monastery of Antiphonitis, built between the 12th and 15th centuries.

Turkish Colonisation

As a result of the Turkish invasion over 120,000 settlers were illegally brought into Cyprus from mainland Turkey to provide extra workers and occupy the homes of the Greek Cypriot refugees. This was despite Article 49 of the Geneva Convention stating that "The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies."

UN Resolution 1987/19 (1987) of the "Sub-Commission On Prevention Of Discrimination And Protection Of Minorities" which was adopted on 2 September 1987 demanded "the full restoration of all human rights to the whole population of Cyprus, including the freedom of movement, the freedom of settlement and the right to property" and also expressed "its concern also at the policy and practice of the implantation of settlers in the occupied territories of Cyprus which constitute a form of colonialism and attempt to change illegally the demographic structure of Cyprus"

Negotiations and other developments

Ongoing Negotiations

Despite the demands by the United Nations Security Council for the immediate unconditional withdrawal of all foreign troops from Cyprus soil and the safe return of the refugees to their homes all attempts to reach a negotiated settlement have failed due to Turkish intransigence.

see Cyprus Reunification Negotiations

"Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" declared "Legally Invalid"

In 1983 the subordinate local administration in the north declared independence for the so-called "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus". Immediately upon this declaration Britain convened a meeting of the United Nations Security Council to condemn the declaration as "legally invalid".

UN Security Council Resolution 541(1983) considered the "attempt to create a "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" is invalid, and will contribute to a worsening of the situation in Cyprus". It went on to state that it "Considers the declaration refereed to above as legally invalid and calls for its withdrawal".

Return of Varosha

In the following year UN resolution 550(1984) condemned the "exchange of Ambassadors" between Turkey and the pseudo-state and went on to add that the Security Council "Considers attempts to settle any part of Varosha by people other than its inhabitants as inadmissible and calls for the transfer of this area to the administration of the United Nations".

To this day neither Turkey nor its subordinate local administration in the north have complied with the above resolutions and Varosha remains deserted.

See also


External links

Sources

Official Publications and Sources

Books


Other Sources

  • ITN documentary, "Cyprus, Britain’s Grim Legacy"
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