Cyprus

History

Prehistoric and ancient Cyprus

There are only small traces of the Stone Age, but the Bronze Age was characterized by a well-developed and clearly marked civilization. The Mycenæan civilization 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.

Around 1200 BC, the Sea Peoples began to arrive as settlers to Cyprus, a process that lasted for more than a century. This migration is remembered in many sagas concerning how some of the Greek heroes that participated in the Trojan War came to settle in Cyprus. 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 their new fate, the Greeks of Cyprus had as companions the Greeks of Ionia (west coast of Anatolia) with whom they forged closer ties.

After their defeat, the Greeks mounted various expeditions in order to liberate Cyprus from Persian rule, but all their efforts bore only temporary results.

Cyprus in ancient myth

Cyprus is the legendary birthplace of the goddess of beauty and love, the beautiful Aphrodite (also known as Kypris or the Cyprian).

Post-classical and modern Cyprus

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

Guy of Lusignan purchased the island from Richard in 1192 compensated for the loss of his kingdom by purchasing Cyprus from the Templars. 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 – was ceded to Britain in 1878.

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.

In 1703, Cyprus came under the jurisdiction of the Grand Vizier (Anthony Petane) who sent to the island a military and civil administrator.

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.

Cyprus was formally annexed by the United Kingdom in 1913 in the run-up to the First World War.

During the 1900s and 1950s, Cypriots began to demand union with Greece. In 1950, over 95% of the population (including both Greek and Turkish Cypriots) voted in a referendum in support of annexation, while the British sought to quell any movement which could threaten their possession of the island.

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 of the communities in Cyprus.

Tension began in 1963 when Makarios proposed thirteen amendments to the constitution of the Republic of Cyprus. Turkish Cypriots were opposed to the proposal since it sought to remove their constitutional safeguards which Greek Cypriots claimed to be problematic in the conduct of government. On 21 December 1963, clashes between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots erupted unleashed a wave of violence across the island. By 1974, thousands of Turkish Cypriots were living in enclaves, enduring poor living conditions in exchange for security from violent attacks, while Greek Cypriots took over the properties that Turkish Cyrpiots had to leave behind.

By 1974, dissatisfaction among Greek nationalist right-wing elements in favour of the long-term goal of Enosis precipitated a coup d'etat against President Makarios which was sponsored by the military government of Greece and led by the Cypriot National Guard. Seven days after these events Turkey intervened militarilly in Cyprus by sea and air on 20 July 1974. Talks in Geneva involving Greece, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the two Cypriot factions failed in mid-August, and Turkish forces subsequently moved from the previous cease-fire lines to gain control of 37% of the island's territory. During the invasion, over 160,000 Greek Cypriots were displaced from their home land, while Turkish forces killed several thousand Greek Cypriots captured in the occupied areas. While this was happening, the entire inhabitants of several Turkish Cypriot villages were massacred in reprisal for the landings at the hands of Greek Cypriot paramilitaries. As of today, there are still thousands of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots unaccounted for. 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. Turkey counters that the Turkish Cypriots - before 1963 - owned and farmed 33% of Cypriot land before being forced into enclaves, thus the take-over of one-third of Cyprus was seen as compensating the Turkish Cypriots for their lost land. 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 3.241.930.428 square meters 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. Turkey is the only country to date that recognises the administration on the northern third of Cyprus. Turkey does not recognise the Republic of Cyprus's authority over the whole island, and refers to it as the Greek Cypriot administration.

Cyprus joined the European Union as a full member in May 2004. Although it was the island as a whole which joined (theoretically including the northern areas), the Acquis communautaire applies only to those (Greek) areas under the control of the Republic of Cyprus. Turkish Cypriots accepted the plan whilsts Greek Cypriots rejected it, leading to the entry of a divided island, though the Acquis communautaire is considered suspended from the north, it is still theoretically part of the European Union.

Since the invasion, the economy of Cyprus has grown greatly and enjoys a high standard of living. The Turkish Cypriot administration has allowed the sale of real estate, including property and land still owned by Greek Cypriots since before the 1974 Turkish invasion, to private buyers from overseas.

Geography

The third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea (after Sicily and Sardinia), Cyprus is geographically situated in the eastern Mediterranean and just south of the Anatolian peninsula (or Asia Minor) of the Asian mainland; Historically, Cyprus has been at the crossroads between Europe, Western Asia, and Northern Africa, with lengthy periods of mainly Greek and intermittent Anatolian, Levantine, and British influences.

Administrative divisions

Cyprus is divided into six districts:

Politics

After independence Cyprus became a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement despite all three guarantor powers (Greece, Turkey and the UK) being North Atlantic Treaty Organization members. Cyprus left the Non-Aligned Movement in 2004 to join the European Union, though it retains special observer status.

The 1960 Cypriot Constitution provided for a presidential system of government with independent executive, legislative, and judicial branches, as well as a complex system of checks and balances, including a weighted power-sharing ratio designed to protect the interests of the Turkish Cypriots. The executive, for example, was headed by a Greek Cypriot president, Archbishop Makarios III, and a Turkish Cypriot vice president, Dr Fazıl Küçük, elected by their respective communities for 5-year terms and each possessing a right of veto over certain types of legislation and executive decisions. This of course also meant that a Turkish Cypriot could never be president and the government would, therefore, be Greek Cypriot dominant meaning that all laws passed would be in favor of the Greek Cypriots. Since 1964, following clashes between the two communities, the Turkish Cypriot seats in the House remained vacant, while the Greek Cypriot Communal Chamber was abolished.

By 1967, when a military junta had seized power in Greece, the political impetus for enosis had faded, partly as a result of the non-aligned foreign policy of Cypriot President Makarios.

Turkey responded by launching a military operation on Cyprus in a move not approved by the other two international guarantor powers, Greece and the United Kingdom using as a pretext the protection of the Turkish minority from Greek militias. The invasion is called "Cyprus Peace Operation" by the Turkish side. In addition to many of the Greek Cypriot refugees (a third of the population), many Turkish Cypriots (on whose pretext Turkey invaded) also moved to the UK and other countries where for the past 30 years they have lived as neighbours with the Greek Cypriots.

Subsequently, the Turkish Cypriots established their own separatist institutions with a popularly elected de facto President and a Prime Minister responsible to the National Assembly exercising joint executive powers. In 1983, the Turkish Cypriots declared an independent state called the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), an action opposed by the United Nations Security Council.

Political division

Cyprus gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1960, with the UK, Greece and Turkey retaining limited rights to intervene in internal affairs.

In July 1974, after an attempted coup against the Makarios government by extreme right-wing factions aided by the Greek junta, Turkey invaded Cyprus, despite the fact that the coup had been quashed before the arrival of Turkish paratroopers. Cyprus has been divided, de facto, into the Greek-Cypriot controlled rump of the Republic, somewhat less than two-thirds of the island and the Turkish-occupied 43 percent area in the north. Turkey aside, all foreign governments and the United Nations recognise the sovereignty of the Republic of Cyprus over the whole island of Cyprus.

The Turkish Cypriot administration of the northern part of the island, together with Turkey, rejects the Republic's rule over the whole island and refers to it as the "Greek Authority of Southern Cyprus".

The north proclaimed its independence in 1975, and the self-styled Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was established in 1983.

The other power with territory on Cyprus is the United Kingdom.

Exclaves and enclaves

Cyprus has four exclaves, all in territory that belongs to the British Sovereign Base Area of Dhekelia.

The UN buffer zone separating the territory controlled by the Turkish Cypriot administration from the rest of Cyprus runs up against Dhekelia and picks up again from its east side, off Ayios Nikolaos (connected to the rest of Dhekelia by a thin land corridor).

Reunification, the Annan Plan and EU entry

The results of early negotiations between the Greek and Turkish politicians resulted in a broad agreement in principle to reunification as a bi-cameral, bi-zonal federation with territory allocated to the Greek and Turkish communities within a united island. However, agreement was never reached on the finer details, and the two sides often met deadlock over the following points, among others:

The Greek side:

The Turkish side:

The continued difficulties in finding a settlement presented a potential obstacle to Cypriot entry to the European Union, for which the government had applied in 1997. In December 2002, the EU formally invited Cyprus to join in 2004, insisting that EU membership would apply to the whole island and hoping that it would provide a significant enticement for reunification resulting from the outcome of ongoing talks. In considering the outcome it is interesting to note that whilst the Turkish settlers (who make up the majority in the occupied north) were allowed to vote, the refugees who had fled Cyprus had no right to vote in a referendum which would ultimately determine their future (their right to return and right to their property).

In May 2004, Cyprus entered the EU, although in practice membership only applies to the southern part of the island which is in the control of the Republic of Cyprus, but this reality does not concern the personal rights of native Turkish Cypriots as EU citizens, as they are considered as citizens of the Member State Republic of Cyprus.

Economy

Economic affairs in Cyprus are dominated by the division of the country due to the Turkish occupation of the north part of the island.

The Cypriot economy is prosperous and has diversified in recent years. Economic policy of the Cyprus government has focused on meeting the criteria for admission to the European Union.

Recently, oil has been discovered in the sea South of Cyprus (between Cyprus and Egypt) and talks are under way with Egypt to reach an agreement as to the exploitation of these resources.

The economy of the Turkish Cypriot North is dominated by the services sector including the public sector, trade, tourism and education, with smaller agriculture and light manufacturing sectors.

Eventual adoption of the euro currency is required of all new countries joining the European Union, and the Cyprus government currently intends to adopt the currency on 1 January 2008.

The largest bank on the island is the Bank of Cyprus.

Demographics

Greek and Turkish Cypriots share many customs but maintain separate ethnic identities based on religion, language, and close ties with their respective motherlands.

After the Turkish invasion of 1974, about 150.000 Turks from Anatolia were asked or decided to settle in the north.

Moreover, about 30.000 Greeks from the Former Soviet Union, in particular Georgia, took advantage of a law which allowed them to live in the Greek part of Cyprus. Aside from that, several thousand mainland Greeks have decided to move to Cyprus.

The major part of Greek Cypriots, and thus the majority of entire Cyprus, belong to the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Cyprus (Cypriot Orthodox Church), whereas most Turkish Cypriots are Sunni Muslims. Church attendance is relatively high and Cyprus is known, along with Malta and Greece, as one of the most religious countries in the European Union.

Greek is the predominant language in the south, Turkish is spoken in the north and by some Greek Cypriots, too. This delineation is only reflective of the post-1974 division of the island, which involved an expulsion of Greek Cypriots from the north and the analoguous move of Turkish Cypriots from the south. Historically, the Greek language was largely spoken by all Greek Cypriots and by many Turkish Cypriots too, given the fact that the Greek Cypriots formed the majority of the population.

Education

Cyprus has a well-developed system of primary and secondary education offering both public and private education. Graduates of public schools are required to take an entrance examination in order to enrol ato the University of Cyprus or other Universities in Greece. Private school students usually study in Britain and the USA although some of them go to the university of Cyprus or Greek universities.

The majority of Cypriots receive their higher education at Greek, British, Turkish, other European and North American universities, while there are also sizeable emigrant communities in the United Kingdom and Australia.

In the north there are several universities, which are mostly attended by Turkish Cypriot and Turkish students.

Educational institutions

Private secondary schools include:

• Foleys Grammar School

Current events

A consequence of the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict has been the evacuation of many thousands of refugees to southern Cyprus.

Internal membership

The island nation Cyprus is member of: Australia Group, CE, EBRD, EIB, EU, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ITUC, IDA, IFAD, IFC , IHO,ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU,ITU, MIGA, NAM, NSG,OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO.  Dr Fazil Küçük (1906-1984), the first and only Turkish Cypriot Vice President of the 1960 Republic of Cyprus. ^ EUROPA - The EU at a glance - Maps - Cyprus ^ EUROPA - The EU at a glance - New Member States - Cyprus ^ ^ http://www.cyprus-conflict.net/narrative%20-%20part%204.htm

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