Independence of Cyprus

flag of cyprus

On June 4, 1878, Britain concluded a treaty with the Ottoman sultan Abdul Hamid II, officially known as a Convention of Defensive Alliance. In this treaty Abdul Hamid agreed to the loan of Cyprus to Britain, while retaining Ottoman sovereignty over the island and the right to collect a tax known as the tribute.

Britain won de facto control of the island and the right to make laws and international agreements in the name of Cyprus. Within weeks of the signing of this treaty, the Union Jack flag was hoisted over Nicosia, and shortly afterward a contingent of Indian army troops arrived from Malta to safeguard British colonial rule, which lasted 82 years. For Britain, Cyprus became a vital staging area for its Middle East interests.

The island was formally taken over by the British in 1914, when the Ottoman Empire aligned itself with Germany and the other Central Powers during World War I. Under the Treaty of Lausanne of 1923, Turkey and Greece agreed that Cyprus would remain under British sovereignty, and in 1925 Cyprus was declared a crown colony.


Both the Greeks and the Turks of Cyprus considered British control a welcome relief from Turkish taxation; many Greek Cypriots also felt that the departure of the Ottoman administration brought the island closer to the Greek dream of enosis, or union, with Greece.

Thus, in effect, began the efforts of the Greek Cypriots to link the island’s destiny with that of Greece. The British government continued to state formally that no change in the status of the island was contemplated. Such an attitude further embittered the Greek Cypriots, although it was of some comfort to the Turkish Cypriots.

On April 1, 1955, a secret organization calling itself the National Organization of Cypriot Fighters—known by its Greek initials as EOKA (Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston)—declared a struggle until death to free the island from British rule and to link it with the Greek mainland. The war for the future of Cyprus began as colonial empires were crumbling around the globe. The British felt there was no question of a union with Greece or of full independence for Cyprus.

Considering its commitments in the Middle East and its still important role on the southeastern flank of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Britain regarded Cyprus as a crucial military base on the traditional crossroads of big-power competition for influence in the eastern Mediterranean.

Turkish Cypriot reactions were predictable. The Turks felt that, if successful, the Greek struggle for enosis against British colonial rule meant that the Turkishspeaking minority on the island would lose the protection of the British.

Fear of a Greek victory prompted the creation of a Turkish Cypriot counter organization known as VULCAN; the Turkish Cypriot minority also cooperated with the British police and military in tracking down suspected EOKA fighters.

To the slogan of enosis, Turkish Cypriots answered with their own solution, that of takism, or partition, of Cyprus. Georgios Grivas, who had previously served as a colonel in the Greek army, led the EOKA. Grivas arrived on the island from Greece in 1954 and set out to prepare what amounted to an well-organized uprising.

In Nicosia, early in 1955, rumors of landings of saboteurs, of infiltration by agents dispatched from Greece, and of organized resistance began sweeping the narrow streets, and soon Cyprus became an armed camp.

An estimated 28,000 British troops were deployed throughout the island, manning roadblocks, searching passersby, pursuing elusive terrorist suspects, and uncovering arms caches and hideouts in some of the most improbable places. Cyprus had become a dangerous weak spot in the NATO alliance.

What needed to be done was to work out a system of ethnic power-sharing that would satisfy Greece and Turkey, as both nations worked to protect their Cypriot ethnic compatriots as well as their own interests. Talks between the two countries continued throughout January 1959.

On February 5, Greek prime minister Constantine Karamanlis and Adnan Menderes of Turkey met in Zurich, where they prepared, after negotiations and consultation with the leaders of the two Cypriot communities, an outline for a solution to the Cyprus situation. With that document in hand, they traveled to London, where they were joined by Archbishop Mikhalis Khristodoulou Makarios III and Dr. Fazil Kuchuk, the political leader of the Turkish Cypriot community.

The new Cypriot constitution, based on the Zurich-London agreements, was issued in April 1960 and paved the way for the proclamation of the independent Republic of Cyprus. The president of the republic was a Greek Cypriot while the vice president was a Turkish Cypriot, both being elected by their representative communities. Both had veto powers over foreign affairs, defense, fiscal matters, and security.

Three Treaties

On the same day the constitution was finalized it was accompanied by three treaties: the Treaty of Guarantee, the Treaty of Alliance, and the Treaty of Establishment. The Treaty of Guarantee was signed by Turkey, Britain, Greece, and Cyprus. It stated that the four countries agreed not to undertake activity aimed at promoting, directly or indirectly, a union of Cyprus with any other state, or a partition of the island.

The Treaty of Alliance involved Cyprus, Greece, and Turkey. It established a tripartite headquarter on the island and permitted the two latter states to deploy, respectively, 950 and 650 persons in Cyprus to protect the island.

The Treaty of Establishment was signed between Britain and Cyprus and granted Britain sovereignty over a territory on the island’s southern coast for two military bases, Akrotiri and Dhekelia. The constitutional agreement was reached at the price of some 500 killed during the EOKA struggle with the British, but it also allowed Britain’s colonial disengagement from Cyprus.

The flag under which the two communities of Cyprus were to unite was displayed to the public on August 16, 1960. The Union Jack was replaced with a white flag bearing an orange map of Cyprus with small green branches underneath.

Turkish Invasion of Cyprus

Turkish Invasion of Cyprus

On July 19, 1974, Turkish warships and landing craft moved toward the northern coast of Cyprus. The invasion—or intervention, to the Turks—was Turkey’s answer to the military coup of 15 July that toppled Archbishop Mikhalis Khristodoulou Makarios III, president of Cyprus, at the behest of the military junta in power in Athens, Greece.

Turkish officials justified the military action by citing the terms of Article IV of the Treaty of Guarantee, noting the impossibility of joint action with Greece and the reluctance of Britain to use military force to restore the state of affairs established by the constitution of 1960.

The Turkish military offensive began on July 20, and although the Greek National Guard tried to defend the beachfront of northern Cyprus, it was defeated by the far stronger Turkish armed forces.


The Greek National Guard was poorly armed, while the Turks used new equipment and weapons recently purchased from the United States. Britain evacuated an estimated 12,000 British and other foreign nationals, as well as a number of Cypriots, to the Akrotiri military base and from there to England.

By July 22, the United Nations succeeded in obtaining a cease-fire. At this stage of the operation, named Attila II, the Turks controlled only a strip of the northern coastline about 10 miles long, including Kyrenia and a few villages.

Under pressure of the events in Cyprus, the Athens junta finally collapsed after more than seven years in power. Former Prime Minister Constantine Karamanlis returned from exile in Paris to form a new cabinet.

Turkish troop

At the same time, Nicos Sampson renounced his seven-dayold presidency of Cyprus, leaving the shattered country to Glafcos Clerides, who had previously been the president of the House of Representatives. During the early days of the post-invasion period, the Greek National Guard attacked Turkish Cypriots, thereby worsening inter-communal relations.

A conference of the guarantor powers (Greece, Turkey, and Britain), as well as Cyprus, was organized in Geneva on July 25 and resulted in a declaration calling for an exchange of prisoners and protection by the UN forces of the Turkish Cypriot enclaves.

As scheduled, the second part of the conference convened on August 9 with Clerides and a large team of advisers and experts representing Cyprus. Meanwhile, the small area of Cyprus held by the Turkish army was further occupied by some 30,000 troops with accompanying tanks, and artillery.


On August 13 the Turkish foreign minister Turan Günes¸ shocked international opinion by refusing a request for a 36-to-48-hour delay made by Clerides in order to consider proposals to resolve the crisis. At dawn on the following day, armor-backed Turkish columns fanned out east and west of Nicosia.

By this action Turkey was in violation of the many Security Council resolutions calling for a cease-fire and troop withdrawal, as well as agreements that were signed in Geneva. After three more days of fighting, Turkey called a cease-fire, but not before 37 percent of Cyprus had come under Turkish military occupation. Approximately 10,000 Turkish Cypriot refugees from enclaves in the south were flown to northern Cyprus from British bases by way of Turkey.

The events of 1974 dramatically altered the internal balance of power between the two Cypriot communities and coupled their prevailing political and institutional separation with a stark physical and geographical separation. Until the present day, the island remains divided between the Greek-speaking south, now a member of the EU, and the self-styled Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is recognized only by Turkey.

Makarios III - Cypriot Political Leader

Makarios III - Cypriot Political Leader

Archbishop Makarios was born in the village of Panayia in the Paphos district of Cyprus on August 13, 1913, and died on August 3, 1977. Makarios, meaning blessed, was the name chosen by Mikhalis Khristodoulou Mouskos when he was ordained as a deacon in 1938. After being ordained, Makarios enrolled in the theological school at the University of Athens, Greece.

While studying in Athens during World War II, Makarios lived under the Nazi occupation. After the Allies liberated Greece, Makarios traveled to Boston to further his theological studies. In 1948, while in the United States, Makarios was elected bishop of Kitium, Cyprus.

Shortly upon his return to Cyprus, Makarios became involved in the Cypriot enosis movement for a union with Greece, and in 1950 he was elected archbishop of Cyprus. His association with EOKA (National Organization of Cypriot Fighters), an underground organization that focused its attention on freeing the island from British colonial rule, caused Makarios to be exiled to the Seychelles by the British, who charged him with encouraging acts of terrorism.


One year later he was allowed to return to Cyprus; when the British withdrew, Makarios was elected the first president of Cyprus. With his new outlook on the independent nation of Cyprus, Makarios distanced himself from the enosis movement. He attended the Belgrade Conference of the Heads of State of Non-Aligned Countries; his political position made him a target for the supporters of enosis.

In 1965, when his term of office was to expire, the Cypriot people extended his term to 1968. In 1968 and 1973 he won reelection. Makarios was heavily pressured by the Greek government to increase Greek influence on Cypriot politics. Athens had been under the control of a military junta, which disliked Makarios and his reluctance to push for enosis.

Statue of Makarios III

Makarios replied to the Greek Junta in the form of a letter demanding that the remaining Greek National Guard stationed in Cyprus be withdrawn. He also accused the junta of plotting against his life and against Cyprus. Thirteen days later, the junta ordered the Greek National Guard in Cyprus to overthrow Makarios and take control of the island. Makarios survived the attempted coup and escaped to England.

The coup caused permanent damage in Cyprus by giving Turkey a pretext for a Turkish invasion that split the island in two, separating the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot communities. After a brief exile, Makarios returned to Cyprus in December 1974 to resume his presidency until his death in 1977.