By the 19th century the Ottoman empire was in a state of steady, if rather prolonged, decline and once more Cyprus became the focus of interest to other outside powers. This time it was the Russians and the British, the former in its pursuit of warm water ports, for better access to the Mediterranean, the latter to counter this possible threat to its strategic interests in the area and, especially with the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, to safeguard its route to its extensive imperial interests in the Far East. The British won. In 1878 as the result of the Cyprus Convention, the United Kingdom took over the government of Cyprus as a protectorate from the Ottoman Empire. The first British High Commissioner was Lieutenant-General Sir Garnet Joseph Wolseley (1833-1913).
The British imposed heavy taxes to cover the compensation which they were paying to the Sultan for having conceded Cyprus to them. Moreover, the people were not given the right to participate in the administration of the island since all powers were reserved to the High Commissioner and to London. A few years later the system was reformed and some members of the legislative Council were elected by the Cypriots, but in reality their participation was very marginal.
The British faced two major political problems on the island. The first was to contain the desire for union with Greece (enosis), after it became clear to the Greek Cypriots that it was not going to be granted. The second was the consequential problem of keeping the two communities in harmony once the Turkish Cypriots began to respond to enosis by calling for partition (taksim) as a defence against their being Hellenised and assimilation, as they saw it.
However, Cyprus’ status as a protectorate of the British Empire ended in 1914 when the Ottoman Empire declared war against the Entente powers, which included Britain. Cyprus was then annexed by the British Empire on November the 2nd. During the course of the First World War Britain offered to cede Cyprus to Greece if they would fulfil treaty obligations to attack Bulgaria, but Greece declined. As a result of this treaty, Britain proclaimed Cyprus a Crown Colony in 1925 under an undemocratic constitution.
In the years that followed Greek Cypriots mainly tried to increase their constitutional liberties. Their main objective was to achieve enosis, union with Greece, despite the fact that both the British and the Turkish Cypriot leaders were against it. Greek Cypriot demand for enosis developed rapidly from the 1930s, a turning point being the Greek Cypriots of 1931 and the burning down of Government House in Nicosia.
The promised economic prosperity never really appeared and the hopes that many harboured for a union with modern Greece, a country that had come into being only relatively recently after a bitter struggle for independence from Ottoman rule, failed to materialise. For the minority population there was no desire at all for any union with anyone and they found considerable solace in the maintenance of the status quo through British rule. Serious cracks were developing, therefore, in the internal politics of Cyprus.
After World War II, when 30,000 Cypriots fought in the British army, calls for enosis were renewed. A plebicite organized in 1950 by Makarios, later Archbishop Makarios Ill, showed that 96% ofthe Greek Cypriots supported union with Greece. However, it has been reported that excommunication was a stick used to encourage the overwhelming vote. Furthermore, it is doubtful that many Cypriots understood the full implications of enesis1 quite apart from the fact that it was anathema to the Turkish Cypriot minority.
Post war anitudes were against the old ideas of colonialism, and when Greek Cypriot demands for self determination resulted only in the offer of a new constitution, the signal was given for Colonel George Grivas, who used the name `Dighenis`, after the legendary Byzantine hero, to launch EOKA. (National Organization of Cypriot Fighters) This armed struggle against British rule began in April 1955, and was abetted in the churches by the clergy, with the blessing, indeed the leadership, of Archbishop Makarios Ill. The latter was deponed to the Seychelles 14 months later after the call for enosis had been outlawed. The Turkish Cypriot community spawned their own movements; taksim called for the division of the island; TMT was the Turkish Cypriot resistance movement.
After a conference attended by Greece, Turkey and Britain in June 1955 failed to achieve a solution, Greece applied to the United Nations in 1957 and again in 1958, claiming the right of self determination for Cypriots. This claim, of course, did not take into account the position of the Turkish Cypriot minority, and as a counterthrust, Turkey suggested a double enosis, or partition of the island.
Meanwhile, Grivas and his terrorists were actively prosecuting their cause, undaunted by the emergency regulations, and with the total death toll rising above 500, the British were anxious to find a suitable formula for independence. This was eventually hammered out in the Treaty of Zurich, and on 19th February 1959, Makarios Ill, Dr. Fazil Kuquk (the Turkish Cypriot representative), plus the prime ministers of Britain, Greece, and Turkey, all signed the London Accord, granting Cyprus independence. The agreement, which left Britain with the sovereign base areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, provided guarantor powers of intervention to Britain, Greece, and Turkey.
The Republic of Cyprus came into being on 19th August 1960, and on 20th September it joined the United Nations, and the British Commonwealth.
The constitution arising from the London Accord provided for a bi-communal society, with safeguards to prevent the majority Greek Cypriots from dominating the Turkish Cypriots.
Greece, Turkey, and Great Britain were assigned the guarantor powers, with the right to intervene militarily if the London Accord was breached. The president was to be from the Greek, and the vice-president from the Turkish community, each with the power of veto. In the government and the civil service, the communities were represented in the ratio of 70% to 30%, whilst in the police and army, the ratio was 60% to 40%. Failure to agree on the structure of the army resulted in Makarios, the first president of Cyprus, declaring that Cyprus would have no armed forces. This led to the formation of private armies, supplied clandestinely by Greece and Turkey.
In legislative matters, separate majorities were required from the Greek and Turkish members of the Cyprus House of Representatives. The major towns had separate municipalities, and in the law courts, the accused were tried by members of their own community.
This complicated system proved to be unworkable in practice, owing to inherent suspicions between the two communities. However, a straightforward democracy, or majority rule, was not applicable to Cyprus as it would have resulted in the Turkish community having no effective say in the government, and would have almost certainly have led to a declaration of enosis, or union with Greece.
In November 1963, Makarios submitted a plan to Dr. Kucuk, the vice-president, aimed at simplifying the constitution. The changes proposed removed most of the checks and balances which had been built into the constitution to protect the minority Turkish community, and were of course unacceptable to the Turks.
To some extent Makarios was under pressure from EQKA, which, having achieved its initial goal of independence for Cyprus, was now pursuing what they regarded as the next logical step – enosis. From Athens, General Grivas, the terrorist chief of EOKA, fulminated against Makarios and incited his fanatical supporters to seize the initiative.
Matters came to a head on Christmas eve, when armed Greeks aflacked a suburb of Nicosia, Kuguk Kaymakl (Omorphita), killing or capturing those Turkish Cypriots inhabitants who were unable to escape. Armed conflict spread, with the Turkish Cypriots withdrawing into enclaves to defend themselves.
A buffer zone was set up and manned by British troops in a largely unsuccessful attempt to stop the fighting. These were later replaced by United Nations troops in March 1964.
Makarios revealed his true colours when on January 1 st 1964 he announced the abrogation of the treaties signed in London, intending to establish self determination for Cypriots, which, as the Greeks were in the majority, would almost certainly lead to a proclamation ot enosis. Under pressure from Britain and Turkey, Makarios repealed his announcement.
In August 1964, well armed Greek forces attempted to crush the Turks at Erenkoy (kokkina) on the north coast, in order to interrupt the flow of munitions from the Turkish mainland: they would undoubtedly have succeeded had not the Turkish air force intervened. This act added a new dimension to the conflict. Fear of Turkish intervention sobered the Greeks somewhat, and they settled down to systematic economic blockade of the Turkish enclaves. This situation amounted to partition, especially as the Turks were no longer able to participate in the government or civil service.
Further armed conflict in 1967 provoked Turkey to threaten military intervention, but with the takeover by the colonels in Greece, and the economic boom in Cyprus, the concept of enosis grew less attractive.
In January 1974, Grivas, who had returned to Cyprus earlier to take charge of the armed forces and head the terrorist group EOKA-B, died of a heart attack near Limassol. During the presidential elections of that year, Makarios clearly renounced the cause of enosis, and was re-elected with 95% of the cast votes. He subsequently ordered the withdrawal of mainland Greek officers, whereupon the National Guard, which was under the command of Greek officers, stormed the presidential palace in Nicosia. Makarios escaped, but this attempted coup, sponsored by the military junta in Greece, persuaded Turkey to intervene, as a guarantor power. On 20th July 1974, Turkish forces landed and occupied 40% of the island in the north. 150,000 Greek Cypriots fled to the south, and 50,000 Turkish Cypriots escaped to the north. Substantial Turkish forces remained in the north, and the civilian population increased after considerable migration from the Turkish mainland.
Intercommunal negotiations since 1974 have been fruitless1 and in November 1983, Northern Cyprus declared itself independent as the Turkish Republic Of Northern Cyprus. Recognised only by Turkey, the TRNC is hampered economically and has not prospered as much as the south.
In 1975 the “Turkish Federative State of Cyprus” (Kibris Turk Federe Devleti) was declared as a first step towards a future federated Cypriot state, but was rejected by the Republic of Cyprus, by the UN, and by the international community. After eight years of failed negotiations with the leadership of the Greek Cypriot community, the north declared its independence on 15 November 1983 under the name of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
In recent years the politics of reunification has dominated the islands affairs. It was hoped European Union accession would act as a catalyst towards a settlement. In 2004 a United Nations brokered peace settlement was put to a referendum on both sides, with Turkish Cypriots accepting and Greek Cypriots rejecting it, the result being the entry of a divided island into the European Union. The long serving Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktas had resigned in wake of the vote, ushering in the pro-solutionist Mehmet Ali Talat as President.
Politics of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus takes place in a framework of a semi-presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President is head of state and the Prime Minister head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Assembly of the Republic. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
The president is elected for a five-year term. The legislature is the Assembly of the Republic, which has 50 members elected by proportional representation from five electoral districts. In the elections of February 2005, the Republican Turkish Party, which favours a peace settlement and the reunification of Cyprus, retained its position as the largest parliamentary party, but failed to win an overall majority.
The international community, with the exception of Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Bosnia does not recognize the TRNC as a sovereign state, but recognizes the de jure sovereignty of the Republic of Cyprus over the whole island. The United Nations considers the declaration of independence by the TRNC as legally invalid in several of its resolutions.
London has office of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Bedford Square. In wake of the the April 2004 referendum on the United Nations Annan Plan, and the support of the Turkish Cypriot community for reunifcation, the European Union made pledges towards ending the isolation of northern Cyprus. These included measures for trade and 259 million euros in aid.
The Organization of the Islamic Conference gave the TRNC the status of a constituent state, making the “Turkish Cypriot State” an observer member of the organization. A number of high profile formal meetings have also taken place between President Mehmet Ali Talat and various foreign leaders and politicians including US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, British foreign minister Jack Straw.
Legally, however, the European Union continues to consider the area not under effective control of the Republic of Cyprus as EU territory under Turkish military occupation and thus indefinitely exempt from EU legislation until a settlement has been found. There is no support for admitting two Cypriot member states into the EU, as long as the Cyprus dispute is not solved. The status of TRNC has become a recurrent issue especially during the recent talks for Turkey’s membership of the EU where the division of the island is seen as a major stumbling block in Turkey’s long road to membership.
And so we’ve arrived at the present. The journey has been long and sometimes unpleasant. Let us hope the future will be more peaceful and serene. God knows – this lovely island deserves it.
© 2008 JSC "Constanta". All rights reserved.
Site created by: headlab.ru
Phone: +90 533 825 6180, +90 533 825 6190
E-mail: info@constanta-property.com