Cyprus

:See also Cypress (a common misspelling) for other meanings.

Politics

Main article: Politics of Cyprus

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After independence Cyprus became a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement despite all three guarantor powers (Greece, Turkey and the UK) being NATO members. Cyprus left the Non-Aligned Movement in 2004 to join the EU.

Related Topics:
Non-Aligned Movement - Greece - Turkey - UK - NATO - EU

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Following the independence of Cyprus from the UK, the Greek Cypriots held three referendums on the issue of whether they wanted to be annexed by Greece. On all three occasions there was a vote in favour of annexation but Greece had agreed not to merge with Cyprus under the terms of the independence treaty and Greek Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis did not seek to do so.

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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 Faz?l 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.

Related Topics:
Archbishop Makarios - Dr Faz?l Küçük

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The House of Representatives was elected on the basis of separate voters' rolls. Since 1964, following clashes between the two communities, the Turkish seats in the House have been vacant after their withdrawal from the government, and the Greek Cypriot Communal Chamber was abolished. The responsibilities of the chamber were transferred to the newfounded Ministry of Education.

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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. Enosis remained an ideological goal, despite being pushed significantly further down the political agenda. Dissatisfaction in Greece with Makarios's perceived failure to deliver on earlier promises of enosis convinced the Greek colonels to sponsor the 1974 coup in Nicosia.

Related Topics:
Military junta - Makarios

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Turkey responded by invading Cyprus in a move not approved by the other two international guarantor powers, Greece and the United Kingdom. Turkey did not use its authority as a guarantor to restore the status quo before the coup. Claiming to be responding to an imminent threat to the Republic of Cyprus and the need to protect the Turkish minority in Cyprus from attacks by Greek militias, it captured the northern third of the island, causing 180,000 Greek Cypriots to flee to the south. 55,000 Turkish Cypriots subsequently relocated from the south to the north (see Cyprus dispute). Many thousands of others, from both sides, left the island entirely.

Related Topics:
Turkey - Cyprus dispute

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Subseqently, the Turkish Cypriots established their own institutions with a popularly elected President and a Prime Minister responsible to the National Assembly exercising joint executive powers. In 1983, the Turkish Cypriots declared an independent "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" (TRNC), an action opposed by the United Nations Security Council. In 1985, the TRNC adopted a constitution and held its first elections.

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See also:

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• Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
• Foreign relations of Cyprus
• List of political parties in Cyprus
• Military of Cyprus

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.

Related Topics:
United Kingdom - 1960 - Greece - Turkey

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Since 1974, Cyprus has been divided, de facto, into the Greek-Cypriot controlled southern two-thirds of the island and the Turkish-Cypriot northern one-third.

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The Republic of Cyprus is the internationally recognised government of Cyprus, which controls the southern two-thirds of the island. Turkey aside, all foreign governments and the United Nations recognise the sovereignty of the Republic of Cyprus over the whole island of Cyprus.

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The Turkish Cypriot administration of the northern part of the island, together with Turkey, does not accept the Republic's rule over the whole island and refer to it as the "Greek Authority of Southern Cyprus". Its territory, the status of which remains disputed, extends over the northern third of the island.

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The north proclaimed its independence in 1975, and the self-styled Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was established in 1983. This state was recognised only by Turkey. The Organization of the Islamic Conference granted it observer member status under the name of "Turkish Cypriot State".

Related Topics:
1975 - Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus - 1983 - Turkey - Organization of the Islamic Conference

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The other power with territory on Cyprus is the United Kingdom. Under the independence agreement, the UK retained title to two areas on the southern coast of the island, around Akrotiri and Dhekelia, known collectively as the UK sovereign base areas. They are used as military bases.

Related Topics:
United Kingdom - Akrotiri and Dhekelia - UK sovereign base

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Exclaves and enclaves

Cyprus has four exclaves, all in territory that belongs to the British Sovereign Base Area of Dhekelia. The first two are the villages of Ormidhia and Xylotimbou. Additionally there is the Dhekelia Power Station, which is divided by a British road into two parts. The northern part is an enclave like the two villages, whereas the southern part is located by the sea and therefore not an enclave —although it has no territorial waters of its own http://geosite.jankrogh.com/cyprus.htm.

Related Topics:
Exclave - British Sovereign Base Area of Dhekelia - Enclave

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The United Nations (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 of Ayios Nikolaos (connected to the rest of Dhekelia by a thin land corridor). In that sense, the buffer zone turns the south-east corner of the island, the Paralimni area, into a de facto, though not de jure, exclave.

Related Topics:
United Nations - Turkish Cypriot administration - Ayios Nikolaos - Paralimni - De facto - De jure

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Reunification, the Annan Plan and EU entry

The results of early negotiations between the Greek and Turkish sides 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:

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The Turkish side:

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• favoured a weak central government presiding over two sovereign states in voluntary assocation, a legacy of earlier fears of domination by the majority Greek Cypriots; and
• opposed plans for demilitarisation, citing security concerns.

The Greek side:

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• took a strong line on the right of return for refugees to properties vacated in the 1974 displacement of Cypriots on both sides;
• took a dim view of any proposals which did not allow for the repatriation of Turkish settlers from the mainland who had emigrated to Cyprus since 1974; and
• supported a stronger central government.

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. UN-sponsored talks between the Greek and Turkish leaders, Glafkos Klerides and Rauf Denktash, continued intensively in 2002, but without resolution. 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. However, weeks before the UN deadline, Klerides was defeated in presidential elections by right-wing candidate Tassos Papadopoulos. Papadopoulos had a reputation as a hard-liner on reunification and had rejected previous UN attempts to reunify the island. By mid-March, the UN declared that the talks had failed.

Related Topics:
European Union - Glafkos Klerides - Rauf Denktash - Tassos Papadopoulos

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A United Nations plan sponsored by Secretary-General Kofi Annan was announced on 31 March 2004, based on what progress had been made during the talks in Switzerland and fleshed out by the UN, was put to both sides in separate referenda on 24 April 2004. The Greek side overwhelmingly rejected the Annan Plan, and the Turkish side voted in favour.

Related Topics:
United Nations - Secretary-General - Kofi Annan - 31 March - 2004 - Switzerland - 24 April - Annan Plan

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In May, Cyprus entered the EU, although in practice membership only applies to the southern part of the island. In acknowledgement of the Turkish Cypriot community's support for reunification, however, the EU made it clear that trade concessions would be reached to stimulate economic growth in the north, and remains committed to reunification under acceptable terms.

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See also:

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• Annan Plan
• 2004 referendum
• Cyprus dispute
• UN Buffer Zone on Cyprus.