Cypriot recorded history dates to the late Bronze Age (1600-1050 B.C.), when Greek traders and settlers landed and established a Hellenic culture. Beginning in 700 B.C., the island fell successively under Assyrian, Egyptian, and Persian domination. In 58 B.C., Rome annexed Cyprus. With the division of the Roman Empire in A.D. 364, Cyprus was incorporated into Byzantium. During 800 years of Byzantine rule, Cyprus was attacked frequently. After brief possession by Richard the Lion-Hearted, the island came under Frankish control in the late 12th century. It was ceded to the Venetian Republic in 1489 and conquered by the Ottoman Turks in 1571. The Ottomans applied the millet system to Cyprus, under which non-Muslim minorities were governed by their religious authorities. This system reinforced the position of the church and the cohesion of the ethnic Greek population. Most of the Turks who settled on the island during the three centuries of Ottoman rule remained when control of Cyprus (although not sovereignty) was ceded to Great Britain in 1878. Many, however, left for Turkey during the 1920s. The island was annexed formally by Great Britain in 1914 at the outbreak of World War I and became a crown colony in 1925.

Revolt Against British Rule

During the later years of Ottoman rule, a strong sense of Greek identity and a desire for union with Greece (enosis) emerged within the Greek Cypriot community. These sentiments intensified under British colonial administration and translated ultimately into political action. Riots broke out in 1931. The British declared a state of emergency. Agitation for enosis subsided during World War II but resumed after the war. In 1955, the Greek Cypriot EOKA (National Organization of Cypriot Fighters) launched a guerrilla campaign against British rule, while Greek Cypriot political leaders, principally Archbishop Makarios, brought their cause before the United Nations and other international bodies. Turkish Cypriots objected to union with Greece and called for partition of the island. EOKA's anti-British campaign led to outbreaks of intercommunal violence.

The Greek Government endorsed Greek Cypriot claims to majority rule and self-determination. The Turkish Government, however, pointing out that application of these principles would lead to enosis, contented that Turkey's national interests and the security of the Turkish Cypriots would require partitioning the island between Greece and Turkey should the British decide to relinquish control. These differences strained relations between the United Kingdom, Greece, and Turkey.

Independence

Under the circumstances, the concept of an independent Cyprus gained currency. At a meeting in Zurich in February 1959, the prime ministers of Greece and Turkey endorsed Cypriot independence and agreed on the fundamental structure of an independent republic. Later that month, representatives of the United Kingdom and the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities joined those of Greece and Turkey at the followup conference in London, where the Zurich agreement was ratified by all participants, and arrangements were made to draft a constitution and associated agreements.

On August 16, 1960, Cyprus became independent. On the same day, the constitution and a series of treaties involving the United Kingdom, Greece, Turkey, and the new republic went into effect. The treaties prohibited both enosis and partition of the island between Greece and Turkey, and established Greece, Turkey, and the United Kingdom and guarantors of Cypriot independence, territorial integrity, security, and the republic's constitution. The treaties also reserved to the guarantors the right to take collective or individual action to fulfill the obligations, and provided for tripartite Cypriot, Greek, and Turkish defense of the island. Under the Treaty of Establishment, the United Kingdom retained sovereignty over two base areas on the island--Akrotiri and Dhekelia.

Shortly after the founding of the republic, serious differences arose between Greek and Turkish Cypriots over the implementation and interpretation of the constitution. Problems developed over forming a national army, staffing the public services, and legislating customs duties and an income tax. In 1962, friction arose over implementation of the constitution's provision for separate Turkish Cypriot municipalities. Internal discussions aimed at resolving these differences broke down in mid-1963. In November, President Makarios proposed a series of constitutional revisions that would have eliminated the special protections accorded the Turkish Cypriots in the 1960 constitution and would have introduced a straightforward majority system of representation. The Turkish Cypriots resisted these revisions and, after an outbreak of intercommunal violence in December, terminated participation in the Government of Cyprus.

Crises of 1963-64 and 1967

Intercommunal fighting continued through 1964, with the attendant danger of hostilities between Greece and Turkey. Initially, British troops stationed in the sovereign base areas sought to establish and enforce a ceasefire, but when these efforts failed, the UN Security Council considered the matter, and by a resolution of March 4, 1964, recommended the creation of a UN peace force in Cyprus, UNFICYP (UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus) continues to exist, 23 years after its creation. The March 1964 resolution also authorized the UN Secretary General to designate a mediator to promote a peaceful, mutually acceptable settlement of the Cyprus problem.

In early 1964, the United States first became actively involved in the Cyprus question when Under Secretary of State George W. Ball traveled to the eastern Mediterranean in an effort to dampen intercommunal tensions and to lessen the risks of open Greek-Turkish conflict. In June, when it appeared that Turkey was preparing to invade Cyprus, President Lyndon B. Johnson sent a strongly worded letter to Turkish Prime Minister Ismet Inonu warning against such a step. Later in 1964, former Secretary of State Dean Acheson put forward two proposed solutions to the Cyprus problem involving union with Greece in exchange for establishment of a Turkish base on the island and cession of a Greek island to Turkey. These proposals were rejected by Greece and Turkey and by President Makarios. In March 1965, the UN- appointed mediator, Galo Plaza, submitted a report to Secretary General U Thant containing recommendations for a settlement; these were found unacceptable by the Turkish side.

During the violence of 1963-64 and 1967-68, many Turkish Cypriots moved to areas of the island that were wholly or predominantly Turkish Cypriot, leading to the creation of small but relatively homogeneous Turkish Cypriot enclaves with their own local administrative apparatus and security forces. Meanwhile, the Government of Cyprus began functioning in practice as a purely Greek Cypriot institution, and certain Greek Cypriot communal bodies established under the constitution were abolished. After 1964, the Turkish Cypriots increasingly depended on assistance from the Turkish Government, and both Greece and Turkey augmented their military contingents on the island to levels substantially above those permitted under the 1960 Treaty of Alliance.

The 1967 intercommunal violence precipitated a further crisis on Cyprus and led to a major confrontation between Greece and Turkey. Following an attack in November by the Greek Cypriot National Guard on two Turkish Cypriot villagers, Turkey moved large numbers of troops to the Thracian border with Greece and to ports on the southern Turkish coast facing Cyprus. Within several weeks, however, the crisis was defused, largely through the mediation of U.S. Presidential Emissary Cyrus Vance. Greece and Turkey agreed to withdraw from Cyprus all armed forces in excess of the levels permitted under the Treaty of Alliance. Subsequently, the Turkish military buildup in Thrace and on the southern Turkish coast dispersed. Additionally, Gen. Grivas, the Cypriot-born mainland Greek officer who had led the EOKA insurgency and had commanded the Greek Cypriot National Guard since its formation in 1964, resigned his command and returned to Greece. In the wake of the 1967 crisis, the Turkish Cypriot leadership set up a Turkish Cypriot Provisional Administration, headed by an 11-person council, to manage the community's affairs.

The 1974 Crisis

On July 15, 1974, elements of the Cypriot National Guard and an extremist group calling itself EOKA-B, at the instigation of the junta-controlled Government of Greece, overthrew President Makarios and his government. The junta had been hostile to Makarios for alleged pro-communist leanings, and both the junta and EOKA-B refused to accept what they perceived as Makarios' abandonment of enosis. Makarios fled the island in the midst of heavy fighting among Greek Cypriot factions on July 15-16, and Nicos Sampson, a newspaper publisher and EOKA-B leader, assumed control of the government. Sampson's past involvement in terrorism in support of enosis made him totally unacceptable to the Turkish Cypriot community and to Turkey. On July 20, the Turkish Government, citing its obligations under the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee, landed military forces on Cyprus and heavy fighting ensued. A quickly arranged ceasefire came into effect on July 22. On July 23, the Sampson regime collapsed, and Glafcos Clerides, President of the House of Representatives, became acting president.

The foreign ministers of the guarantor powers (Greece, Turkey, and the United Kingdom) met in Geneva July 25-30 in an effort to consolidate the cease-fire. They convened a second time on August 8, against a background of cease-fire violations, massacres, and widespread arrests, to attempt to work out a long-term settlement of Cyprus. The talks broke down on August 14, and on the same day, Turkish forces launched a second offensive that ended 2 days later with their occupation of 36% of the island. More than 160,000 Greek Cypriots were displaced during this Turkish advance. Some 65,000 Turkish Cypriots also left the Greek Cypriot-controlled part of the island and moved to the park under Turkish occupation. After 5 months abroad, President Makarios returned to Cyprus in December 1974.

Settlement Efforts

Efforts have been made almost since the founding of the republic to develop long-term institutional arrangements in Cyprus acceptable to both communities that would permit effective, stable government. Initially, these efforts were ad hoc consultations between Greek and Turkish involvement. In June 1968, formal intercommunal negotiations began under UN auspices. These sessions were sporadic, however, and little progress was made before the 1974 crisis. With strong diplomatic support, the talks resumed more intensively in early 1975, but despite limited agreements on certain humanitarian issues--such as population movement--the two sides made no substantive progress. In their Brussels Agreement of December 1975, the Greek and Turkish foreign ministers sought to stimulate the talks, and hopes rose in February 1976 when the two parties agreed to exchange substantive proposals on all aspects of the Cyprus problem. Each side, however, rejected the other's proposals.

In February 1977, President Makarios and Turkish Cypriot leader Denktash met in Nicosia under UN Secretary General Kurt Waldheim's aegis and agreed on a set of general principles to guide further negotiations. Shortly after the Makarios-Denktash meeting, U.S. Special Representative Clark Clifford visited Ankara, Athens, and Nicosia and obtained the agreement of both sides to submit new, concrete proposals at the talks--the Greek Cypriots on territory, the Turkish Cypriots on constitutional issues. Some probing of positions took place in the discussions that followed, but followup sessions in May and June quickly bogged down. Efforts to revive the talks made little headway until January 1978 when Prime Minister Ecevit returned to power in Ankara and announced that the Turkish side would formulate and put forward new territorial and constitutional proposals. In April of that year, the proposals were presented to Secretary General Waldheim in Vienna but were rejected immediately by the Greek Cypriots as an insufficient basis for resuming negotiations. In July, within the context of the U.S. congressional debate on lifting the Turkish arms embargo, Turkish Cypriot leader Denktash offered to permit Greek Cypriot resettlement of the empty coastal town of Varosha as an inducement for new talks. This proposal also was rejected by the Greek Cypriots.

In the fall of 1978, the United States, in conjunction with the United Kingdom and Canada, undertook a quiet diplomatic effort to facilitate a resumption of negotiations. On November 10, a series of proposals on substantive issues designed to serve as a starting point for new talks was submitted to the two Cypriot parties. Neither party accepted these suggestions, and they were specifically rejected by the Greek Cypriots. Secretary General Waldheim, however, drew on them and presented a simplified draft agenda to the parties late in December.

On May 18-19, 1979, under the auspices of the Secretary General, President Kyprianou met with Turkish Cypriot leader Denktash. On the basis of a 10-point agreement reached by them, the intercommunal negotiations resumed briefly in June but then went into an extended recess. Coinciding with the appointment of a new Special Representative of the Secretary General, Ambassador Hugo Gobbi, the sides agreed in a settlement on August 9, 1980, to renew the intercommunal talks. As well as confirming the February 1977 and May 1979 agreements, the statement reaffirmed support for a federal constitution and a bizonal solution of the territorial aspect of the Cyprus problem.

In November 1981, the United Nations presented an "evaluation" of the negotiations to help generate deeper substantive discussion. The "evaluation" served as the basis for talks into early 1983. In August 1983, Secretary General Perez de Cuellar proposed "parameters" within which the Cypriot communities could resolve the key issues of governmental organization and division of territory. These proposals were accepted as a basis for discussion by the Greek Cypriots a month later but were rejected by the Turkish Cypriots. A Turkish Cypriot proposal for a high-level meeting to break the deadlock failed to renew momentum.

On November 15, 1983, the Turkish Cypriot community declared itself the independent "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus." This action was immediately denounced by the internationally recognized Government of Cyprus, the United States, and most other countries. The UN Security Council met in a special emergency session to deplore this move by the Turkish Cypriots, and adopted a resolution calling for its reversal. The United States supported the Council resolution and joined many of its allies in urging the Turkish Government, the only government to recognize the new entity, to use its influence to reverse the Turkish Cypriot action.

In August 1984, Secretary General Perez de Cuellar launched a new initiative to achieve an overall Cyprus settlement. Following three rounds of proximity talks, he developed a "draft framework agreement" providing the outline of an overall settlement and an agreed procedure for high-level meetings and working groups to resolve outstanding issues. He presented the draft agreement to both sides at a summit under his aegis on January 17-20, 1985. The summit failed to produce agreement, however; the Turkish Cypriots accepted the document, but the Greek Cypriots would only accept the draft as a basis for negotiations. Subsequently, after further discussions with the Greek Cypriots, the Secretary General converted his documentation into a draft agreement and statement. The Greek Cypriots accepted this documentation in April 1985. In August, however, the Turkish Cypriot side informed the Secretary General that it had difficulties with the documentation.

Following lower level talks between Secretariat officials and the two parties, the Secretary General produced a new draft framework agreement in March 1986. After some initial qualifications, Mr. Denktash accepted the document. President Kyprianou did not accept the draft agreement and told the Secretary General that priority should be given to discussing the withdrawal of Turkish troops and settlers, international guarantees, and the application of the "three freedoms" (freedom of movement, freedom of settlement, and right of property). He requested that an international conference be convened to deal with the first two issues or, if this did not prove possible, that the Secretary General convene a meeting of the two Cypriot leaders to deal with all three issues. The Secretary General is continuing his efforts in the search for a peaceful, mutually acceptable settlement.

Political Conditions

There are four major Greek Cypriot political parties--the conservative Democratic Rally, the center-right Democratic Party, socialist EDEK, and communist AKEL. None has been able to elect a president by itself or dominate the 56-seat House of Representatives.

Spyros Kyprianou, Democratic Party leader, became President after Makarios' death in 1977. Kyprianou originally succeeded to the presidency, according to constitutional provisions, from his position as President of the House of Representatives, and was elected for an interim period and re-elected without opposition for a full term in February 1978. In 1983, Kyprianou entered into an electoral alliance with AKEL and won a second 5-year term over Democratic Rally leader Glafkos Clerides and EDEK leader Vassos Lyssarides, obtaining 56% of the vote.

Presidential elections were held in February 1988, resulting in the defeat of President Kyprianou after 10 years in office. In the February 14 first round of elections, no candidate received a majority, resulting in a runoff election between Democratic Rally Party candidate Glafkos Clerides and Independent candidate George Vassiliou. First round voting percentages were Spyros Kyprianou 27.29%, Glafkos Clerides 33.32%, Vassos Lyssarides 9.22%, George Vassiliou 30.11%, and Independent Thrassos Georghiades 0.06%. Vassiliou won in February 21 second round with 51.63% of the votes over Clerides' 48.37%.

Vassiliou ran as an Independent but was supported by AKEL and the small Liberal Party of Former Foreign Minister Nicos Rolandis in the first round. In the second round, he also picked up the support of Lyssarides and EDEK. Vassiliou had no previous direct involvement in Cypriot politics. He established the Middle East Marketing Research Bureau in 1962 and the Middle East Centre for Management Studies and the Middle East Centre for Computing Studies in 1984.

In the December 1985 parliamentary elections, the Democratic Rally won 33.56%, the Democratic Party 27.6%, AKEL declined from its traditional one-third to 27.4%, and EDEK won 11.07% of the vote. EDEK leader Lyssarides--with Democratic Party support--was elected to the presidency of the House of Representatives.

In the May 1986 municipal elections, AKEL rebounded with 32.53% of the vote, the Rally won 32.59%, the Democratic Party, 23.4%, and EDEK 11.14%.

The Turkish Cypriots last held parallel elections with the Greek Cypriots in 1973, when Rauf Denktash, then intercommunal negotiator for the Turkish Cypriot side, was elected without opposition as the Vice President of Cyprus. Since the 1974 hostilities and the formation of the TFSC, however, the Turkish Cypriots regard the constitutional order of 1960 as abolished.

Following the November 1983 declaration of independence, Denktash appointed a Council of Ministers for the self- proclaimed "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC)." On May 5, 1985, a referendum was held on a new constitution that received the approval of 70% of the voting electorate. The June 1985 assembly elections were fought under a new electoral law in which only parties winning at least 8% of the vote could win seats. Under this law, the center-right National Unity Party won 24 of the Assembly's 50 seats, the Marxist Republican Turkish Party won 12, and the leftist Communal Liberation Party, 10. The New Dawn Party, whose supporters consisted almost entirely of Turkish mainland settlers, won four seats. An NUP-CLP coalition was formed, with NUP leader Dervish Eroglu as prime minister. This government fell in August 1986 over an economic policy dispute and was succeeded by an NUP-NDP coalition, also headed by Eroglu.

Political Dynamics

The 165,000 Greek Cypriot refugees constitute a potent political force. They strongly support a Cyprus settlement that would permit them to return to homes and properties in northern Cyprus. The government has taken extraordinary and generally effective measures to ease the refugees' situation. With international (largely U.S.) assistance, the government has constructed large housing tracts, made cash payments to the needy, and provided health care and vocational education. A second significant political force among the Greek Cypriots is the Orthodox Church of Cyprus, an independent branch of Greek Orthodoxy. Traditionally, the Archbishop of the Cypriot Church has been the "ethnarch," or leader, of the Orthodox community, exercising broad influence in temporal as well as ecclesiastical matters. Makarios formally combined the roles of president and archbishop; his religious successor, Chrysostomos, wields less political influence.

Source: U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Public Affairs, April 1988.