Cyprus
Since 1974, Cyprus has been divided de facto into the
government-controlled two-thirds of the island and the remaining
one-third of the island, which is administered by Turkish Cypriots.
Greek and Turkish Cypriots share many customs but maintain distinct
identities based on religion, language, and close ties with their
respective "motherlands." Greek is predominantly spoken in the
south, Turkish in the north. English is widely used. Cyprus has a
well-developed system of primary and secondary education. The
majority of Cypriots earn their higher education at Greek, Turkish,
British, and other European or American universities. Both the Greek
Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities have developed private
colleges and state-supported universities. |
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Human settlement on Cyprus stretches back nearly eight millennia and
by 3700 BC, the island was a crossroads between East and West. The
island fell successively under Assyrian, Egyptian, Persian, Greek,
and Roman domination. For 800 years, beginning in 364 AD, Cyprus was
ruled by Byzantium. After brief possession by King Richard I (the
Lion-Hearted) of England during the Crusades, 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, which
allowed religious authorities to govern their own non-Muslim
minorities. This system reinforced the position of the Orthodox
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 left for
Turkey during the 1920s, however. The island was annexed formally by
the United Kingdom in 1914 at the outbreak of World War I and became
a crown colony in 1925.
Cyprus gained its independence from the United Kingdom and
established a constitutional republic in 1960, after an anti-British
campaign by the Greek Cypriot EOKA (National Organization of Cypriot
Fighters), a guerrilla group that desired political union, or
enosis, with Greece. Archbishop Makarios, a charismatic religious
and political leader, was elected president.
Shortly after the founding of the republic, serious differences
arose between the two communities about the implementation and
interpretation of the constitution. The Greek Cypriots argued that
the complex mechanisms introduced to protect Turkish Cypriot
interests were obstacles to efficient government. In November 1963,
President Makarios advanced a series of constitutional amendments
designed to eliminate some of these special provisions. The Turkish
Cypriots opposed such changes. The confrontation prompted widespread
intercommunal fighting in December 1963, after which Turkish
Cypriots ceased to participate in the government. Following the
outbreak of intercommunal violence, many Turkish Cypriots (and some
Greek Cypriots) living in mixed villages began to move into enclaved
villages or elsewhere. UN peacekeepers were deployed on the island
in 1964. Following another outbreak of intercommunal violence in
1967-68, a Turkish Cypriot provisional administration was formed.
In July 1974, the military junta in Athens sponsored a coup led by
extremist Greek Cypriots against the government of President
Makarios, citing his alleged pro-communist leanings and his
perceived abandonment of enosis. Turkey, citing the 1960 Treaty of
Guarantee, intervened militarily to protect Turkish Cypriots.
In a two-stage offensive, Turkish troops took control of 38% of the
island. Almost all Greek Cypriots fled south while almost all
Turkish Cypriots fled north. Since the events of 1974, UN
peacekeeping forces have maintained a buffer zone between the two
sides. Except for occasional demonstrations or infrequent incidents
between soldiers in the buffer zone, the island was free of violent
conflict from 1974 until August 1996, when violent clashes led to
the death of two demonstrators and escalated tension. The situation
has been quiet since 1996. |
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