The turbulent history of the island can be traced back over 10,000 years. Like many Mediterranean islands, Cyprus has long been seen as an important strategic base and has suffered a variety of occupations. The Athenians, the Persians, the Egyptians, Alexander the Great and the Romans were the most important invaders during the ancient period. After the partition of the Roman Empire in the fourth century AD, the island became part of the Eastern Byzantine Empire. It was subsequently a temporary casualty of the Arab invasions between 648 and 746. During the Third Crusade, Richard I of England conquered
Cyprus and installed Guy of Lusignan (previously King of Jerusalem), whose house ruled until the island passed to the control of Venice in 1489. From 1571, the Ottoman Turks ruled Cyprus for over three centuries, before ceding it to Britain in 1878. Independence was achieved in August 1960, after a four-year military struggle between the UK and the guerrillas of EOKA (National Organization of Cypriot Fighters) who sought ‘enosis’ (union with Greece), which was anathema to the Turkish community.
The political leader of the liberation movement, Archbishop Makarios – who was also head of the island’s Greek Orthodox Church – returned from exile and was elected President in December 1959. The island’s new constitution was an elaborate compromise between the British and the rival Greek and Turkish communities, between whom considerable distrust remained. As part of the deal, the British retained two large tracts of land for military purposes, known as ‘Sovereign Base Areas’ and accounting for 5 per cent of the island’s total area. It fell apart in July 1974, when Makarios was deposed by a military coup (allegedly backed by the military regime then in power in Greece). Within days, Turkish troops arrived on the northern coast of Cyprus, having been ‘invited’ by the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktash, to intervene in order to protect the Turkish community on the island. The Greeks failed to respond effectively, not least because of the simultaneous collapse of the military junta in Athens, besides which the Greek-Cypriot-controlled National Guard was insufficiently equipped to combat a fully mobilized army. After the Turkish army had taken control of the northern third of the island, a ceasefire was arranged under UN auspices. The island has remained partitioned ever since and UN peacekeeping forces maintain a truce between the two sides.
In November 1983, the Turkish part of the island proclaimed itself independent. However, formal recognition of the self-styled country only has been granted by Turkey and various other statelets (for example, the Azeri enclave of Nakhichevan). For the vast majority of the international community, the legitimate government of Republic of Cyprus (Kipriaki Demokratia) is the Greek-Cypriot administration in Nicosia. Until February 2003, this had been led for a decade by President Glafkos Clerides. That month, he was deposed at the most recent presidential election by Tassos Papadopoulos, candidate of the center-right Komma Dimokratiko (Democratic Party). The present government is a coalition of DIKO, AKEL – the Communist Party which has long been the single largest force in Greek-Cypriot politics – and the smaller KISOS party.
The principal issue for the Greek-Cypriot government remains the same; how to normalize relations with the northern occupied part of the island and reunify the island. Numerous diplomatic initiatives have ended in failure. The main sticking points are: the balance and concentration of power within any unified government; Turkish troop concentrations in the north; and the return of property relinquished by Greek refugees and since occupied by Turkish settlers. The northern occupied part of the island was run by Rauf Denktash, who was the dominant political figure in the enclave for almost 30 years. However, in 2005, Mehmet Ali Talet was elected leader of the Turkish Cypriot community.
President Papadopoulos oversaw the Republic of Cyprus’ entry, along with nine others, into the European Union in May 2004 despite the absence of a political settlement between the two parts of the island. (This had previously been a precondition of Cypriot entry). The most recent plan, proposed by the UN, was not accepted. But more limited measures, notably relaxation of travel and trade restrictions, have recently brought about something of a thaw between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots. EU membership, along with the growing economic disparity between the two parts of the island and, on the Turkish occupied side, the end of the Denktash era should improve prospects for a final resolution of the partition of Cyprus.
Government
The 1960 constitution, which allowed for a population-determined sharing of power between the Turkish and Greek communities, officially remains in force. However, in practice, the state organs that it established are duplicated in the two zones. Thus executive power in the Republic of Cyprus is vested in a President, elected by universal adult suffrage every five years. He is assisted by a Council of Ministers. A 56-seat parliament (Vouli Antiprosopon) is also elected by universal adult suffrage every five years. A similar system also operates in the northern occupied part of Cyprus. The legislative assembly (Temsilciler Mecsili) has 50 members elected by proportional representation to serve a five-year term. The executive President is also elected for a five-year term.
EconomyTourism is the main component of the southern service economy but, in recent years, financial services (including ‘offshore’ enterprises) have also assumed an important role.
The UK’s sovereign military bases on the southern coast and near the partition boundary are a major source of revenue for the south.
Economic development of the northern occupied part of Cyprus has been severely limited by lack of diplomatic recognition and it continues to rely heavily on economic support from Turkey. The profile of the northern occupied part of Cyprus’s agricultural sector is similar to that of the south; manufacturing is relatively insignificant; tourism relies heavily on visitors from the Turkish mainland.
Both parts of the island rely on imported raw fuels for their energy supplies.
The decision of the north to allow visits across the partition may presage the development of a cross-border economy, but these links remain problematic due to the unresolved political situation. This concession on the part of the north was driven mainly by the acceptance of the south into the European Union in 2004. Turkey, which ultimately controls the fate of the northern part of Cyprus, is an aspirant member of the EU, and a solution to the present division of the island is viewed by many as a key facilitator of Turkey’s own accession.
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