History

Overview

Cyprus has a recorded history of 4,000 years, with its rulers including the Greeks, Ptolemies, Persians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Franks, Venetians, Turks and British. Byzantine control of the island ended at the time of the Third Crusade when Richard I, the Lionheart, conquered Cyprus on his way to Palestine and established Guy of Lusignan as King of Cyprus. The last vestige of Frankish influence in the eastern Mediterranean, the island fell to the Ottoman Sultan, Selim II, in 1571 and remained under Ottoman control until occupied by the British in 1878. It became a British Crown Colony in 1925. Cyprus achieved independence in 1960, with Britain retaining sovereignty over the military bases at Akrotiri and Dhekelia.

The 1974 Turkish invasion led to occupation of over one third of the island, with displacement of over 160,000 Greek Cypriots; the island was divided into two parts by the Attila Line, from the north-west coast above Pomos to Famagusta in the east, cutting through Nicosia where it is called the Green Line. Turkish government members ceased to attend government in 1983, when the Turkish community declared itself independent (as the 'Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus'). The situation remained unresolved throughout the 1990s however, and there were sporadic outbreaks of violence, despite the presence of UN peacekeepers along the border. UN-sponsored talks in 2002, aimed at creating a federal system for a reunified country, ended in failure in Mar 2003.

Ancient Cyprus

Over the past 20 years, there have been a number of discoveries that have greatly enhanced our knowledge of the early prehistory of Cyprus. Currently, the earliest confirmed site of human activity on the island is Aeotokremnos situated on the Akrotiri Peninsula on the south coast. Evidence from this site indicates that hunter-gatherers were active on the island from around 10,000 BC. There is also new evidence that suggests that there may be short lived occupation sites contemporary with Aeotokremnos on the west coast of the island in the area of the Akamas.

At present, the archaeological record presents us with a chronological gap in the use or occupation of the island between the earliest hunter-gatherers and the appearance in the record of more settled village pastorialists at around 8200 BC. These people probably practiced a limited form of agriculture and animal husbandry, supplemented by hunting. Important remains from this early-Neolithic period can be found at Mylouthkia, Shillourokambos, Tenta and later towards the end of this period the famous village of Khirokitia.

During the Painted-Pottery Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods that followed, small scale settlements and activity areas were in use all over the island. During this period, the people of Cyprus developed a rich craft industry producing decorated pottery and figurines of stone quite distinct from the cultures of the surrounding mainland.

The Mycenaean culture seems to have reached Cyprus at around 1600 BC and several Greek and Phoenician settlements that belong to the Iron Age can be found on the island. Cyprus came into contact with Egypt about 1500 BC and became an important trade partner.

Around 1200 BC, the Sea Peoples may have arrived in Cyprus, although the nature of their influence is disputed. The Phoenicians arrived at the island in the early first millennium BC. In those times, Cyprus supplied the Greeks with timber for their fleets.

In the sixth century BC, Amasis of Egypt conquered Cyprus, which soon fell under the rule of the Persians when Cambyses conquered Egypt. In the Persian Empire, Cyprus formed part of the fifth satrapy and in addition to tribute it had to supply the Persians with ships and crews. In their new fate, the Greeks of Cyprus had as companions the Greeks of Ionia (west coast of Anatolia) with whom they forged closer ties. When the Ionian Greeks revolted against Persia (499 BC), the Cypriots, except for the city of Amathus, joined in, led by Onesilos who dethroned his brother, the king of Salamis, for not wanting to fight for independence. The Persians reacted quickly, sending a considerable force against Onesilos. The Persians finally won despite Ionian help.

After their defeat, the Greeks mounted various expeditions in order to take Cyprus from Persian rule, but all their efforts bore only temporary results. Eventually, under Alexander the Great (356-323 BC), the island went over to the Macedonians. Later, the Ptolemies of Egypt controlled it; finally Rome annexed it in 58-57 BC. Cyprus was visited by the Apostles Paul and Barnabas accompanied by St Mark who came to the island at the outset of their first missionary journey in 45 AD. After their arrival at Salamis they proceeded to Paphos where they converted the Roman Governor Sergius Paulus to Christianity, making Cyprus the first country in the world governed by a Christian ruler.

330-1191: Byzantine Cyprus

Cyprus became part of the Byzantine Empire after the partitioning of the Roman Empire in 395, and remained so for almost eight hundred years, interrupted by a brief period of Arab domination and influence.

1192-1489: Kingdom of Cyprus

After the rule of the rebellious Byzantine Emperor Isaac Komnenos, King Richard I of England captured the island in 1191 during the Third Crusade. On May 6, 1191, Richard's fleet arrived in the port of Lemesos and took the city. When Isaac arrived to stop the Crusaders he discovered he was too late and retired to Kolossi Castle. Richard called Isaac to negotiations but Isaac broke his oath of hospitality and demanded Richard's departure. Richard ordered his cavalry to follow him in a battle against Isaac's army in Tremetusia. The few Roman Catholics of the island joined Richard's army and so did the island's nobles who were dissatisfied with Isaac's seven years of tyrannical rule. Though Isaac and his men fought bravely, Richard's army was bigger and better equipped, assuring his victory. Isaac continued to resist from the castles of Pentadactylos but after the siege of his castle of Kantara he finally surrendered. Richard became the new ruler of Cyprus, gaining for the Crusade a major supply base that was not under immediate threat from the Turks (as Tyre was). Richard looted the island and massacred those trying to resist him. He and most of his army left Cyprus for the Holy Land early in June. In his absence, Cyprus would be governed by Richard Camville.

In 1192, Guy of Lusignan purchased the island, in compensation for the loss of his kingdom, from the Templars. The Republic of Venice took control in 1489 after the death of the last Lusignan Queen.

1489-1571: Venetian Period

In 1489, the first year of Venetian control, Turks attacked the Karpasia Peninsula, pillaging and taking captives to be sold into slavery. In 1539, the Turkish fleet attacked and destroyed Limassol. Fearing the ever-expanding Ottoman Empire, the Venetians had fortified Famagusta, Nicosia and Kyrenia, but most other cities were easy prey.

In the summer of 1570, the Turks struck again, but this time with a full-scale invasion rather than a raid. A fleet commanded by Piyale Pasha carried about 60,000 troops, including cavalry and artillery, under the command of Lala Kara Mustafa Pasha to the island and landed unopposed near Limassol on July 2, 1570, and laid siege to Nicosia. In an orgy of victory on the day that the city fell (9 September 1570) 20,000 Nicosians Greeks were put to death, and every church, public building and palace was looted. Word of the massacre spread, and a few days later Mustafa took Kyrenia without having to fire a shot. Famagusta, however, resisted and put up a heroic defence that lasted from September 1570 until August 1571.

1570-1878: Ottoman Rule

Ottoman rule brought about two radical results in the history of the island. For the first time since the Phoenicians in the ninth century BC, a new population group appeared: the Turks. The Ottoman Empire gave timars - land grants - to soldiers under the condition that they and their families would stay there permanently. This event radically changed the demographics of Cyprus. During the seventeenth century, the Turkish population grew rapidly. Most of the Turks who had settled on the island during the three centuries of Ottoman rule remained when control of Cyprus - was ceded to Britain in 1878. Many, however, left for Turkey during the 1920s. By 1970, ethnic Turks represented 18% of the total population of the island, with ethnic Greeks representing the remainder. The distinction between the two groups was by religion and language.

The second important result of the Ottoman conquest benefited the Greek peasants who no longer remained serfs of the land they were cultivating. Now they could acquire it by purchase, thus becoming owners of it. In reality, they were purchasing their own land from invaders and conquerors. The Ottomans also 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. Gradually the Archbishop of Cyprus became not only the religious but the ethnic leader as well. In this way, the Church undertook the task of the guardian of Greek cultural legacy, which is partly carried on even now, although diminished after independence. The Church itself paid no taxes to the Ottoman conquerors but was responsible for collecting taxes from the population and passing it on to the rulers.

Between 1572 and 1668, around twenty-eight bloody uprisings took place on the island and in many of these both Greeks and Turk peasants took part. All ended in failure.

About 1660, in order to eliminate the mismanagement of the Ottoman administration, the Sultan recognised the Archbishop and the Bishops as "the protectors of people" and the representatives of the Sultan. In 1670, Cyprus ceased to be a "pasaliki" for the Ottoman Empire and came under the jurisdiction of the Admiral of the Ottoman fleet. In his turn, the Admiral sent an officer to govern in his place.

In 1703, Cyprus came under the jurisdiction of the Grand Vizier (Anthony Petane) who sent to the island a military and civil administrator. The title and function of this officer were awarded to the person who could raise the highest revenues in exchange. As a result, even heavier taxation was imposed. In 1760, a terrible epidemic of plague, bad crops and earthquakes, drove many Cypriots to emigrate. In addition, what was worse for the Greeks and Turks of the island, the newly- appointed Pasha, doubled the taxes in 1764. In the end, Chil Osman and 18 of his friends were killed by Greek and Turkish Cypriots, but the two ethnic elements had to pay a huge sum of money to the Sultan and the families of the victims. The latter did not accept this judgement and broke into an open rebellion, having Khalil Agha, the commander of the guard of the castle of Kyrenia, as their leader. Finally the uprising was crushed and Khalil Agha was beheaded.

Detailed population statistics from Cyprus are available going back to the 1830s. The first large scale census of the Ottoman Empire in 1831 included Cyprus. Only men were counted and information on religion was recorded. The male population at the time was 14,983 Muslims and 29,190 Christians. This implies a total population of 88,000 for the island. By 1872, the population of the island had risen to 144,000 comprising 44,000 Muslims (mostly Turks) and 100,000 Christians (mostly Greeks).

1878 - Present: Modern Cyprus

Cyprus was placed under British control on 4 June 1878 as a result of the Cyprus Convention, which granted control of the island to Britain in return for British support of the Ottoman Empire in the Russian-Turkish War.

Famagusta harbour was completed in June 1906; by this time the island was a strategic naval outpost for the British Empire, shoring up influence over the Eastern Mediterranean and Suez Canal, the crucial main route to India.

Cyprus was formally annexed by the United Kingdom in 1913 in the run-up to the First World War, since former British ally (Turkey) had joined the Axis. Many Cypriots, now British subjects, signed up to fight in the British Army, promised by the British that when the war finished Cyprus would be united with Greece. This happened twice both in the First and in the Second World War.

Proposed Union with Greece

In 1948, King Paul of Greece declared that Cyprus desired union with Greece. In 1951 the Orthodox Church of Cyprus presented a referendum according to which around 97% of the Greek Cypriot population wanted the union. The United Nations accepted the Greek petition and enosis became an international issue. The demand was rejected, but the British proposed a more liberal constitution and a 10-year programme of social and economic development.

Led by Archbishop Makarios, the Greek Cypriot demand for enosis emerged with new force in the 1950s, when Greece began to accord it support on the international scene. This attempt to win world support alerted Turkey and alarmed the Turkish Cypriots.

When international pressure did not suffice to make Britain respond as required, violence escalated with a campaign against the colonial power organised by EOKA (Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston). Its leader, Colonel George Grivas, created and directed an effective campaign beginning. The first bombs were set off on 1 April 1955 followed by leaflets. Attacks on police stations started on the 19 June. The Governor proclaimed a State of Emergency on 26 November.

For the next four years EOKA attacked primarily British or British-connected targets. Archbishop Makarios and other Cypriot clergy and political leaders were forced into exile in Seychelles.

From mid-1956 onwards, there were constant discussions in NATO but all efforts to create an independent Cyprus which would be a member of the Commonwealth of Nations proved to be futile.

In 1958, the British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan prepared new proposals for Cyprus but his plan, which was a form of partition, was rejected by Archbishop Makarios. The Archbishop declared that he would only accept a proposal which guaranteed independence excluding both Enosis and partition. On February 19, 1959 the Zürich agreement attempted to end the conflict. Without the presence of either the Greek or the Turkish sides, the UK outlined a Cypriot constitution, which was eventually accepted by both sides. Both Greece and Turkey along with Britain were appointed as guarantors of the island's integrity.

1960: Independence

Cyprus was declared an independent state on August 16th, 1960. The Constitution of the new state, which was imposed by the Zürich and London Agreements, divided the people of Cyprus into a majority and minority, based on national origin. The UK ceded the island under a constitution allocating government posts and public offices by ethnic quota, but retained two small Sovereign Base Areas.

Shortly after, the two communities became entangled in a constitutional crisis. In November 1963, Archbishop Makarios, the first President of the Republic of Cyprus, proposed 13 Amendments to the constitution in his desire to improve the situation, amendments not involving any radical changes but designed rather to remove some of the more obvious causes of friction. The minority Turks rejected the mere idea of discussing the proposal, arguing that the amendments would have restricted the rights of the Turkish Cypriot community. The confrontation prompted widespread intercommunal fighting in December 1963, after which Turkish Cypriot participation in the central government ceased.

Makarios ordered a cease-fire and again addressed the issue to the United Nations. UN peacekeepers were deployed on the island in 1964. The force, UNFICYP, included Canadian, Irish and Finnish troops. Its mandate was to prevent fighting, maintain law and order. In 1964, the Turkish parliament voted in favour of the invasion of Cyprus but the lack of support that Turkey faced from both the UN and NATO prevented it.

Following another outbreak of intercommunal violence in 1967-68, a Turkish Cypriot provisional administration was formed.

1974: Greek Coup and Turkish Invasion

In July 1974, the legitimate president was overthrown by an Athens orchestrated coup carried out by the Cypriot National Guard. Turkey then invaded Cyprus on July 20.

In a two-stage offensive, Turkish troops took control of 38% of the island. 200,000 Greek Cypriots fled the Turkish forces while up to 60,000 Turkish Cypriots were transferred to the occupied areas by the United Nations and British SBA authorities after threats from Turkey. Since then, the southern part of the country has been under the control of the internationally recognised Cyprus government and the northern part under a Turkish Cypriot subordinate local administration supported by the presence of Turkish troops.

In 1983, the 1974 Turkish-occupied area declared itself the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, recognised only by Turkey in violation of United Nations Security Council Resolutions that have called the declaration "legally invalid" and as such it faces an international embargo. The United Nations have urged all states to respect the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the Republic Of Cyprus.

United Nations Peacekeeping Forces maintain a buffer zone between the two sides. Except for occasional demonstrations or infrequent incidents between soldiers in the buffer zone, there had been no violent conflict since 1974 until August 1996, when violent clashes led to the death of two demonstrators and escalated tension. There is little movement of people and essentially no movement of goods or services between the two parts of the island.

UN-led talks on the status of Cyprus resumed in December 1999 to prepare the ground for meaningful negotiations leading to a comprehensive settlement. Efforts to reunite the island under a federal structure continue, however, under the auspices of the United Nations.

Cyprus in the 21st Century

As Cyprus planned to join the European Community in May 2004, there were renewed negotiations about the status of the Island. In December 2003, the buffer zone between the two parts of Cyprus was partly opened; numerous Greek Cypriots visited the north, and labour migration of Turkish Cypriots to the south (especially in Nicosia) began.

A referendum on the Annan Plan for Cyprus, a United Nations proposal for reunification was placed before both communities in April, 2004. The plan was rejected by the Greek Cypriots while approved by the Turkish Cypriots but required the approval of both sides to succeed.

Since the invasion, the economy of Cyprus has grown greatly and citizens of the Republic in particular enjoy a high standard of living. The north maintains a lower standard of living due to international embargoes, and is still reliant on Turkey for aid, though increased revenues through tourism and a recent construction boom have led to rapid economic development in recent years. The Turkish Cypriot administration has allowed the illegal sale of real estate, consisting almost entirely of property and land still owned by Greek Cypriots from before the 1974 Turkish invasion, to private buyers from overseas.

On 5 December 2006, the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan recommended a further six-month extension in the mandate of the UN mission that has been deployed on the island for over four decades. Mr. Annan said that while the situation remained "calm and stable with no major violations of the ceasefire lines," he regretted the continued stalemate in the political process and the "missed opportunities" over the past 10 years.