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Cyprus
Not to be confused with Cypress.
Cyprus (Greek: Κύπρος, Kýpros; Turkish: Kıbrıs), officially the Republic of Cyprus (Greek: Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία, Kypriakí Dimokratía, Turkish: Kıbrıs Cumhuriyeti) is a Eurasian island country in the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea, south of Turkey (Anatolia). Cyprus is the third-largest island in the Mediterranean and one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Mediterranean, attracting over 2.4 million tourists per year.[1] A former British colony, it gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1960 and became a Commonwealth republic in 1961. The Republic of Cyprus is a developed country and has been a member of the European Union since 1 May 2004. In 1974, following a period of violence between Greek and Turkish Cypriots and an attempted Greek Cypriot coup sponsored by the Greek military junta of that period, Turkey invaded and occupied one-third of the island. This led to the displacement of thousands of Cypriots and the establishment of a separate Turkish Cypriot political entity in the north. This event and its resulting political situation is a matter of ongoing dispute. The Republic of Cyprus, the internationally recognised state, has de jure sovereignty over the island of Cyprus and surrounding waters; however, the island is de facto partitioned into four main parts:[2]
EtymologyThe name Cyprus has a somewhat uncertain etymology. Suggestion is that it comes from the Greek word for the Mediterranean cypress tree (Cupressus sempervirens), κυπάρισσος (kypárissos) or even from the Greek name of the henna plant (Lawsonia alba), κύπρος (kýpros). Another school suggests that it stems from the Eteocypriot word for copper. Dossin, for example, suggests that it has roots to the Sumerian word for copper (zubar) or even the word for bronze (kubar), due to the large deposits of copper ore found on the island. Through overseas trade, the island has already given its name to the Classical Latin word for the metal, which appears in the phrase aes Cyprium, "metal of Cyprus", later shortened to Cuprum.[4]Cyprus is also called "the island of Aphrodite" [5], because according to Greek mythology the goddess of love, Aphrodite (Venus), was born in Cyprus. HistoryPrehistoric and ancient CyprusOver the past twenty 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 Aetokremnos situated on the Akrotiri Peninsula on the south coast. 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 Aetokremnos on the west coast of the island in the area of the Akamas, and on the east at Nissi Beach. 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 communities 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, Kastros, Tenta and later towards the end of this period the famous village of Khirokitia. During the Painted-Pottery Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods that follow, small scale settlements and activity areas were in use all over the island. During this period the people of Cyprus produced decorated pottery and figurines of stone quite distinct from the cultures of the surrounding mainland. This has traditionally led some archaeologists to consider the island as being somewhat isolated and insular at this time. More recently this idea is being challenged. The Bronze Age is also rich in finds. The people learned to work the rich copper mines of the island. The Mycenæan culture seems to have reached Cyprus at around 1600 BC and several Greek and Phoenicia 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 Phœnicians 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. Cyprus in ancient myth
 Cyprus is the mythical birthplace of the goddess Aphrodite, of beauty and love, (also known as Kypris or the Cyprian). According to Hesiod's Theogony, the goddess emerged fully grown from the sea where the severed genitals of the god Uranus were cast by his son, Kronos, causing the sea to foam (Greek: Aphros). Her birth was famously depicted by the artist Botticelli in The Birth of Venus. The legendary site of Aphrodite's birth is at Petra Tou Romiou ("Aphrodite's Rock"), a large sea stack close to the coastal cliffs near Paphos. Throughout ancient history, Cyprus was a flourishing centre for the cultic worship of Aphrodite. Other mythological characters associated to Cyprus are King Cinyras, Teucer (founder of Salamis), the Cypriot sculptor Pygmalion, and (in some versions) Adonis. [6] Post-classical and modern CyprusCyprus became part of the Byzantine Empire [7] 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. 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 started demanding Richard's departure. Richard ordered his cavalry to follow him in a battle against Isaac's army in Tremetusia. Joining Richard's army were the few Roman Catholics of the island along with the island's nobles, who were dissatisfied with Isaac's seven years of tyrannical rule. Richard's army was bigger and better equipped, assuring his victory. Isaac resisted for some time from the castles of Pentadactylos, but he finally surrendered after the siege of his castle of Kantara. In a fit of sardonic irony, Richard had Isaac confined with silver chains, scrupulously abiding by a previous promise that he would not place Isaac in irons should he be taken prisoner. Richard became the new ruler of Cyprus, gaining for the Crusade a major supply base that was not under immediate threat from the saracens, as was Tyre. 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 was governed by Richard Camville. In 1192, the French knight 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 abdication of Queen Caterina Cornaro, the widow of James II, the last Lusignan king of Cyprus. Caterina, of a noble Venetian family, was painted by both Bellini and Titian. 
Throughout the period of Venetian rule, Ottoman Turks raided and attacked the peoples of Cyprus at will. The Greek population of Cyprus was given weapons by the Venetians and fought the attacking Ottomans. In 1489, the first year of Venetian control, Turks attacked the Karpasia Peninsula. In 1539 the Turkish fleet attacked and destroyed Limassol. Fearing the ever-expanding Ottoman Empire, the Venetians fortified Famagusta, Nicosia, and Kyrenia, but most other cities were easy prey. In the summer of 1570, the Turks attacked 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, laying siege to Nicosia. The city fell (September 9, 1570), 20,000 Nicosian Greeks were put to death, and every church, public building, and palace was looted. Word of the massacre spread, and a few days later Lala Kara Mustafa Pasha took Kyrenia without having to fire a shot. Famagusta, however, resisted and put up a heroic defense that lasted from September 1570 until August 1571. Ottoman rule brought about two dramatic changes 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 remain 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 (although not sovereignty; see Cyprus Convention) 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 land by purchase, thus becoming land-owners. The Ottomans also applied the millet system to Cyprus, allowing 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 role of the guardian of Greek cultural legacy, a role the Church continues today, 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 the funds on to the rulers. The heavy taxes and the abuses against the population on the part of the Ottoman rulers in the early years after the Ottoman conquest gave rise to opposition, following which the Sultan ordered the Governor (the "Kadi") and the Treasurer to govern with justice.[citation needed] While the Sultan's orders indicated his goodwill toward the local population, the local administration proved indifferent, arbitrary and often corrupt, and the local rulers imposed a heavy burden of taxes.[citation needed] Disappointed at the mismanagement by Ottoman governors, Greek Cypriots began looking for outside help. Since their motherland, Greece, was also under Ottoman control, the Cypriots turned to Western Europe. Between 1572 and 1668, around twenty-eight bloody uprisings took place on the island, and in many of these both Greeks and Turkish peasants took part.[citation needed] All ended in failure. About 1660, in order to eliminate the mismanagement of the Ottoman administration, the Sultan recognised the Archbishop and 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. 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 (see Tax farming). As a result even heavier taxation was imposed. About 1760 the situation in Cyprus was intolerable. A terrible epidemic of plague, bad crops and earthquakes drove many Cypriots to emigrate. Even worse for the Greeks and Turks of the island, the newly-appointed Pasha doubled 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 large sum of money to the Sultan and the families of the victims. The latter did not accept this judgment 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.[8] 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).[9] 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 which 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 Central Powers. 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 in both the First and in the Second World War.) The possibility of the island's return to the Ottoman Empire, from which the British had leased it in 1878, kept local Greek nationalist feelings in check. Once the island formally became a British colony, Greek Cypriots gradually became more assertive, ultimately demanding union with Greece. In January 1950 the Cypriot Church organized a referendum regarding union with Greece. The referendum was boycotted by the sizable Greek Cypriot Left and by the Turkish Cypriot community. Among those who participated, a clear majority voted in favor of the island's annexation by Greece. Turkish Cypriots claim that the enosis movement largely ignored the Turkish Cypriots minority presence on the island, but all peoples of Cyprus recognize that the British sought to quell any movement which threatened their military control of the island. (Local autonomy was proposed by the British but was rejected by the Greek Cypriots). In 1955 an armed struggle against British rule erupted with the foundation of EOKA. The organization's stated goal was the island's annexation by Greece. The majority of non-leftist Greek Cypriots either took part directly or morally supported the EOKA struggle. By the end of the struggle in 1959, EOKA succeeded in shaking off British rule but failed to achieve the goal of annexation by Greece. Instead Cyprus attained independence in 1960 after exhaustive negotiations between the United Kingdom, as the colonial power, and Greece and Turkey, the cultural "motherlands" for the majority and minority communities in Cyprus. The UK ceded the nearly all of the island under a constitution allocating government posts and public offices by ethnic quota, retaining two small Sovereign Base Areas. Post-independence (1960-1974)
The 1960 ConstitutionCyprus was declared an independent state on August 16, 1960. The new state's constitution, as defined by the Zürich and London Agreements, explicitly recognized the two main ethnic communities in Cyprus: the Greek Cypriot community with approximately 52% of the population and the Turkish Cypriot community with approximately 48% of the population. These agreements were atypical in that they granted the numerically smaller Turkish Cypriot community political rights within the new republic greater than those of just an ethnic minority community. They were also atypical in that they placed constitutional limits on the absolute independence of the new republic by deeming certain articles unalterable and granting rights and responsibilities to the external guarantor states of Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom. The complexity of these agreements and their limits on the new Republic’s independence reflected the complex situation in pre-independence Cyprus, where there was little or no cohesive pan-Cypriot national identity, with each of the two main ethnic communities seeking to pursue purely ethnic-based visions for Cyprus' future. Pre-independence the Greek Cypriot community, largely considering themselves Greeks living in Cyprus rather than Cypriots with Greek ethnicity, sought a Cypriot future based on Enosis, the ceding of Cyprus to Greece. This was thought to be a natural outcome during the Greek War of Independence as well as the fulfillment of the Greek Megali Idea. Enosis for Cyprus was silenced during the Greek War of Independence but was later renewed as a future natural outcome after the end of British rule. The Turkish Cypriot community, likewise largely saw themselves as Turks living in Cyprus rather than Cypriots with Turkish ethnicity. For them the idea of handing Cyprus over to Greece after the end of British rule, and therefore becoming Greek citizens in a Hellenic republic, was anathema. Largely in response to calls from the Greek Cypriot community for enosis, the Turkish Cypriot community developed the concept of Taksim, the partitioning of Cyprus into a Greek Cypriot-controlled part, free to pursue enosis as it saw fit, and a Turkish Cypriot-controlled part. This was despite the fact that the two ethnic communities were geographically intermingled throughout Cyprus, and taksim by its very nature would have required mass population movements. [10] It is against this background that the Zürich and London Agreements were drawn up after lengthy negotiation principally among Greece-Turkey and the United Kingdom and why the agreements ended up being both complex and atypical, granting the Turkish Cypriot community political rights disproportionate to their numbers and containing permanent restrictions on the pursuit of both enosis and taksim alike. It is commonly held within the Greek Cypriot coommunity that these agreements were imposed on them against their will by external powers, and that Archbishop Makarios, the recognized leader of the Greek Cypriot community, only signed them because he was forced to. There is no real doubt that great pressure was placed on Archbishop Makarios by both the United Kingdom and by Greece to sign the agreements. 1960-1963During the period from independence in 1960 to 1963 a series of disputes arose between the two communities over the implementation and interpretation of the agreements and constitution. These disputes involved:
Relations between the two communities became increasingly strained during this period, and distrust grew with both sides preparing for military confrontation by establishing groups of armed irregulars and bringing in military officers from the two respective 'motherlands'.[11] In addition the abuse of Constitutional safeguards by the Turkish Cypriot leadership made the Constitution ultimately unworkable, necessitating the submission of constitutional amendments to alter those provisions. 
The 13 amendments and subsequent intercommunal violenceIn November 1963 Archbishop Makarios, by then the first President of the Republic of Cyprus, proposed thirteen amendments to the constitution. It was claimed then as now that the intent of these amendments was simply to try and make the cumbersome 60's agreements and constitution more workable and remove causes of friction. Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots, however, claimed that the proposed amendment would have removed nearly all of the political protections the Turkish Cypriot community had gained in the 1960 agreements and essentially represented a fundamental altering of the entire basis of the 1960 agreements.[12] The proposed amendments were immediately rejected first by Turkey and then later by the Turkish Cypriot Vice-President Dr. Kutchuk. Turkey instigated the Turkish Cypriot leadership's decision to resort to insurrection against the state, thus resulting in the Turkish Cypriot members of the executive, legislature, judiciary and the civil service withdrawing from their posts, and created military enclaves in Nicosia and other parts of the island. On 21 December 1963 a street brawl in a Turkish quarter in Nicosia between a Turkish Cypriot crowd and plainclothes police officers resulted in the outbreak of widespread intercommunal violence throughout the island. Against this background of a breakdown of internal security in Cyprus and inter-communal violence that threaten to bring into direct conflict the two NATO members of Greece and Turkey during the height of the cold war, the United Kingdom and the USA first tried to implement a neutral NATO force to be stationed within Cyprus to prevent further inter-communal conflict. The Makarios government blocked this move and the United Kingdom then raised the matter with the UN security council in a letter of 15 February 1964. The Makarios government also raised issues of alleged preparation by Turkey for an obvious, imminent invasion of Cyprus in a letter to the Security Council also on the 15 February 1964. As a result of the above, and the intercommunal violence that ensued, the Security Council of the United Nations was seized of the situation, and by resolution 186 of 4 March 1964 a Peace Keeping Force (UNFICYP) was sent to Cyprus and a Mediator was appointed. In his Report (S/6253, A/6017, 26 March 1965), the Mediator, Dr Gala Plaza, criticized the 1960 legal framework, and proposed necessary amendments which were again forthwith rejected by Turkey, a fact which resulted in serious deterioration of the situation with constant threats by Turkey against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Cyprus, necessitating a series of UN Resolutions calling, inter alia, for respect of the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Cyprus. The Security Council debated the unfolding crisis in Cyprus at its 1094th to 1103rd meetings from the 17 February to 4 March 1964,[13] the result of which was UN Security Council resolution 186 of the 4th March 1964,[14] which established a UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus that remains to this day. Turkish Cypriot Invasion (1974)By 1974, dissatisfaction among Greek nationalist right-wing elements in favour of the long-term goal of unification with Greece precipitated a coup d'etat against President Makarios which was sponsored by the military government of Greece and led by Greek officers in the Cypriot National Guard. The Greek military junta and their supporters attempted to assassinate President Makarios. The new regime replaced Makarios with Nikos Giorgiades Sampson as president, and Bishop Gennadios as head of the Cypriot Orthodox Church. Seven days after these events Turkey invaded Cyprus by sea and air on 20 July 1974. At the time Turkey claimed it was invading to uphold its obligation under the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee "to re-instate the constitution of the Republic of Cyprus". The coup was dissolved after strong resistance by the Greek Cypriot people, however the constitution was replaced only in the free areas of Cyprus, which were not under the Turkish Cypriot occupation army. Talks in Geneva involving Greece, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the two Cypriot factions stalled and on August 12 Turkey offered a proposal for a communal system, with confederate cantons, and gave Greece 24 hours to accept.[15] The talks soon collapsed after Turkish planes attacked Nicosia,[16] and Turkish forces subsequently moved from the previous cease-fire lines to gain control of 37% of the island's territory. In the process over 160,000 Greek Cypriots who made up the overwhelming majority of the population of these areas were ethnically cleansed[17]. The invasion also led to the displacement of about 50,000 Turkish Cypriots who left the areas under the control of the Republic of Cyprus moved to the areas under Turkish military control and settled in the homes and properties left behind by the Greek Cypriots. Many of them did so clandestinely, defying a Cyprus Government imposed ban which aimed at preventing the separation of the Cypriot population along ethnic lines. As of today, there are still 1,534 Greek Cypriots [18]and 502 Turkish Cypriots [19]unaccounted for as well as over 150,000 Greek Cypriot refugees and over 60,000 Turkish Cypriot displaced persons.[citation needed] The events of the summer of 1974 have dominated Cypriot politics ever since and have been a major point of contention between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, as well as Greece and Turkey. Since 1974, there have been continual efforts to negotiate a settlement, which met with varying levels of disagreement from either side. The Turkish government arranged an influx of settlers from Turkey whose exact numbers are disputed, but believed to be in the range of over 100,000, thus altering the demographics of the island against the rules of the Geneva Convention. Turkish Cypriots proclaimed a separate state, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), under Rauf Denktaş on November 15, 1983. The UN Security Council, in its Resolution 541 of November 18, 1983, declared the action legally invalid and called for a withdrawal of Turkish troops. The above-mentioned Resolutions also asked all states to refrain from recognizing the declaration, which was created through secessionist actions, and not to facilitate or in any other way aid the secessionist entity. Turkey is the only country to date that recognizes the administration on the northern third of Cyprus in violation of the resolution. Turkey does not recognize the Republic of Cyprus's authority over the whole island, and refers to it as the Greek Cypriot administration. Modern Era (1974-present)
In 2004, the UN-backed Annan Plan for Cyprus[20] sought to reunify the island before EU accession. Turkish Cypriots accepted the plan whilst Greek Cypriots rejected it, with the result that the island entered the EU as a divided country. EU countries recognize the official government and still officially treat the North as a militarily occupied area; although this has affected discussions with Turkey over accession, it has not prevented them. EU ministers have repeatedly stressed their intention to open direct trade links with the occupied area. The EU Acquis communautaire (European Union law) applies only to those areas under the control of the Republic of Cyprus. 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 legally questionable 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. In 2005, the UK's Guardian newspaper reported that up to 10,000 Europeans had invested in property in the north of Cyprus, a trend that still causes concern in the south. This concern was highlighted by the UK's Daily Telegraph newspaper in 2006 when Cherie Blair, the wife of Britain's then prime minister, touched a diplomatic nerve; Mrs Blair, in her capacity as an advocate at law, represented a UK couple, the Orams, who had been taken to court by Greek Cypriots who claimed ownership of the land on which the Orams had built a house. Tassos Papadopoulos, president of the Republic of Cyprus since 2003, referred to Mrs. Blair's decision to represent the Orams as "a provocative action". 
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.[21] 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. In July of 2006, the island served as a safe haven for people, most of them foreigners, fleeing Lebanon due to the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.[22] Geography
The third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea (after Sicily and Sardinia), Cyprus is situated in the eastern Mediterranean, just south of the Anatolian peninsula (or Asia Minor) of the Asian mainland; thus, it is commonly included in the Middle East (see also Western Asia and Near East). Turkey is 75 kilometres (47 miles) north; other neighbouring countries include Syria and Lebanon to the east, Israel to the southeast, Egypt to the south, and Greece to the west-north-west. Historically, politically and culturally, however, Cyprus is closely aligned with Europe – the Greek Cypriots with Greece and the Turkish Cypriots with Turkey. Historically, Cyprus has been at the crossroads between Europe, Western Asia, and Northern Africa, with lengthy periods of mainly Greek and intermittent Anatolian, Levantine, and British influences. Thus, it is generally considered a transcontinental island.[citation needed] The central plain, the Mesaoria, is boardered by the Kyrenia and Pentadactylos mountains to the north and the Troödos mountain range to the south and west. There are also scattered, but significant, plains along the southern coast. The island's highest point is at the summit of Mount Olympus (1952 m), in the heart of the Troödos range. The major cities in Cyprus are the capital Nicosia (Lefkosia in Greek, Lefkoşa in Turkish), Limassol (Lemesos in Greek), Larnaca, Paphos, Famagusta (Gazimağusa or Mağusa in Turkish, Ammochostos in Greek), and Kyrenia (Girne in Turkish, Kerynia in Greek). The climate is temperate and Mediterranean with dry summers and variably rainy winters. Summer temperatures range from warm at higher elevations in the Tröodos mountains to hot in the lowlands. Winter temperatures are mild at lower elevations, where snow rarely occurs, but are significantly colder in the mountains, where there is sufficient snow for a seasonal ski facility. Dust storms are frequent throughout the year. Government
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 European Union, though it retains special observer status. 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. Fazıl Küçük, elected by their respective communities for five-year terms and each possessing a right of veto over certain types of legislation and executive decisions. The House of Representatives was elected on the basis of separate voters' rolls. Since 1964, following clashes between the two communities, the Turkish Cypriot seats in the House remained vacant, while the Greek Cypriot Communal Chamber was abolished. The responsibilities of the chamber were transferred to the newly founded Ministry of Education. 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. Turkey responded by launching a military operation on Cyprus, the "Cyprus Peace Operation". Turkish forces captured the northern part of the island. Many thousands of others, from both sides, left the island entirely. In addition to many of the Greek Cypriot refugees (a third of the population), many Turkish Cypriots also moved to the UK and other countries where for the past 30 years they have lived as neighbours with the Greek Cypriots. In the meantime Turkey illegally imported Turkish colonists to populate the occupied territories, thereby altering the ethnic make up of the occupied north. Under the Geneva Conventions of 1949, it is a war crime to transfer, directly or indirectly, the civilian population of a country power onto land under that country's military occupation. Subsequently, the Turkish Cypriots established their own separatist institutions with a popularly elected de facto President and a Prime Minister responsible to the National Assembly exercising joint executive powers. In 1983, the Turkish Cypriots declared an independent state called the 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. Political divisionCyprus gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1960, with the UK, Greece and Turkey retaining limited rights to intervene in internal affairs. In July 1974, after an attempted coup against the Makarios government by extreme right-wing factions aided by the Greek junta, Turkey invaded Cyprus. The coup had been quashed before the arrival of Turkish paratroopers. Turkey has ever since occupied the northern part by a massive military force, estimated at 35 to 60 thousand troops [citation needed]. Cyprus has been divided, de facto, into the Greek-Cypriot controlled rump of the Republic, somewhat less than two-thirds of the island and the Turkish-occupied approximately one third in the north. Further, British sovereign bases under the term of the establishment of the Republic in 1960, occupy 99 square miles (256 square kilometers). The Republic of Cyprus is the legitimate internationally-recognised government of Cyprus. Turkey aside, all foreign governments and the United Nations recognise the sovereignty of the Republic of Cyprus over the whole island of Cyprus. The Turkish Cypriot administration of the northern part of the island, together with Turkey, rejects the Republic's rule over the whole island and refers to it as the "Greek Authority of Southern Cyprus". The TRNC's territory, known internationally as the "occupied area", extends over the northern 36[23] percent of the island. The other power with territory on Cyprus is the United Kingdom. Under the independence agreement, the UK retained entitlement to lease two extensive 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. DistrictsThe Republic of Cyprus is divided into six districts:[24] Nicosia (the capital), Famagusta, Kyrenia, Larnaca, Limassol, and Paphos.
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0.903 (high) (
