Turkey and the Island of Cyprus

Compiled by: Syed Ali Shahbaz
On August 16, 1960, the Island of Cyprus gained its independence from British rule under the Zأ¼rich and London Agreement between Britain, Greece and Turkey, with quotas on ethnic basis for government posts and public offices, which were violated by the Greek majority. The present division of the island occurred in 1974, following the massacre of over 125 Muslims in Cyprus and the plot to merge with Greece, prompting the Turkish government to dispatch troops to seize the northern part of the island, which is known as the Turkish Democratic Republic of Cyprus.
Arabs and Greeks had fought for over 300 years over Cyprus, which was occupied in 1191 by King Richard of England who a year later sold the island to the Knights Templar, who in turn sold it to Guy of Lusignan. His brother and successor Amalric was recognized as King of Cyprus by the Holy Roman Emperor. Following the death in 1473 of James II, the last Lusignan king, the Republic of Venice assumed control of the island, and formally annexed Cyprus in 1489. The Ottoman Turks started their bid to drive out the Venetians and in 1539 almost succeeded before withdrawing.
In 1570, the island finally became part of the Ottoman Empire and remained so for the next three centuries, until it was leased to the British in 1878 on condition of protecting the decaying Turkish Empire from Russian attacks. In 1923, after the Ottomans had been forced to give up all of their European territories, except Istanbul, Britain forced the truncated state of Turkey to relinquish all claims to Cyprus, and in 1925 declared it as a crown colony.

Turkish forces landed on Cyprus
On July 20, 1974 AD, Turkish forces landed on Cyprus at the invitation of local Turkish Muslim Cypriot leader, Raoof Denktash, after a coup d’أ©tat by Greece to take over the entire island. Since then Cyprus is divided into the northern one-third controlled by Turks and the southern two-thirds controlled by the Greeks. UN measures for unity of this island state have remained inconclusive.
Cyprus first came under Muslim rule in the latter half of the 7th century AD when Arabs from Syria entered it, before being reoccupied by the Greek Byzantine Empire over two centuries later. It fell to the Venetians in the 15th century, and in 1570 was formally taken over by the Turkish Ottoman Empire, whose rule lasted till 1914 and the beginning of World War 1, although in 1878 it was leased to the British.