The Turkish Republic of Cyprus

Compiled By: Syed Ali Shahbaz
On August 14, 1974 AD, following the massacre of over 125 Muslims in Cyprus, the Turkish government dispatched troops to take control of the northern part of this island, which used to be part of the Ottoman Empire for several centuries until Britain’s forcing of the 1878 Cyprus Convention on Istanbul to take over the Mediterranean Sea’s 3rd largest and most populous island that had a Muslim majority.
Though the Ottomans retained nominal suzerainty, it was obvious that Cyprus was lost by the Muslim World, since the British lost no time in changing demographic patterns and making it a virtual Greek island. Today two-thirds of Cyprus is administered by Greeks, while the rest is called the breakaway Turkish republic of Cyprus. Turkey and Pakistan recognize the Turkish Republic of Cyprus as an independent sovereign nation.