Cyprus
Introduction
By Greece's request on 16th August 1954 Cyprus quesiton was first brought to the United Nation General Assembly agenda :
<< Application, under the auspices of the United Nation, of the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples in the case of the population of the island of Cyprus..>>
...From that date until the present, the principal organs of the world organazation, namely the General Assembly and the Security Council, have been involved in one way or another with Cyprus almost continuously, except for a brief period from 1959 to 1963 during which the independence of the island was inaugurated..
...bloody intercommunal events of December ...caused such grave deterioration in relations between Greece and Turkey that war between these two allied countries seemed to unavoidable...Ths peace and security in the eastern Mediterranean, with all its implications for the general peace have been endangered for long periods.
Background Information on the Island of Cyprus
Geographically Cyprus is situated in the eastern Mediterranean south of the Anatolian ( Asia minor ) peninsula about 70 km off the shores of Turkey and nearly 1100 km from the east coast of continental Greece. During its history, the island has belonged to Assyrians, Persians, Arabs, Eastern Roman Empire, Crusaders, Lusignans, Venetians and lastly to the Ottoman Turks. During all its history, and not only the 350 years, when it was part of Turkey, the fate of the island has always been linked that of Asia Minor, which is today the Turkey mainland. It never belonged to Greece. Cyprus became part of Turkey in 1571 and remained so for more than there centuries. In 1923, Turkey reliquished its sovereignty to the United Kingdom by virtue of the Treaty of Lausanne. Greece was also a signatory of the Treaty of Lausanne. Prior to the transfer of sovereignty, Great Britain had acquired the administration of the island in 1878 on the basis of a special defence agreement with Turkey, whereby Great Britain had agreed, in exchange for this transfer administration, to support the Ottoman Empire against Tsarist aggression.
A - The Cyprus Question Prior to the Establishment of the Independent Republic ( 1954 - 1960 )
...over % 95 of the voters, in an unofficial plebiscite arranged in 1950 by the Greek Orthodox Church, had supported unification of the island with Greece
The letter of Marshal Papagos of 16 August 1954 even contended that : "Cyprus is Greece itself"
...New Zealand submitted a draft resulution asking the General Assembly not to consider this question further...th Greek claim for union of Cyprus with Greece, a claim the presecution of which was bound to affect adversly relations between Greece, on the one hand, the United Kingdom and Turkey, on the other The Cyprus question involved the stability and security of the Middele East. The representative of the United Kingdom, while insisting on the lack of the General Assembly's competence to discuss teh question of Cyprus, maintained that a member ( Greece ) was seeking to transfer to itself sovereignty of a territory held by another member.
The Turkish Representative held the view that <Cyprus historically, economicaly, ethnically and geographically was a continuation of the Anatolian peninsula...The so-called Cyprus Issue was entirely artificial and was kept alive by widespread propoganda and provocation directed from Greece in an effort to stir up the Greek - speaking population...Lausanne Treaty, which Greece as well Turkey had signed, could not be modified without the consent of Turkey first being obtained...New Zealand's Draft Resolution was carried by 50 votes to none, with 8 absentions.
On 21 th September 1955 The General Assembly of United Nations discussed the Greek proposal on Cyprus Question...It should be recalled that British Government had convened a tri-partite conference on Cyprus in August 1955 prior to the United Nations General Assembly session...British representative in the sessin asserted that Greece was now seeking to establish its sovereignty over Cyprus through a campaign of incitement to violence and subversion.
...This complaint by the United Kingdom was but a true reflection of the situation prevailing on the Island, as the well-known terrorist organisation EOKA ( Hellenic Organasiton for the Struggle on Cyprus ) openly claimed that all acts of violence and killings since 1 st of April 1955 were directed by them.
When, In 1956, the Greek Government for the third time asked the United Nations to include the question of Cyprus on the agenda of the 11 the Session of the General Assembly , it contended in its explanatory memorandum that the breakdown of negatiations betwen the Governor of Cyprus and the Greek Cypriot leader, Arcbishop Makarios, was due to the refusal of the united Kingdom to grant the right of self-determination to the people of Cyprus. It further contended that the United Kingdom had set up a huge repressive military machine of about 20.000 troops on the island. The United Kingdom, on the other hand, proposed a new item entitled "Support from Greece for Terrorism in Cyprus" for inclusion agenda of the General Assembly in the same session.
...General Committe decided to merge the two items under the heading of the "Question of Cyprus" and at the conclusion of discussions in the First Committee there were three Draft Resolutions. First ( submitted by Greece ) was the application of the principles of equal rights ans self determination of peoples.Other ( by United Kingdom ) was to take effective measures against the support or encouragement from Greece terrorism in Cyprus. The third text was also submitted by Greece and proposed establishing a fact-finding committee of the United Nation to investigate the complaints on terrorism and repression.
In 1957 the Greek Foreign Minister by a change in tactics attempted to further the idea of independence for Cyprus and also to gain the advantage over Turkey.
Mr. Kassimatis, Minister of State in the Greek Cabinet, was equally eloquent in his declaration to Parliment on 12 th March 1957 in conveying to the Member of Parliament the idea that independence would be used as a spring-board for ENOSIS.
...Soviet Union and other socialist countries spoke and voted in favour of the Greek request for self-determination...the official United States position was closer to the Turkish case.
the Foreign Ministers' relations played a major role in arriving at a mutually accomodating solution to the Cyprus question. The Zurich Agreement ( between Greece and Turkey, after the conclusion ıf the United Nations General Assembly ) and London Agreement on 12 th February 1959 came into being and constituted the basis of the Cyprus Treaties which gave birth to "the Republic of Cyprus" on 16 th August 1960.
B - The Cyprus Question After the Establishment of the Independent Republic ( 1960 - 1974 )
...While both Governments ( Greek and Turkish )were in continuous consultation with the leaders of their respective ethnic communities they had acted as the spokesmen ot their respective communities during debate in the United Nations...During the preparation of the final text on the Cyprus Treatis - the conclusion of which had taken more than a year - representatives of the two Cypriot communities participated on an equal footing in this work together with representatives of Turkey, Greece and the United Kingdom. All these documents accepted and signed by the five parties.
The Constitution stipulated that Cyprus would be a republic under a presidential regime, the presindent being a Greek Cypriot and the vice-president a Turkish Cypriot, both elected by their respective communities. Complete communal autonomy was granted...The Constitution also included many provisions designed to ensure equitable participation by the Turkish community in legislative and govermental function...the president should obtain the consent of the vice-president on certain matters in the fields of foreign policy, defence and security.
...United Kingdom, Greece and Turkey were guaranteeing powers and they would have the right to take individual action with the aim of reestablishing the state of affairs created by the Treaty.
...Young republic admitted to United Nations that created an atmosphere of relief and goodwill in Turkey as well as in Greece.
...The Greek Cypriot leadership had undoubtly thought that immediate ENOSIS could be achieved if the Turkish Community could be subjugated copmletely by a surprice action.
...On 5 th September 1963 the president of Cyprus gave an interview the Finnish paper UUSI SUOMI and said :
"It is true that the goal of our struggle is to annex Cyprus to Greece"
On 21 th December 1963 AKRITAS plan culminated and out of 130 Turkish villages 40 villages were completely destroyed. And the Turkish population living in 88 of these villages had to flee their homes and become refugees...
...These attacks started on the eve of Christmas, called this period the "Black Christmas". Over 4.000 persons employed by the Cyprus Government lost sources of income, including the salaries. Approximately 25.000 Turkish Cypriot had become refugess.
...The government of Papandreou openly espoused the cause of ENOSIS...In Memoirs of Minister of Defence in Acropolis :
"the president, foreign minister and interior minister of the so-called Independent Republic of Cyprus, in addition to the Prime Minister, Minister of Defence and other high-ranking officials of Greece, met in the house of Prime Minister Papandreou, in Kastri, on the 13 th March 1964. The talks concentrated on military preparations of the Greeks in Cyprus. It was decided subsequently that Greek generals, officers and soldiers would be despatched secretly to the island to serve as members of the National Guard, which was created on 25 th February 1964 in defiance of the Constitution of Cyprus.
The Ambassador of the Republic of Cyprus in Athens would provide passports of the Republic for these military personnel who would enter Cyprus in civilian clothes and carry in their luggage, such things as arms, light machine guns and other war materials, instead of the usual personal belongings...To transport all these man and material conveniently to the island, secret ports were to be designated, and all these operations would take place during the night so as to achieve."
...Aftermath of the bloody event a conference held in January 1964. Greek Cyrpriots blocked all possible solutions to the problem and also opposed the formation of a peace-keeping force...On March 4, 1964 the Council adopted a Draft in which a force was to be set up for the duration of a a period of three months.
...In 1965 United Natiosn meetings the Greek Cypriots alleged that the Constitution of Cyprus unworkable, expressed their readiness to safeguard the minority rights of the Turkish Community ana presented to the Assembly "a declaration of intention" o this effect.
...On 21 st April 1967 a military coup d'etat took place in Greece. Their views on Cyprus did not differ substantially from the previous Greek government's policies... Greeks and Greek Cypriots under the command of General Grivas on 15 th November 1967 unleashed a brutal aggression on the Turks in Geçitkale and Boğaziçi but Turkey reacted very strongly...this crisis was finally resolved through the mediation efforts of NATO and USA representatives..
...Turkey's request was largely fulfilled when Greece decided to recall her armed froces...In January 1968 Greece informed Turkey that her force of 6370 strong left the island.
...Mr. Denktas, President of the Turkish Communal Chamber was permitted to return to the island in April 1968...In early June 1968 intercommunal negotiations had started. In talks, Greek Cypriot Administration backed "Federation" in order to facilitate the talks the turkish Community was ready to consider "Locat Autonomy based on separate geographic areas".
EOKA-B ( established by Grivas in cooperation with Greek officers ) on 15 th July 1974 prepared putsch against Arcbishop Makarios to bring about a virtual ENOSIS...Faced with this most flagrant violation Turkey went consultation with the Government of the United Kingdom...Turkey proposed to the United Kingdom a joint action in Cyprus under the Treaty of Guarantee. United Kingdom and USA didn't agree with Turkey and waited for Greek Junta's support on subject. Military junta would not agree to Turkey's proposals, the peace operation of Turkey began on July 20, 1974.
...The killings of Greeks by Greeks was continuing on a large scale, Arcbishop saved his life by taking refuge in the British sovereign base areas and leaving the island with British help...Democratic government held responsibility in Athens and Karamanlis appointed as the Prime Minister.
...On 25 th July 1st and On 8th August 2nd in Geneva; Turkey, Greece and United Kingdom agreed on rapid solutions to the problems confronting Cyprus as well as Turkey and Greece...Prior to First Geneva conference Turkish Army operation had stopped with the hope of a solution...
Turks massacres by Greeks went on and Turkey could not herself any bound with the cease-fire provisions. On the 14 th of August 1974 Turkey resumed the military operations in Cyprus.
...In paragraph of the Geneva Declaration of July 30, 1974. Two autonomous administration existed Greek Cypriot Community and Turkish Cypriot Community.
...With the consequent request of Turkey the representatives of two Communities participated on an equal footing in the General Assembly
Resource : "Cyprus Question and The United Nations", U. Haluk BAYULKEN, Dış Politika - Foreing Policy, Volume IV. Nos 2 - 3, February 1975