Europe
Cyprus, Where Three Powers Aimed for their Influence
History From the Turk Cypriots point of view
In 1959, Britain, Turkey, Greece, and the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders, Makarios and Dr. Fazil Kucuk respectively signed the Zurich agreements. The new constitution was drawn heavily on the ethnic composition of the island. The President would be a Greek Cypriot and the Vice-President a Turkish Cypriot with an equal veto. The contribution to the public services such as Cabinet posts, parliamentary seats and civil service jobs would be set at a ratio of 70:30, and the Supreme Court would consist of an equal number of judges from both communities plus an independent judge who was not Greek, Turkish or British.
The Zurich accords were also consisted of a number of treaties. The Treaty of Guarantee stated that secession or union with any state was forbidden, and that Greece, Turkey and Britain would be given guarantor status to intervene should this be violated. The Treaty of Alliance allowed for two small Greek and Turkish military contingents to be stationed on the island whilst the Treaty of Establishment gave Britain sovereignty over two bases in Akrotiri and Dhekelia.
In 1963, President Makarios proposed unilateral changes to the constitution, via 13 amendments. Which was rejected by Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots as an attempt to settle constitutional disputes in favour of the Greek Cypriots and as a means of demoting Turkish status from co-founders of the state to one of minority status removing their constitutional safeguards in the process. Turkish Cypriots filed a lawsuit against the 13 amendments in the Supreme Constitutional Court of Cyprus (SCCC). President Makarios announced that he would not comply with whatever the decision of the SCCC would be, and defended his amendments as being necessary “to resolve constitutional deadlocks” as opposed to the stance of the SCCC.
On 25 April 1963, the SCCC decided that Makarios’ 13 amendments were illegal. On 15 July, Makarios ignored the decision of the SCCC [Source: Republic of Cyprus, SCCC Official Website]. The president of SCCC resigned and the SCCC ceased to exist. Finally, On 30 November, Makarios legalized the 13 proposals.
In 1963, the Greek Cypriot wing of the government came up with the plan of Akritas which crafted a policy that would remove Turkish Cypriots from the government and ultimately lead to union with Greece. The plan stated that if the Turkish Cypriots objected then they should be “violently subjugated before foreign powers could intervene” [Source: US Library of Congress]. Intercommunal violence broke out immediately with a major Greek Cypriot paramilitary assault upon Turkish Cypriots in Nicosia and Larnaca, which saw some retaliation from Turk Cypriots side, but according to the historian of the Cyprus conflict, Keith Kyle “there is no doubt that the main victims of the numerous incidents that took place during the next few months were Turks.” [Source: The Main Narrative, continued]. Seven hundred Turkish hostages, including women and children, were taken from the northern suburbs of Nicosia. The conflict did not end here, Nikos Sampson, a nationalist and future coup leader, led a group of Greek Cypriot irregulars into the mixed suburb of Omorphita and attacked the Turkish Cypriot population. By 1964, 193 Turkish Cypriots and 133 Greek Cypriots had been killed, with a further 209 Turks and 41 Greeks missing and presumed dead.
Turkish Cypriot members of the government had by now withdrawn, creating an essentially Greek Cypriot administration in control of all institutions of the state. Widespread looting of Turkish Cypriot villages prompted 20,000 refugees to retreat into armed enclaves, where they remained for the next 11 years, relying on food and medical supplies from Turkey to survive.
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