Recorded North Cyprus History starts with tools and other artefacts dating back to around 10,000 years ago have provided the earliest evidence of humans inhabiting North Cyprus. Evidence of a small community on the southern coast dates back to around 9,000 years ago. The community of about 2,000 is believed to have had contact with other cultures due to non-native volcanic rock being found within the town. The town called Khirokitia disappeared, along with several other small villages after a few hundred years. This seems to have left the island uninhabited for almost 2,000 years. Rehabitation of Cyprus starts again between the dates 4,500 - 4,000 BC. Evidence of small villages from this period has been found at Sotira near the south coast as well as in the Kyrenia mountain range of North Cyprus. Soapstone and copper ornaments found in these two areas support this evidence.

1200 BC saw an influx of Greek settlers who founded Greek kingdoms covering the majority of the island. The predominant language became Greek. The kings of these kingdoms paid homage to Assyria until the break up of the Assyrian Empire at the end of 700 BC. At this point Egypt became the dominant power in the eastern Mediterranean. By about 570 BC Cyprus recognised the pharaoh Ahmose II as their ruler. During this period many artefacts show the influence of Egypt and coinage came into being. In 525 BC the Cypriot kings transferred their allegiance to the Achaemenid (Persian) conquerors of Egypt. The Cypriots retained their independence until the accession of Darius I in 522 BC but were then incorporated into the Persian Empire. Cyprus remained under Persian rule during the 5th century in spite of a major Athenian expedition there in about 450 BC.

After being annexed by the Roman Republic in 58 BC and, along with Cilicia on the coast of Anatolia, Cyprus was made into a Roman province. Cyprus was briefly ceded back to Cleopatra VII of Egypt by Julius Caesar, and this status was confirmed by Mark Antony, but after the victory of Caesar's heir, Octavian (subsequently the emperor Augustus), over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at Actium in 31 BC it became a Roman possession again. Cyprus was originally administered as part of the "imperial" province of Syria but became a separate "senatorial" province in 22 BC. Its governors resumed the old republican title of proconsul, although there is evidence that Augustus did influence the Senate's choice. For the next 600 years Cyprus enjoyed peace, disturbed only by occasional earthquakes, epidemics and by a Jewish uprising suppressed by a lieutenant of the future emperor Hadrian in AD 116. Many large public buildings were erected, among them a gymnasium and theatre at Salamis, a theatre at Curium, and the governor's palace at Paphos.

After the division of the Roman Empire in 395, Cyprus remained subject to the Eastern, or Byzantine, Empire at Constantinople, being part of the Diocese of the Orient governed from Antioch. In ecclesiastical matters, however, the Church of Cyprus was independent of the Patriarch of Antioch-having been given that privilege in 488 by the emperor Zeno. The archbishop received the rights, still valued and practiced today, to carry a sceptre instead of a crosier and to sign his name in purple ink, the imperial colour.

There was a break in direct rule from Constantinople in 688 when Justinian II and the caliph 'Abd al-Malik signed an unusual treaty neutralizing the island, which had been subject to Arab raids. For almost 300 years Cyprus was a kind of condominium (joint dominion) of the Byzantine Empire and the Caliphate, and although both sides frequently violated the treaty, the arrangement lasted until 965, when the emperor Nicephorus II Phocas gained Cyprus completely for the Byzantines. The period that followed was one of modest prosperity.

About 1185 a Byzantine governor of Cyprus, Isaac Comnenus, rebelled and proclaimed himself emperor. Isaac resisted attacks from the Byzantine emperors Andronicus I Comnenus and Isaac II Angelus, but in 1191, on engaging in hostilities with an English crusader fleet under King Richard the Lion-Heart, he was defeated and imprisoned. The island was seized by Richard, from whom it was acquired by the crusading order of the Knights Templar; because they were unable to pay his price, he took it back and sold it to Guy of Lusignan, the dispossessed king of Jerusalem.

Guy, a Frenchman who called himself lord of Cyprus, invited families that had lost their lands in Palestine after the fall of Jerusalem to settle in Cyprus, thereby laying the basis for a feudal monarchy that survived to the end of the Middle Ages. His brother and successor, Amalric, obtained the title of king from the Holy Roman emperor Henry VI. The earliest kings of the Lusignan dynasty were involved in the affairs of the small territory still left to the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and this commitment drained the resources of Cyprus until the kingdom collapsed in 1291 with the fall of Acre. Over the next hundred years Cyprus gained a reputation in Europe for having immense riches, especially among its nobles and Famagustan merchants in North Cyprus. Famagusta's wealth derived from its position as the last entrepôt for European trade adjacent to the Levant.

The kings of Cyprus had kept alive the crusading idea, and the island remained a base for counterattacks against the Muslims. In 1361 the Cypriot King Peter 1 devoted himself to organizing a crusade; he captured Adalia (Antalya) on the Cilician coast of Anatolia, and in 1365, after collecting money and mercenaries in western Europe, he seized and sacked Alexandria. He was not able to maintain the conquest, however, and was soon forced to abandon Alexandria. At his son's accession the rivalry between Genoa and Venice over control of Cyprus's valuable trade resulted in Genoa's taking possession of Famagusta and holding on to it for nearly a century, thus leading to a rapid decline in the island's prosperity. In 1426 an expedition from Egypt raided and overran the island, which from then on paid tribute to Cairo. The last Lusignan king, James II, seized the throne with the help of an Egyptian force and in 1464 expelled the Genoese from Famagusta. He married a Venetian noblewoman, Caterina Cornaro, and on his death (which was followed by that of his posthumous son) she succeeded him as the last monarch of Cyprus. During her reign she was under strong Venetian pressure and was eventually persuaded to cede Cyprus to the Venetian Republic. It remained a Venetian possession for 82 years until its capture by the Ottomans.

A Turkish invading force landed in Cyprus in 1570 and seized Nicosia; the following year Famagusta fell following a long siege, ushering in the beginning of more than three centuries of Ottoman rule. The Latin church was suppressed and the Orthodox hierarchy restored; with the abolition of feudal tenure the Greek peasantry acquired inalienable and hereditary rights to land.

Thousands of Muslims were settled on the island immediately following the Ottoman conquest. To the sultans, Cyprus was an unimportant province; its governors were indolent, inefficient, somewhat oppressive, and corrupt. There were Turkish uprisings in 1764 and 1833, and in 1821 the Orthodox archbishop was hanged on suspicion of sympathizing with the rebels in mainland Greece. The sultanate's various imperial proclamations in the 19th century promising reform had no effect in Cyprus, where local opposition blocked them.

The Cyprus Convention of 1878 between Britain and Turkey provided that Cyprus, while remaining under Turkish sovereignty, should be administered by the British government. Britain's aim in occupying Cyprus was to secure a base in the eastern Mediterranean for possible operations in the Caucasus or Mesopotamia as part of the British guarantee to secure the sultan's Asian possessions from Russia. In 1914 while Britain and Turkey were both involved in World War I, the former annexed the island; Turkey recognized this under the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923. Two years later, Cyprus was officially declared a crown colony.

British occupation was initially welcomed by the Greek population, who from the start expected them to transfer Cyprus to Greece. The Greek Cypriots' demand for enosis (union with Greece) was opposed by Turkish Cypriots, constituting a major division in the island's politics; a string of almost annual petitions demanding enosis were matched by counter-petitions and demonstrations from the Turkish Cypriots. An offer to transfer the island had been made in 1915, on condition that Greece fulfil its treaty obligations toward Serbia when attacked by Bulgaria; the Greek government refused it, and the offer was not renewed. In 1931 the demand for enosis led to riots in Nicosia.

Cyprus was untouched by World War II, apart from a few air raids. In 1947 the governor, in accordance with the British Labour Party's declaration on colonial policy, published proposals for greater self-government. They were rejected in favour of the slogan "enosis and only enosis." In 1955 Lieutenant Colonel Georgios Grivas, a Cypriot who had served as an officer in the Greek army, began a concerted campaign for enosis. His National Organization of Cypriot Struggle (Ethnikí Orgánosis Kipriakoú Agónos; EOKA) bombed public buildings and attacked and killed both Greek-Cypriot and British opponents of enosis. British jurist Lord Radcliffe, among others, suggested self-government in 1956, but all of the proposals were rejected, and the attacks continued. Archbishop Makarios III, who considered it his duty to champion the national aspirations of the Greek Cypriots, was deported to the Seychelles and released from exile in March 1957; he left the Seychelles in April and made his headquarters in Athens. By that time the operations of EOKA had been reduced, but on the other hand the Turkish-Cypriot minority, led by Fazil Küçük, expressed alarm and demanded either retrocession to Turkey or partition. Public opinion in Greece and Turkey rallied in support of the two communities, respectively, resulting in riots and the expulsion of Greek residents in Turkey. The two sides reached no solution even with frequent recourse to the United Nations.

The Greek and Turkish governments took a decisive step in February 1959, when they reached an agreement in Zürich. Later that same month, at a conference in London, the British government and representatives of the Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot communities accepted the Greek-Turkish compromise. In 1960 treaties that were ratified in Nicosia made Cyprus an independent republic, with Britain retaining sovereignty over military bases at Akrotiri and Dhekélia. According to the terms of the treaties, the new republic would not participate in a political or economic union with any other state, nor would it be subject to partition. Greece, Turkey, and Britain guaranteed the independence, integrity, and security of the republic, and Greece and Turkey agreed to respect the integrity of the areas remaining under British sovereignty. In December 1959 Makarios was elected president and Küçük vice president, both of whom could exercise a veto in matters relating to security, defence, and foreign affairs. Turkish Cypriots, who made up less than one-fifth of the population, were to represent three-tenths of the civil service and two-fifths of the army and to elect three-tenths of the House of Representatives, and a joint Greek and Turkish military headquarters was also to be established.

The first general election occurred on July 31, 1960. Of the 35 seats allotted to the Greek Cypriots, 30 were won by supporters of Makarios and 5 were allotted to the communist-led Progressive Party of the Working People (AKEL). All 15 Turkish-Cypriot seats were won by supporters of Küçük. Cyprus became a republic on August 16, 1960, and was admitted as a member of the United Nations. The British government agreed to pay £12 million in financial assistance over five years, and Cyprus gained membership in the British Commonwealth in March 1961.

Despite these arrangements, the long-standing conflict between the Greek-Cypriot majority and the Turkish-Cypriot minority intensified following independence. The difficulties the government encountered in implementing some of the complicated provisions of the constitution, particularly over local government and finance, led Makarios to propose 13 amendments to Küçük in late 1963. The Turkish government and the Turkish Cypriots rejected these, and fighting broke out between the two Cypriot communities. As a result, the area controlled by the Turkish Cypriots was reduced to a few enclaves, and Nicosia was divided by a cease-fire line-known as the Green Line-policed by British troops. In March 1964 the UN Security Council agreed to send to Cyprus a multinational peacekeeping force, the mandate of which was extended repeatedly as the conflict continued. In 1964 the Turkish air force intervened after intensified fighting broke out in the northwest. Contingents of troops and officers from Greece and Turkey were brought into the island clandestinely to command and train the forces raised by the two communities. Grivas, who had been promoted to lieutenant general in the Greek army, returned from Greece to command the Greek-Cypriot National Guard. In 1967 an incident in the southeast led to a Turkish ultimatum to Greece, backed by the threat of invasion. The military junta in Greece complied by withdrawing the mainland contingents and General Grivas. An uneasy peace ensued, but intercommunal talks failed to produce a solution.

Makarios was re-elected president in 1968 by an overwhelming majority and subsequently re-elected in 1973. Although Makarios had originally been a leader in the campaign for enosis, many Greek Cypriots and mainland Greeks believed that by the time he had become president he was content with Cyprus's independence. Angered, dissidents tried to assassinate Makarios in 1970 and 1973, and in 1973 three bishops who were ecclesiastically subordinate to him denounced him. Meanwhile, Grivas had returned secretly to Cyprus in 1971 to resume the campaign for enosis; he died in Limassol in 1974.

On July 15, 1974, a detachment of the National Guard, led by officers from mainland Greece, launched a coup to assassinate Makarios and establish enosis. They demolished the presidential palace, but Makarios escaped. A former EOKA member, Nikos Sampson, was proclaimed president of Cyprus. Five days later Turkish forces landed at Kyrenia to overthrow Sampson's government. They were met by vigorous resistance, but the Turks were successful in establishing a bridgehead around Kyrenia and linking it with the Turkish sector of Nicosia. On July 23 Greece's junta fell and a democratic government under Konstantinos Karamanlis took power. At the same time, Sampson was replaced in Cyprus by Glafcos Clerides, who as president of the House of Representatives automatically succeeded the head of state in the latter's absence. The three guarantor powers-Britain, Greece, and Turkey-as required by the treaty, met for discussions in Geneva, but the Turkish advance continued until mid-August. By that time Turkey controlled roughly the northern third of the island. In December Makarios returned and resumed the presidency, and a few months later Turkish leaders proclaimed a Turkish Federated State of Cyprus under Rauf Denktas as president. Since that time the boundary between the two sectors has unofficially been known as "the Attila Line," named for the Turkish army's battle plan.

In May 1983 Denktas broke off all intercommunal talks, and in November he proclaimed the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC); only Turkey recognized the republic's independence. The UN Security Council condemned the move and repeated its demand, first made in 1974, for the withdrawal of all foreign troops from the Republic of Cyprus. Renewed UN peace-proposal efforts in 1984 and 1985 were unsuccessful, and in May 1985 a constitution for the TRNC was approved by referendum.

Talks between Clerides and Denktas, representing the Greek and Turkish Cypriots, respectively, had begun in 1968. They continued inconclusively until 1974, the Turks demanding and the Greeks rejecting the proposal for a bizonal federation with a weak central government. In February 1975 the Turkish Cypriots proclaimed the Turkish-occupied (North Cyprus) area the Turkish Federated State of Cyprus (a body calling itself the Provisional Cyprus-Turkish Administration had been in existence among Turkish Cypriots since 1967); Denktas announced that their purpose was not independence but federation. Talks were resumed in Vienna in 1975 and 1976 under UN auspices, and in early 1977 Makarios and Denktas agreed on acceptable guidelines for a bizonal federation.

In August 1977 Makarios died, and Spyros Kyprianou, president of the House of Representatives, became acting president of the republic; he returned unopposed to that office for a five-year term in January 1978 and was re-elected in 1983; Turkish Cypriots took no part in the 1983 election. Kyprianou lost his bid for a third term in 1988 to an independent candidate, Georghios Vassiliou.

"Cyprus" Encyclopaedia Britannica from Encyclopaedia Britannica Premium Services.
<http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?eu=118026>
(Accessed December 18, 2003)

The year 1993 in Cyprus was symbolized by the main international event on the island, the Commonwealth summit conference in October. Like the Commonwealth itself, Cypriot politics were long on rhetoric and history and short on achievement. The division of the island would reach the 20-year mark in 1994, and although talks at unification continued, there were strong forces to maintain the status quo.

Greek Cypriot Pres. George Vassiliou, who had started in office by promising a settlement of the dispute with the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) within six months, ended his term in defeat after five years on February 14 by losing a second-round election runoff to veteran conservative campaigner Glafcos Clerides. The campaign was dominated by a single issue, the UN "set of ideas" for reunification. These would reduce Turkish Cypriot territory from 38% of the island to about 28%. Cyprus would become a federal nation, with freedom of movement but limited settlement rights between the Greek and Turkish zones. During the campaign Clerides, leader of the right-wing Democratic Rally, claimed that Vassiliou had sold out and would not be able to amend the UN proposals, particularly on the issue of returning 200,000 Greek Cypriots to their lost homes in the occupied north. Vassiliou, seeking his second term, accepted the UN ideas, with negotiated amendments, as a basis for a settlement. Enough voters agreed with Clerides to hand him victory by less than 0.5% of the 393,375 ballots cast in a nearly 100% turnout.

Amid growing international impatience with the Cypriots, on May 11 Russia used its first veto in the UN since 1984 to block a resolution calling for the costs of the Cyprus peacekeeping force to be divided among all UN members instead of relying on voluntary donations. Canada then pulled out its troops from the force. They were replaced by an Argentine contingent.

Clerides and Denktash met on May 24. Confidence-building measures were the main topic, amid speculation that Denktash would return the deserted border town of Varosha-Famagusta to Greek Cyprus as a goodwill gesture. But when Denktash tried to wrest an implied recognition of the TRNC from Clerides, the talks were doomed. By the end of the year, the Cyprus problem was back on a familiar track--no progress, no concessions.

The Commonwealth conference gave Denktash another opportunity to dig his heels in. He said that the basis for a settlement in Cyprus was destroyed by the final Commonwealth communiqué, which he called "biased." The communiqué demanded the speedy withdrawal of Turkey's 35,000 troops and 50,000 mainland settlers from the north. It also demanded the return of 180,000 Greek Cypriots to their homes there.

Important political developments took place in the north late in the year. In a dispute with Prime Minister Dervis Eroglu, who advocated a harder line against the Greek Cypriots, Denktash dissolved the TRNC parliament on October 20 and called for elections on December 12, more than a year and a half before they were due. A coalition government was being formed in late December.

In Cyprus 1994 was the 20th year of partition and the 30th year of UN peacekeeping. To some extent, the two uncelebrated anniversaries indicated the island's situation, for the tragic division into Greek and Turkish sectors separated by a UN buffer zone had become part of Cypriot life. The status of the British Sovereign Base Areas, dating from the independence of Cyprus in 1960, was challenged in Cypriot courts, but the legitimacy of British rule in the bases was upheld.

The year began optimistically, particularly since both Cypriot states had undergone significant political changes. A coalition government under the longtime president, Rauf Denktash, was installed in Turkish Cyprus in December 1993, while Glafcos Clerides had taken over the presidency of Greek Cyprus some six months previously. UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali continued to press for modest confidence-building accords, including a jointly run airport in Nicosia and the return of the border resort town of Varosha to the Greek Cypriots. Informal steps included a darts tournament between the island's communities, virtually the first personal contact between the two since partition. Intercommunal talks broke down, however. In June Boutros-Ghali blamed the Turkish Cypriots for the failure and proposed sanctions. The following month the European Court of Justice ordered an embargo on Turkish Cypriot exports, which consisted mostly of fruits and clothing shipped to Britain. Despite this setback, the situation generally remained nonviolent.

Greek Cyprus continued as a tourist mecca and a regional news-media listening post, and the number of offshore corporations increased. For example, Cyprus was home to some 2,000 Russian companies, with a reported billion dollars per month being transferred from Russia to Cypriot banks. The economy on the Turkish side of the line was troubled but was assisted somewhat by financial aid from Turkey. The export embargo threatened to hurt the small state and led to disorders and the closure of the one border crossing between the two parts of the island.

Events in Cyprus in 1995 continued the trends of the past: partition, intercommunal distrust, intervention by outside powers, and economic prosperity. The island's division into Greek and Turkish republics plus the British Sovereign Base Areas remained. The United Nations continued as peacekeepers. The major protagonists were occupied with other problems--Greece with former Yugoslavia, and Turkey with its dissident Kurdish minority. A serious forest fire in Turkish Cyprus was thought to have been set by Kurdish sympathizers.

A move toward resolving the island's political impasse came with a proposal to integrate Cyprus into the European Union. The complex plan called for negotiations to begin in 1996 and included economic incentives for Turkey, with the expectation that only a reunified Cyprus could realistically be integrated into the EU. The project was still under consideration at year's end.

The island's economy continued to prosper. Its geographic situation and the growth of capitalism in Eastern Europe brought opportunities. Much of the world's merchant shipping sailed under the Cypriot flag, and more than 19,000 overseas corporations, many of them Russian, were chartered in Cyprus. The island provided a centre for corporate regional offices, broadcast monitoring, and support of diplomatic missions in the area. Prosperity also brought problems. Eastern European investment led to occasional allegations of the use of the island's banks and warehouses for laundering money and diverting restricted materials such as zirconium.

Tourism, Cyprus' major industry, employed about a fourth of the workforce and generated about the same percentage of gross national product in the Greek area. The island was host to well over two million tourists in 1995, including a million from Britain and 75,000 from Russia. Like the island's economic prosperity as a whole, the tourist boom had a down side, with tourist-related crime and incidents that raised occasional diplomatic concern about the legal rights of tourists. The tourist industry was looking at expanding its base through such diverse enterprises as eco- and agro-tourism and casinos.

Although the impasse over Cyprus continued, the events of 1996 held the potential for significant change. One impetus for change was accession to the European Union, forecast for as early as the year 2000. Although the island's partition per se would not preclude joining the European organization, accession would certainly be smoother if the partition was eliminated.

During the year the U.K. and the U.S. appointed envoys to deal with Cyprus. Despite initial hopes, their efforts did not break the deadlock. International and intra-Cypriot negotiations continued throughout 1996. Significantly, in December the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Turkey had violated the rights of a Greek Cypriot by seizing her property in the 1974 invasion of northern Cyprus.

Frustration with the status quo manifested itself in several ways. In Greek Cyprus the communist Progressive Party of the Working People won one-third of the votes in the May elections, leaving Pres. Glafcos Clerides's Democratic Rally party only marginally in the lead. Discontent became violent in August as Greek Cypriots demonstrated in the UN-patrolled buffer zone. Two Greek Cypriots were killed and scores injured.

Despite these problems, the economy continued to boom, with a 5.5% growth in gross domestic product. Offshore investments totaled over $300 million, and a fifth of the world's ships flew the Cyprus flag. The Turkish sector did not share in the island's prosperity, however. Its per capita income was about a fourth of the $13,000 enjoyed by the Greek Cypriots.

Cyprus in 1997 remained dominated by the conflicts between the Greek and Turkish segments of the population, which had resulted in the island's geographic partition. Incidents along the dividing line between the Greek and Turkish sectors continued, although the border was quieter than in 1996. Residents of each sector were allowed to cross the border to visit sites of religious and historical importance, a measure that helped improve relations. The presidents of each sector, Glafcos Clerides and Rauf Denktash, met for one-on-one talks, first in New York City and then in Switzerland. Although the talks produced no specific results, the dialogue was expected to continue. Despite the partition, negotiations for membership in the European Union continued, with formal accession talks scheduled to begin in early 1998.

The UN force in Cyprus continued its peacekeeping mission. The British Sovereign Base Areas, which were maintained under British rule when Cyprus achieved independence in 1960, were the targets of criticism and demonstrations, both from environmentalists and from Cypriots resenting the bases' separate administration.

Another source of tension came in the form of a Greek Cypriot proposal to buy a Russian air defense missile system costing $600 million. The missiles, which were scheduled to be delivered in mid-1998, would dramatically change the strategic balance between the two Cypriot regimes. The missile deal was representative of the increased economic links between Greek Cyprus and Eastern Europe.

The economy, always stronger on the Greek side, experienced a slowdown in 1997 but recovered, and gross domestic product rose 3% over the previous fiscal year. Offshore investment continued, with Greek Cyprus ranking fifth in the world in merchant shipping (down from fourth in 1996). Work began on a desalinization plant to overcome the island's chronic water shortage.

Cyprus in 1998 remained divided into the mainly Greek Republic of Cyprus, the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus, and the British Sovereign Base Areas. Although intercommunal problems continued to dominate the island's life, the year held some promise. In September North Cyprus Pres. Rauf Denktash presented a new proposal for a confederated state, with both sides retaining sovereignty over their areas. Although the idea was initially criticized by the Greek Cypriot government, serious discussions were expected to be underway by early 1999.

In elections in February, Glafcos Clerides maintained leadership of Greek Cyprus by less than 1% of the vote. In March formal talks began for membership in the European Union. Greek Cyprus enacted legislative changes, including decriminalizing homosexuality, in order to meet EU standards.

The opening of a military air base and the continued plans for purchase of a Russian air defense missile system for Greek Cyprus caused the U.S. and the U.K. to express unease. The issue reflected the increasingly close ties between Cyprus and Russia.

The economy recovered from the slump of previous years, although the Greek sector continued to be much more prosperous than the Turkish side. Tourism increased significantly. Water troubles approached crisis levels, with water reserves down to a dangerous low. The completion of a pipeline for desalinized water solved the problem only partially.

The United Nations force in Cyprus observed its 35th anniversary in 1999 and could pride itself on having a generally favourable record in manning the Green Line, which divided the island between the Greek- and Turkish-Cypriot communities. Tensions continued during the year, but hostile incidents decreased. The Greek-Cypriot decision late in 1998 not to deploy a Russian-made air-defense missile system was generally welcomed. Border barriers were opened to allow visits by both Greek and Turkish Cypriots to religious shrines.

Negotiations for inclusion of the Republic of Cyprus in the European Union continued on schedule. The government endorsed the EU oil embargo of Yugoslavia but openly disagreed with the NATO bombings. Greek Cypriots generally supported the Orthodox Serbians in ways that ranged from demonstrations at the U.S. embassy to taking up collections to aid the Belgrade zoo. Turkish Cypriots supported the Muslim Kosovars. Rumours circulated that Kosovo refugees might be relocated to Turkish Cyprus, which added to the tension.

The economy, particularly on the Greek side, continued to be robust, if not booming. Foreign trade was slightly down, but tourism, mostly from Great Britain but with an increasingly important Russian contingent, was slightly up. Trade with Russia continued strong, with a volume of $400 million anticipated for 1999. Turkish Cyprus offset its trade deficit with revenue from tourists, about three-quarters of whom were from Turkey. The remains of the Neolithic settlement at Khirokitia were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site.

In 2000 the leaders of the two Cyprus governments each met challenges. The Greek Cyprus president, Glafcos Clerides, endured surgery but recovered quickly. Rauf Denktash, his Turkish Cyprus counterpart, was reelected.

Tension between the Greek and Turkish sectors continued, but so did dialogue. In UN-organized “proximity talks” leaders of the two sides, though not in direct contact, discussed security, property, and territory. Religious visits by both sides across the border continued and led to agreements to restore shrines under UN auspices UN-sponsored talks did not yield an agreement on the island's division, however.

Greek Cypriots looked to the UN, the European Union, and Third World nations for support. Their Turkish counterparts sought allies in the Islamic world and the Turkic nations of Central Asia. Negotiations to gain EU membership continued, and the EU did not make resolution of the Greek-Turkish problem a precondition for membership. Accession was forecast for 2001.

The economy of Greek Cyprus continued to grow in 2000, particularly in regard to tourist arrivals, but inflation and balance of trade deficits caused concern. Turkish Cyprus experienced economic crisis sparked by the failure of several major banks and the consequent loss of depositors' savings. Measures to deal with the issue, with Turkish aid, included transfer of the failed banks to the government, plans for reimbursement of uninsured savers, and possible prosecution of those responsible.

Greek Cyprus reported in 2001 that it had provisionally completed two-thirds of the accession requirements for European Union (EU) membership. Completion of the requirements was expected in 2002, with full membership in 2004. The EU planned to provide significant economic support for the transition. While the EU was prepared to accept Greek Cyprus despite partition, the issue added complication to the island's already-complex situation. In May parliamentary elections in the Greek sector, the socialist Progressive Party of the Working People (AKEL) secured the largest number of seats—20 of the 56 seats, up from 19. Pres. Glafcos Clerides's Democratic Rally dropped from 20 seats to 19.

While the island saw little violence in 2001, tension continued. In May the European Court of Human Rights found Turkey guilty of human rights violations when it invaded northern Cyprus in 1974, a finding rejected by both Turkey and Turkish Cyprus. After a pause lasting more than a year, Clerides and Turkish-Cypriot Pres. Rauf Denktash met on December 4 under UN auspices and agreed to resume negotiations in early 2002.

Moved by environmental and health concerns, about 1,000 Greek Cypriots protested construction of a 190-m (about 620-ft) radio antenna on the British Sovereign Base at Akrotiri. The incident left some 40 people injured and caused more than £300,000 (about $430,000) in damage. A later survey found that the antenna met EU standards, and the issue was somewhat defused.

Turkish Cypriot bank failures in 2000 were joined by a 2001 economic crisis in Turkey, resulting in serious inflation and currency devaluation. The per capita gross national product (GNP) of Turkish Cyprus was less than a third of that of the Greek sector. By contrast, the Greek Cypriot economy was solid, with 4.5% GNP growth and unemployment of approximately 3.3% expected in 2001. Tourist arrivals increased more than 5%. Perhaps more important, a second desalination plant opened, with removal of all restrictions on the water supply.

In 2002 political events in Cyprus were dominated by the vision of European Union (EU) membership and direct talks between the leaders of the two republics. Greek Cyprus completed virtually all the requirements for EU membership. The EU was prepared to accept Greek Cyprus in the hope that the island's future could be resolved, but Turkish Cyprus and the metropolitan Turks made dire threats should that take place. Greek Cyprus continued to maintain that it was the island's legal government, with Turkish Cyprus a rogue breakaway regime. The Cyprus Turks insisted that any settlement contain recognition of their sovereignty. Despite some 60 meetings during the year between Greek-Cypriot Pres. Glafcos Clerides and Turkish-Cypriot Pres. Rauf Denktash, no settlement of the issue was reached.

Other problems continued. Greek Cyprus protested Turkish overflights, while the Cyprus Turks protested Greek Cyprus's taking over search-and-rescue operations on the island from Britain. The economy felt the global economic distress and uncertainty. Per capita gross national product growth of about 2% was expected in Greek Cyprus, while the Turkish side of the line was much less prosperous.

Nicosia was such a treasure house of archaeology that it was difficult for Greek Cyprus to find an unhistorical site for a new parliament house. Aridity was a constant, and Turkish Cyprus planned to complete a pipeline to transport water from Turkey by 2004.

In Cyprus 2003 was a year of mixed signals, dominated by impending European Union membership. Greek Cyprus signed the accession treaty in April, effective May 1, 2004, with the understanding that Turkish Cyprus would come in upon reunification of the island. Direct talks between the two presidents continued as the year began, and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan submitted a plan for a federal state. The UN plan included a deadline to allow a referendum and reunification before EU accession. Loss of sovereignty was too much of a price for Turkish Cypriot Pres. Rauf Denktash to pay, however, and he ended all talks.

The issue was contentious. Thousands of Turkish Cypriots demonstrated in favour of EU membership, but Denktash stood firm and prevailed. On the other hand, Glafkos Clerides, president of Greek Cyprus, was defeated at the polls in February by Tassos Papadopoulos, who had voiced doubts on the UN plan in his campaign. Results of the late December parliamentary elections in Turkish Cyprus were dead even on the EU issue.

Day-to-day Greek-Turkish tensions eased dramatically, with moves to clear mines, account for the missing, and ease trade restrictions. Turkish classes were given in Greek Cypriot universities, and a compensation commission in Turkish Cyprus was set up to handle Greek Cypriot claims against the north. Probably the images that most Cypriots would retain from 2003, however, were the dramatic traffic jams after Turkish Cyprus opened the border-crossing points.There were problems too, of course. In one ugly incident, Turkish Cypriots were assaulted when they visited their former homes on the Greek side. The Greek Cyprus government deplored the incident.

"Cyprus" Encyclopaedia Britannica from Encyclopaedia Britannica Premium Services.
<http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?query=cyprus+history&ct=eb&eu=118026&tocid=33831>
(Accessed June 25, 2004)

European Union membership dominated political events in Cyprus in 2004. UN-sponsored negotiations in the spring failed to produce a unification formula for the Greek and Turkish parts of the island before a last-minute referendum on the UN's compromise plan. Leaders of both sides recommended its rejection, while the EU, the UN, the U.K., and the U.S. urged acceptance. In the event, the Greeks rejected the proposal, and the island's Turks voted “yes.” On May 1 the Greek side joined the EU. Cyprus participated in EU committees and elected six delegates to the European Parliament. Funding from the EU assisted the island's fishing industry and helped in the demining of the frontier, and EU regulations and supervision regulated the intercommunal border. Despite continued partition, Cyprus Turks were considered EU members. Some voted in the European elections, and international agencies planned economic relief for them.

Even while the battle of words continued, the intercommunal situation remained nonviolent. Movement between the zones eased, and telephone contact opened. Perhaps typical of the entire situation, Turkish Cyprus allowed Greeks access to Morphou, on the Turkish side, for a saint's day service. The bishop and the mayor visited their town for the first time in 30 years. The event was marred, however, by a dynamite blast in front of the church a day before the service. The incident demonstrated the passions that continued to rend the island.

Cyprus's economy continued strong, with considerable growth of the tourist industry in Turkish Cyprus. Economic prosperity and increased communication between the two sides of the island brought new attention to the issue of land ownership by displaced Cypriots.