The Cyprus standoff
A little-known conflict that bubbled over 44 years ago has long settled in a prolonged stalemate.
AS I was growing up, there were quite a few divided nations. North and South Vietnam, East and West Germany, North and South Yemen - all of which have since been reunited.
The most widely documented ongoing “feud” of course is that between North and South Korea who are technically still at war, having never signed a formal armistice at the end of the Korean War which raged from 1950-1953.
One dispute which is basically off the radar is that of Cyprus. An island nation in the Mediterranean, Cyprus is basically home to people of Greek and Turkish descent, which is at the heart of its conflict.
After centuries as part of the Ottoman Empire, and a few decades as part of the British Empire, Cyprus was granted independence in 1960. At that time, a population census indicated that Greek Cypriots made up 77% of the island’s population, while Turkish Cypriots comprised 18%. Fiery nationalist sentiment on both sides meant that Cyprus was an immediate flashpoint.
Greek nationalists in particular were keen to form a union between Cyprus and Greece. Unfortunately for them, the President of Cyprus Archbishop
Makarios III was of independent mind. After initially hoping for the union, he charted a non-aligned course for his country. His situation became even more challenging when a military coup in Greece in 1967 brought a new regime to power, one that was committed to a union between the two countries.
In this environment, Makarios survived no less than four assassination attempts.
Matters came to a head in July 1974. Makarios had been battling an increasingly subversive Greek military presence in his country when on July 15, a coup d’etat was launched by pro-union Greek Cypriots. This was followed by an invasion of Northern Cyprus by Turkish military forces on July 20. In the immediate aftermath of the conflict, nearly 1,800 people lost their lives and Turkey occupied a Northern enclave of nearly 40% of the island.
The end result is that the island has been divided politically ever since. Geographically too, a demilitarised zone, known as United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus, patrolled by the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus divides the two parts of the island.
They now have two separate administrations with the Northern Cyprus part having been led for many years by Rauf Denktas (who served under Makarios as the final vice-president of unified Cyprus).
This regime made a unilateral declaration of independence in 1983 but that was recognised only by Turkey.
This month sees Northern Cyprus carry out parliamentary elections on Jan 7 while Cyprus has its presidential elections on Jan 28.
Most of Northern Cyprus’ prime ministers have come from the right-wing National Unity Party founded by Denktas. Incidentally, his son Serdar is deputy prime Minister as leader of the more moderate Democratic Party. The main rivals of the NUP is the centre-left Republican Turkish Party which actually supports reunification with Cyprus.
I was excited when the latter party under the leadership of first Osket Ozgur and then Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat held talks with the left-wing AKEL party from Cyprus.
AKEL’s Dimitris Christofias was actually the first democratically elected Communist president in the world and served from 2008 to 2013, but he was unable to forge a breakthrough either. Another failed attempt at brokering peace was the earlier Annan Plan in 2004 which was supported by Turkish voters but not the Greeks.
As things stand, Northern Cyprus is like parts of Ukraine and Georgia, administrated by separatists where the practical reality is not acknowledged. One can only hope that pro-unity candidates on each side of the border zone do well in this month’s elections so that modern-day Cyprus can build a bridge to reunification.