Cyprus Conflict and European Union: Turkey’s Approach to Cyprus Conflict and Role of the European Union

This paper examines the Cyprus Conflict with Turkey’s, Greece’s, and European Union’s perspectives. It focuses on Turkey’s approaches and efforts to solve the Cyprus Conflict and justifications for the Cyprus Peace Operation. The background and causes of the Cyprus Conflict have been explained in detail in order to clarify the issue. Further, the incidents such as Bloody Christmas and Annan Plan, political aims such as Taksim and Enosis have been remarked as important milestones in the history of Cyprus. The conflict has been explained by including both the perspectives of Greece and Turkey in order to make this paper impartial.

Abstract

This paper examines the Cyprus Conflict with Turkey’s, Greece’s, and European Union’s perspectives. It focuses on Turkey’s approaches and efforts to solve the Cyprus Conflict and justifications for the Cyprus Peace Operation. The background and causes of the Cyprus Conflict have been explained in detail in order to clarify the issue. Further, the incidents such as Bloody Christmas and Annan Plan, political aims such as Taksim and Enosis have been remarked as important milestones in the history of Cyprus. The conflict has been explained by including both the perspectives of Greece and Turkey in order to make this paper impartial.

 Keywords: Cyprus Conflict, European Union, Turkey, Cyprus, Greece, Cyprus Peace Operation

I.                Introduction

The Cyprus Conflict is an ongoing complex dispute in the international area due to Cyprus’s significant geographical position in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. Cyprus has a significant geographical position because it is the third-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, it is the intersection point of European, Asian, and African Continents. Additionally, Cyprus is essential for Turkey’s national security and Greece’s political power on the island.

One of the main reasons why the Cyprus Conflict remains unsolved is that there are too many sides in this conflict such as Turkey, Greece, England, the European Union, and the United States of America. As there are too many sides, there are too many disagreements therefore, the dispute continues. A delicate issue such as Cyprus Conflict should be analyzed from both Turks’ and Europeans’ perspectives. This paper aims to clarify and specify Turkey’s perspective and justifications in the Cyprus Conflict.

II.             The Cyprus Conflict

A.    History

The conflict between Turkish and Greek Cypriots has started in the beginning of the 1920s when Ottoman Empire gave Cyprus to the United Kingdom. This conflict was just a political conflict. Afterward, Greek Cypriots wanted to send both Turkish Cypriots and the British off the island. The Independence movement of Greek Cypriots lasted until the 1950s. After the 1950s, Greek Cypriots started to put pressure on Turkish Cypriots. The oppression of Greek Cypriots was demonstrated by the persecutions and massacres committed by a terrorist organization called EOKA, which was founded in 1955, with the idea of dominating Cyprus alone. As soon as this situation was heard in Turkey, the Cyprus issue became the agenda in Turkey and Turkey started to get in action for support to Turks. With these massacres, Turkish Cypriots had to leave more than 30 villages. On February 19, 1959, the Zurich and London Agreements were signed between Turkey, the United Kingdom, and Greece Cyprus and in 1960 Cyprus became an independent state. However, Greece did not want to share the island with the Turks and wanted to unite the island with Greece (ENOSIS - a movement about the union of Greece and Cyprus) after the United Kingdom left the island (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, n.d).

Additionally, in 1963, Greek Cypriots intensified their attacks against Turkish Cypriots with the Akritas Plan (a plan to weaken the governing power of the Turkish Cypriots in the Republic of Cyprus and unite the island with Greece). The conflict that occurred with this plan has gone down in the history as Bloody Christmas. When this plan was implemented 30.000 Turkish Cypriots were forced to leave their villages. Hence, in 1963, The Republic of Cyprus disappeared by annulling the constitution with the attacks carried out by the Greek Cypriots. The Greek Cypriots did not want to share the state jointly with the Turkish Cypriots and made the island a bigger problem by using illegal methods. Greece made the problem bigger by secretly sending large numbers of soldiers to the island to seize Cyprus. For this reason, in 1964, The United Nations Security Council established the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) on the island to deal with the problem. Therefore, under the United Nations’ watch, Greece had to withdraw its troops from the island (T.C. Dışişleri Bakanlığı. Kıbrıs Meselesinin Tarihçesi, BM Müzakerelerinin Başlangıcı).

The pressure and attacks of the Greek Cypriots continued on the island until 1974 and on July 15, 1974, with the support of the Greek Junta, the leader of EOKA, Nikos Sampson carried out a coup to unite Cyprus Greece and take control of the island. As it was opposed to the integrity of Cyprus, Turkey offered an intervention to the United Kingdom. On United Kingdom’s negative response to this, Turkey launched the Cyprus Peace Operation according to the Zurich and London Agreements on 20 July 1974 to put an end to the injustices against Turkish Cypriots and bring peace to Cyprus (ibid). Turkish Armed Forces carried out the operation according to the article of 4 of the Treaty of Guarantee; “In so far as common or concerted action may not prove possible, each the three guaranteeing Powers reserves the right to take action with the sole aim of re-establishing the state of affairs created by the present Treaty” (Treaty of Guarantee, No 5473, 1960). As a result of this operation, the junta administration and Nikos Sampson Government in the Republic of Cyprus resigned (Solsten, 1991). Besides, millions of people were injured and died from both nationalities. On August 2, 1975, the Exchange of Population Treaty was signed and with this treaty, two communities were divided, Turkish Cypriots, who were in the south, went to the north and Greek Cypriots, who were in the north, went to the south voluntarily. In the same year, the Turkish Federated State of Cyprus was established, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was established in 1983. Nevertheless, almost all international communities call it an illegal invasion instead of the Cyprus Peace Operation and do not recognize the Turkish Federated State of Cyprus. For that matter, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is recognized solely by Turkey.

B.    Greece’s Perspective

When it is examined deeply, the Cyprus Conflict is not a surprise. There were two groups of people of different ethnic origins on the same island. This situation of Cyprus can be described as an “ethnic omelette that has been unscrambled” (A.J.R. Groom, 1986, p. 380).

The last phase of the conflict started in the 1950s when Greek Cypriots revealed their big plan. Enosis had always been the aim of Greek Cypriots during the British Rule era and after Cyprus’s Independence. Enosis correlated with the Megali Idea (Great Idea), which was an approach that depicted the aim of resurrecting the Byzantine Empire under Greece’s rule. In order to achieve this goal, a nationalist paramilitary organization called EOKA (National Organization of Cypriot Struggle) was launched in 1955. Colonel Georgios Grivas who was an officer in the Greek Army organized EOKA and Makarios III, Orthodox archbishop of Cyprus, supported this terrorist organization (Bishku, 1991, pp. 166-168).

EOKA started a violent campaign against the United Kingdom. This nationalist paramilitary organization attacked British targets along with British-related targets for four years. On June 19, EOKA started to attack police stations (Journal of Cyprus Studies, 2007, p. 48), and consequently on 26 June 1955, the British Governor declared the State of Emergency (British Cyprus 1914-1960). As a result of this independence movement, Cyprus gained its independence from the United Kingdom in 1960. While Greek Cypriots wanted Enosis, Turkish Cypriots were in favor of partition (Taksim). Turkish Cypriots demanded the island to be divided into two for each community. Thus, Turkish and Greek Cypriots were going to live separately.

 With the Zurich Agreement, the conflict was wanted to be solved. According to Zurich Agreement, Cyprus was to be independent, there would be neither Enosis nor Taksim, the official languages of the Republic of Cyprus were to be both Greek and Turkish, the president of the Republic of Cyprus was to be a Greek Cypriot who was elected by Greek Cypriots and the Vice President, a Turkish Cypriot elected by Turkish Cypriots on the island. Both Turkish and Greek Cypriot sides agreed on Zurich Agreement (Conference on Cyprus, 1959).

However, even though the Greek Cypriots agreed that they would not try to achieve Enosis, EOKA did not stop its violent actions. After forming EOKA and the independence of Cyprus, the other remarkable step to achieve Enosis was the Akritas Plan (1963). With the Akritas Plan, Greek Cypriots aimed to weaken Turkish Cypriots in the government of Cyprus and subsequently uniting Cyprus with Greece (Enosis). According to Greek Cypriots, this plan was completely defensive. However, after the Akritas Plan, many bloody incidents took place in Cyprus. EOKA killed hundreds of Turkish Cypriots and burned their houses.

According to Greek Cypriots after the Turkish occupation, Turkish forces committed several crimes in occupied areas. For example, they killed many Greek Cypriots including old women and men. Also, it is claimed that approximately 3000 people are missing until today and it is thought that these people might have been killed by the Turkish army. About 200.000 Greek Cypriots who were forced to leave their homes by the Turkish army are still not allowed to return to their homes in Turkish-occupied areas and these people are living in their own country as if they are refugees. Turkish forces looted houses of Greek Cypriots and stole their belongings. In addition to all of these, the Turkish army is claimed to have violated human rights on the island (Council of Europe, Report of the Commission, 1976, pp. 11-12).

III.           Turkey’s Perspective and Response

Turkey intervened militarily in Cyprus in 1974 by its Cyprus Peace Operation based on the right, mentioned before, granted by the Treaty of Guarantee. From Turkey’s perspective, Cyprus Peace Operation, so-called invasion, was obligatory in that situation because Turkish Cypriots were in danger on the island and the independence of Cyprus was under threat by Greece. In the following, the reasons why Turkey did not invade but brought peace to Cyprus will be explained thoroughly.

Between the 1950’s-1960’s Greeks targeted the Turkish Cypriots with their attacks, they started to slaughter these unarmed innocent people throughout the island and burned their houses, and committed crimes against humanity. For instance, Turkish Cypriots had to leave 33 villages due to the attacks of EOKA.

The Akritas Plan which was seen as a defensive act by Greek Cypriots was in fact an absolute genocide plan against Turkish Cypriots. In the 1960s, one of the several bloody incidents that happened was the “Bloody Christmas”, which was prepared on the basis of the Akritas Plan. This massacre resulted in the death of 364 Turkish Cypriots and nearly 25.000 people becoming refugees in their own land (Cop & Dogan, 2005, p. 133). Moreover, according to the report of the Secretary-General of the United Nations (1964), 109 villages were abandoned by Turkish Cypriots, 507 Turkish houses were damaged, and 2000 houses were devastated (Keser, 2013, p. 266). In 1963, The Republic of Cyprus dissolved and for that reason in order to divide the northern part and southern part of Cyprus, the Green Line was drawn. Later in 1964, the International Peacekeeping Force (UNFICYP) was deployed to the island (T.C. Dışişleri Bakanlığı, Kıbrıs Meselesinin Tarihçesi, BM Müzakerelerinin Başlangıcı).

Even though it is seen as a Turkish invasion, Cyprus Peace Operation had to be done to save Turkish Cypriots’ lives. Considering the aforementioned conditions in Cyprus, it can be seen that Turks’ lives were in danger and there was an ongoing ethnic cleansing. In this case, the Turkish army had no choice but to organize an operation to save civilians. Eventually, the Cyprus Peace Operation was organized on 20 July 1974 based upon the 4^th article of the Treaty of Guarantee.  With this operation, Greece’s Enosis plan was prevented, Turks’ security of life on the island was ensured and most importantly Turkish army brought peace to Cyprus.

In consequence of the operation, 2 federal states assumed sovereignty on the island. After the operation, on February 13, 1975, the Turkish Federated State of Cyprus was established. On July 25, 1974, the first round of negotiations; on July 8, 1974, the second round of conferences were held in Geneva, and the Vienna negotiations were held on February 10, 1974 (Duran, 2008, p. 127). As a result of these negotiations, the Exchange of Population Treaty was signed on August 2, 1975, under the supervision of the United Nations. Accordingly, not mandatorily, Turkish Cypriots would migrate to the South and Greek Cypriots would migrate to the North. The Turkish Republic of Cyprus was established on November 15, 1983. Although Cyprus was divided into two, this could not put an end to the Cyprus Conflict. In an attempt to solve the conflict general secretary of the United Nations Kofi Annan first conferred with the leader of Greek Cyprus Glafkos Klerides and then the leader of Turkish Cyprus Rauf Denktaş. As a result of these negotiations, they accepted the document called the “Annan Plan”. The Annan Plan was a United Nations plan that recommended the unification of the island of Cyprus as an independent state. The plan, which was put to vote on the whole island in 2004, was accepted by Turkish Cypriots by 64.91%, but could not be implemented as rejected by Greek Cypriots by 75.38% (United Nations, 2004). After the Annan Plan and accordingly the referendum the Cyprus Conflict continued to remain unsolved.

IV.           Role of the European Union

The European Union has been in on the Cyprus Conflict since the 1960s. The guarantor powers -Greece and Turkey- became members of the European Economic Community (EEC) respectively in 1962 and 1963. Later on, the United Kingdom became a full member of the European Economic Community. For this reason, Cyprus became associated with the European Economic Community due to the economic dependence between Cyprus and the United Kingdom. However, there was no significant outcome after this involvement. Another involvement of the European Union took place in 1974 when the coup issue happened in Greece. The European Political Cooperation (EPC) made a statement that showed their support for the independence of Cyprus and opposition to any intervention in Cyprus. Greece’s EC (European Community) membership influenced the European Union’s perspective on the Cyprus Conflict. In addition, after Cyprus applied for membership (1990) of the EU, European Union developed new perspectives on the conflict since the EU and Cyprus cooperated in the enlargement process (Müftüler-Bac & Güney, 2005, pp. 281-284).

Nevertheless, the European Union did not put enough effort to solve the conflict apart from sustaining its support to the Greek Cypriot side. Therefore, the European Union had a minor role in the conflict. The United Nations, United States, and the United Kingdom had more approaches in order to solve the Cyprus Conflict.

V.              Conclusion

Upon exploring the Cyprus Conflict from multiple perspectives, it would not be wrong to say that the Cyprus Conflict could not be solved with different perspectives, collaborations, approaches, negotiations, agreements, conferences, and last but not least the policies of the European Union. Thus, the solution to the Cyprus conflict is in the hands of the two sides -Greece and Turkey- on the island. As for Enosis, the reason why the conflict emerged in the first place, it was impossible to achieve it. This is because Cyprus belonged to the Ottoman Empire before the United Kingdom which means it was the home of Turks along with Greek Cypriots. Therefore, in order to unite the island with Greece by exterminating Turkish Cypriots was a horrible idea and a crime against humanity. All world organizations and countries remained silent during the extermination of Turkish Cypriots, yet Turkey saved them as it was supposed to be an established peace on the island. Consequently, only Greece and Turkey can solve the Cyprus Conflict as it concerns them directly. 

Ebru Ertürk - Ceylin Firdevs Yeğin

European Studies Interns

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