Cyprus National Security
Paphos Castle, partially rebuilt by the Turks
in the late sixteenth century after destruction by the Venetians of
the original fourteenth-century fortification
THE MANY ANCIENT AND MODERN walled fortresses that dot
the
landscape of Cyprus attest to the island's long history of
armed
conflict. Valuable minerals and forest products and the
island's
strategic location along trade routes between Europe and
the Middle
East have made Cyprus the object of repeated occupations
by the
region's dominant military powers since the second
millennium B.C.
(see Ancient Period
, ch. 1).
The competing interests of Greece and Turkey in
Cyprus--freed
from British rule in 1960--have deeply affected the
country's
national security in the modern period. Competition
between the two
outside powers fueled intercommunal strife between Greek
and
Turkish Cypriots and subversive acts against President
Archbishop
Makarios III. Greek military personnel attached to the
Cypriot
National Guard supported the campaign against Makarios,
which
culminated in the coup d'etat of July 1974 and the
subsequent
Turkish military intervention and occupation of 37 percent
of the
island. The events of July-August 1974 further strained
relations
between the two nations that form the southeastern flank
of the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), endangering
Western
security in the region.
The Zurich-London agreements, signed in London on
February 19,
1959, provided legitimacy to actions taken jointly or
individually
by Greece and Turkey, as well as by Britain, to uphold the
constitution of the new island nation. In the ensuing
years,
however, the rights spelled out in the constitution were
often
abused or misapplied. For example, a bicommunal Cypriot
army
provided for in the agreements never materialized; rather,
each
ethnic community created its own military force, trained,
armed,
and partially staffed by personnel from the mainland. Both
Greece
and Turkey intervened in Cypriot affairs in a manner that
went well
beyond their legitimate security roles, and Britain for
the most
part simply stood aside.
The events of 1974 have resulted in a de facto
partition of the
island into segregated Greek and Turkish communities with
sizable
opposing forces in close proximity. More than two Turkish
Army
divisions in the north alleviated fears of the Turkish
Cypriot
minority that its physical safety was threatened by
intercommunal
violence. Although the strong Turkish military presence
was a
source of insecurity for the Greek Cypriot community, the
Turkish
forces had shown no further territorial ambitions since
the 1974
cease-fire. During the late 1980s, the Greek Cypriot
National Guard
began to strengthen and modernize its armored units and
air
defenses to reduce the margin of Turkish superiority.
Demonstrations by Greek Cypriot women sometimes crossed
into the
buffer zone, leading to confrontations with Turkish troops
and
introducing an element of potential instability.
Greek Cypriots saw the large Turkish army contingent on
Cyprus
as an alien force distorting the community's balance. On
the other
hand, the growing strength of the National Guard was
regarded by
Turkish Cypriots as a threat justifying the retention of
Turkish
forces. Nevertheless, as of 1990 the military position
seemed a
stalemate, furthered by the continued presence (since
early 1964)
of United Nations (UN) peace-keeping troops. Numerous
rounds of
bilateral and UN-sponsored talks had failed to reduce the
military
confrontation, an essential step in any political
settlement.
Data as of January 1991
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