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Cyprus Developments Since 1974
The de facto partition of Cyprus resulting from the
Turkish
invasion, or intervention, as the Turks preferred to call
their
military action, caused much suffering in addition to the
thousands
of dead, many of whom were unaccounted for even years
later. An
estimated one-third of the population of each ethnic
community had
to flee their homes. The island's economy was devastated.
Efforts were undertaken immediately to remedy the
effects of
the catastrophe. Intensive government economic planning
and
intervention on both sides of the island soon improved
living
standards and allowed the construction of housing for
refugees.
Both communities benefited greatly from the expansion of
the
tourist industry, which brought millions of foreign
visitors to the
island during the 1980s. The economic success of the
Republic of
Cyprus was significant enough to seem almost miraculous.
Within
just a few years, the refugees had housing and were
integrated in
the bustling economy, and Greek Cypriots enjoyed a West
European
standard of living. Turkish Cypriots did not do as well,
but,
working against an international embargo imposed by the
Republic of
Cyprus and benefiting from extensive Turkish aid, they
managed to
ensure a decent standard of living for all members of
their
community--a standard of living, in fact, that was higher
than that
of Turkey. Both communities established government
agencies to
provide public assistance to those who needed it and built
modern
education systems extending to the university level.
Both communities soon developed political systems on
the
European model, with parties representing mainstream
political
opinion from right to the left. Greek Cypriots had two
older
parties dating from before 1970, the Progressive Party of
the
Working People (Anorthotikon Komma Ergazomenou Laou--AKEL)
and the
United Democratic Union of Cyprus (Eniea Demokratiki
Enosis Kyprou-
-EDEK), and some formed after the events of 1974. The two
most
important of these newer parties were the Democratic Party
(Dimokratiko Komma--DIKO) and the Democratic Rally
(Dimokratikos
Synagermos--DISY). Both of these parties were on the
right, with
DIKO headed by Spyros Kyprianou, who replaced Makarios as
president
after the latter's death in 1977, and DISY led by veteran
politician Glafkos Clerides. Parliamentary elections held
in 1976,
1981, and 1985 resulted in stable patterns in the House of
Representatives that permitted coalition-building and a
serious
opposition to the government in power (see
table 3,
Republic of
Cyprus: Parliamentary Elections Results, 1976-85).
Kyprianou was
reelected president in 1983, but lost in 1988 to George
Vassiliou,
a successful businessman and a political outsider who had
the
support of AKEL and EDEK. Vassiliou won election by
promising to
bring a new spirit to politics and break the deadlocked
negotiations to end the island's division.
The Turkish Cypriots' progress to parliamentary
democracy was
not as easy. First they had to build a new state. In 1975
the
"Turkish Federated State of Cyprus" was proclaimed. In
1983, by
means of a unilateral declaration of independence, Turkish
Cypriots
created the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus"
("TRNC"), but by
the early 1990s, only Turkey had recognized it as a
nation. Rauf
Denktas, who had been the political leader of the Turkish
Cypriot
community since the 1970s, was elected president of the
"TRNC." A
number of political parties were active in the area
occupied by the
"TRNC." They included both left- and right-wing parties,
which both
supported and opposed the settlement of mainland Turks on
the
island and the politics of partition. The largest party,
the
National Unity Party (Ulusal Birlik Partisi--UBP), was
founded and
controlled by Denktas (see
table 4, "Turkish Republic of
Northern
Cyprus": Parliamentary Election Results, 1976-90). The UBP
supported a resolutely separatist stance. The second party
of the
"TRNC," the Communal Liberation Party (Toplumcu Kurtulus
Partisi--
TKP) advocated closer relations with the Greek Cypriot
community.
The left-wing Republican Turkish Party (Cumhuriyetçi Türk
Partisi--
CTP) was even more forthright in its opposition to the
government's
policy of restricted relations with the Republic of
Cyprus.
Negotiations began in the mid-1970s to end the de facto
partition and to bring the two communities together again.
Two
major compromises on the part of the Republic of Cyprus
occurred in
the second half of the 1970s. First, in 1977, four
guidelines for
future intercommunal talks were accepted by both
communities; their
thrust was that Cyprus would become a bicommunal federal
republic,
a departure from the terms of the constitution of 1960.
Second, the
ten-point agreement of 1979, achieved at a meeting between
Kyprianou and Denktas, worked out policies to ease further
intercommunal talks.
A possible settlement was missed in 1985 when Kyprianou
refused
to sign a recently worked-out accord, fearing it conceded
too much
to the other side. The stalemate continued up to the
election of
Vassiliou in 1988. Agreement on some major points had
slowly
evolved, but the practical steps to realize an actual
settlement
were still not attainable. Differences in the two
communities' view
of the desirable mixture of federation or confederation
and the
powers of a central government seemed unbridgeable.
* * *
The four-volume work by the British historian George
Hill,
The History of Cyprus, although completed in 1952,
is still
considered the most definitive history of the island.
Stavros
Panteli's A New History of Cyprus covers events up
to the
mid-1980s. H.D. Purcell's Cyprus, available in many
libraries, is a balanced but dated survey of Cypriot
history.
Footprints in Cyprus, edited by Sir David Hunt, is
also a
good introduction to the island's post.
Cyprus: Nationalism and International Politics
by
Michael Attalides is a thoughtful analysis of the
background and
development of Cypriot nationalism. The Cyprus
Revolt by
Nancy Crawshaw is a detailed study of the struggle against
British
rule. Also valuable is The Rise and Fall of the Cyprus
Republic by Kyriacos C. Markides, which covers
the
period of independence and events after the Turkish
invasion of
1974. Makarios: A Biography by Stanley Mayes is a
sympathetic yet objective portrait of the republic's first
president. Pierre Oberling's The Road to Bellapais
presents
a Turkish Cypriot perspective on the island's recent
history. John
Reddaway, a former British colonial official in Cyprus,
examines
many of the controversies surrounding recent history in
Burdened
with Cyprus. Parker T. Hart's Two NATO Allies at
the
Threshold of War offers a first-hand American account
of
diplomatic efforts to defuse the crisis of 1967. A highly
controversial account of the international background of
the events
of 1974 is Christopher Hitchens's Cyprus. (For
further
information and complete citations,
see
Bibliography.)
Data as of January 1991
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