The Epic Interactive Encyclopedia 1998/Epic Interactive Encyclopedia, The - 1998 Edition (1998)(Epic Marketing).iso/C/Cyprus/INFOTEXT

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1. Mediterranean island, divided between the
southern Republic of Cyprus (Greek Kypriaki
Dimokratia), and the Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus (Turkish Kibris Cumhuriyeti)
area 9,251 sq km/3,571 sq mi, 37% in Turkish
hands capital Nicosia (divided between the
Greeks and Turks) towns ports Paphos,
Limassol, and Larnaca (Greek); and Morphou,
and ports Kyrenia and Famagusta (Turkish)
physical central plain between two E-W
mountain ranges features Attila Line; two
British military enclaves on the S coast at
Episkopi (includes Royal Air Force Akrotiri)
and Dhekelia; there is also an outpost of
British Government Communications
Headquarters in the mountains heads of state
and government Georgios Vassilou (Greek) from
1988, Rauf Denktas (Turkish) from 1976
political system democratic divided republic
political parties Democratic Front (DIKO),
centre-left; Progressive Party of the Working
People (AKEL), socialist; Democratic Rally
(DISY), centrist; Socialist Party (EDEK),
socialist exports citrus, grapes, Cyprus
sherry, potatoes, copper, pyrites currency
Cyprus pound (0.79 = 1 Feb 1990) population
(1987) 680,400 (Greek Cypriot 81%, Turkish
Cypriot 19%); annual growth rate 1.2% life
expectancy men 72, women 76 language Greek
and Turkish (official); English religion
Greek Orthodox, Sunni Muslim literacy 99%
(1984) GNP $2.11 bn (1983); $3,986 per head
of population chronology 1955 Guerrilla
campaign for enosis, or union with Greece,
started by Archbishop Makarios and Gen
Grivas. 1956 Makarios and enosis leaders
deported. 1959 Compromise agreed and Makarios
returned to be elected president of an
independent Greek-Turkish Cyprus. 1960 Full
independence achieved, with Britain retaining
its military bases. 1963 Turks set up their
own government in N Cyprus. Fighting broke
out between the two communities. 1964 UN
peacekeeping force installed. 1971 Grivas
returned to start a guerrilla war against the
Makarios government. 1974 Grivas died. A
military coup deposed Makarios, who fled to
Britain. Nicos Sampson appointed president.
Turkish army sent to N Cyprus to confirm the
Turkish Cypriots' control. The military
regime in S Cyprus collapsed and Makarios
returned. N Cyprus declared itself the
Turkish Federated State of Cyprus (TFSC),
with Rauf Denktas as president. 1977 Makarios
died and was succeeded by Spyros Kyprianou.
1983 An independent Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus (TRNC) was proclaimed but was
recognized only by Turkey. 1984 UN peace
proposals rejected.
1985 Summit meeting between Kyprianou and
Denktas failed to reach agreement. 1988
Georgios Vassilou elected president. Talks
with Denktas, under UN auspices, began. 1989
Vassilou and Denktas agreed to draft an
agreement for the future reunification of the
island, but the peace talks were abandoned in
Sept.

2. Island in the Mediterranean, off the S
coast of Turkey. government Under the 1960
constitution, power is shared between Greek
and Turkish Cypriots, but in 1963 the Turks
ceased participating and in 1964 set up a
separate community in N Cyprus, refusing to
acknowledge the Greek government in the
south. The Greek Cypriot government claims to
be the government of all Cyprus and is
generally accepted as such, except by the
Turkish community. There are, therefore, two
republics, each with a president, council of
ministers, legislature and judicial system.
The `Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus' has
its own representatives overseas. Greek
Cyprus has a president who appoints and heads
a council of ministers, elected for five
years by universal adult suffrage, and a
single-chamber legislature, the 80-member
house of representatives, also elected for
five years. The four main political parties
are the Democratic Front (DIKO), the
Progressive Party of the Working People
(AKEL) the Democratic Rally (DISY), and the
Socialist Party (EDEK). Under the separate
constitution adopted by Turkish Cyprus 1985,
there is a president, council of ministers,
and legislature similar to that in the south.
Turkey is the only country to have recognized
this government. history For early history,
see Greece, ancient. The strategic position
of Cyprus has long made it a coveted
territory, and from the 15th century BC it
was colonized by a succession of peoples from
the mainland. In the 8th century it was
within the Assyrian empire, then the
Babylonian, Egyptian, and Persian. As part of
Ptolemaic Egypt, it was seized by Rome 58 BC.
From AD 395 it was ruled by Byzantium, until
taken 1191 by England during the Third
Crusade. In 1489 it was annexed by Venice,
and became part of the Ottoman empire 1571.
It came under British administration 1878,
and was annexed by Britain 1914. In 1955 a
guerrilla war against British rule was begun
by Greek Cypriots seeking `Enosis', or
unification with Greece. The chief
organization in this campaign was the
National Organization of Cypriot Combatants
(EOKA) and its political and military leaders
were the head of the Greek Orthodox Church in
Cyprus, Archbishop Makarios, and General
Grivas. See also Greece. In 1956 Makarios and
other Enosis leaders were deported by the
British government. After years of
negotiation, Makarios was allowed to return
to become president of a new, independent
Greek-Turkish Cyprus, retaining British
military and naval bases. In 1963 the Turks
withdrew from power-sharing and fighting
began. The following year a United Nations
peace-keeping force was set up to keep the
two sides apart. After a prolonged period of
mutual hostility, relations improved and
talks were resumed, with the Turks arguing
for a federal state and the Greeks wanting a
unitary one. In 1971 General Grivas returned
to the island and began a guerrilla campaign
against the Makarios government, which he
believed had failed the Greek community.
Three years later he died and his supporters
were purged by Makarios, who was himself
deposed 1974 by Greek officers of the
National Guard and an Enosis extemist, Nicos
Sampson, who became president. Makarios fled
to Britain. At the request of the Turkish
Cypriot leader, Turkey sent troops to the
island, taking control of the north and
dividing Cyprus along what became known as
the `Attila Line', cutting off about a third
of the total territory. Later in 1975 Sampson
resigned, the military regime which had
appointed him collapsed, and Makarios
returned. The Turkish Cypriots established an
independent government for what they called
the `Turkish Federated State of Cyprus'
(TFSC), with Rauf Denktas as president. In
1977 Makarios died and was succeeded by
Spyros Kyprianou, who had been president of
the house of representatives. In 1980
UN-sponsored peace talks were resumed. The
Turkish Cypriots offered to hand back about
4% of the 35% of the territory they
controlled, and to resettle 40,000 of the
200,000 refugees who had fled to the north,
but stalemate was reached on a constitutional
settlement. The Turks wanted equal status for
the two communities, equal representation in
goverment and firm links with Turkey. The
Greeks, on the other hand, favoured an
alternating presidency, strong central
government, and representation in the
legislature on a proportional basis. Between
1982 and 1985 several attempts by the Greek
government in Athens and the UN to find a
solution failed and the Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus (TRNC), with Denktas as
president, was formally declared, but
recognized only by Turkey. In 1985 a meeting
between Denktas and Kyprianou failed to reach
agreement and the UN secretary general drew
up proposals for a two-zone federal Cyprus,
with a Greek president and a Turkish vice
president, but this was not found acceptable.
Meanwhile, both Kyprianou and Denktas had
been re-elected. In 1988 Georgios Vassiliou
was elected president of the Greek part of
Cyprus, and in Sept talks began betwen him
and Denktash. However, these were abandoned
in Sept 1989, reportedly because of
Denktash's intransigence. The dispute between
the communities remains unresolved but,
because of its strategic importance in the
Mediterranean, Cyprus is a problem that
causes concern among leading nations.