The island of Cyprus is subject to conflict with what countries?

Answer 1

Cyprus is not subject to conflict with any outside nations, but has a history of internal conflict between the native Greek and Turkish population.

When it became independent from Britain in 1960, ethnic violence broke out between Greeks and Turks, with the Greeks being the main persecutors. So severe did the situation become that it threatened to erupt into all-out civil war, so in '63 a UN force was despatched there to keep the two rival sides apart. The United Nations created a 'safe haven' for the Turks in the North, effectively partitioning the island- it remained under a single Government, but the Turks were safe to live in the North without fear of molestation by ultra-nationalist Greeks (many Greeks lived in the North as well, but they were more liberal and content to live side by side with their Turkish compatriots).

In the General Elections of 1974, the Cyprus Communist Party was set to win (it wasn't Communist in the totalitarian Soviet sense, more Democratic Socialist by our standards). The extreme right within the Greek Cypriot military feared this greatly, so using as a pretext the fact that there had recently been a right-wing military coup in mainland Greece, they took advantage of this to stage one in Cyprus as well, overthrowing the Government of President Archbishop Makarios and imposing military rule. They then set about a programme of ethnic cleansing against the Turks, aiming to kill or expel them from the island. Turkey, which had been watching the events with increasing concern and had repeatedly warned of the consequences of such actions, then staged a huge invasion of the island in mid-July to protect the Turkish population. It was a vast invasion, the biggest seen since the D-Day landings, with thousands of troops pouring ashore at the Northern port of Kyrenia and crack paratroop regiments parachuting onto the Mesouria Plain, supported by ground-attack aircraft dropping napalm. The Greeks fought back as best they could, but were overwhelmed by the sheer size and strength of the invading forces.

Peace talks were attempted to broker a ceacefire, but these broke down and a further, even larger invasion took place in mid-August. The UN watched with alarm as the Turkish Army moved South, but at the UN border line they halted and agreed to proceed no further. To do so would have resulted in a possible confrontation with Britain, which has two huge military bases on the island's South coast and which they did not want to risk, as, apart from Britain's superior military technology, both nations are members of NATO, and an attack on one NATO nation by another would reult in the aggressor being expelled from the organisation. Turkey desperately needed NATO membership as a bulwark against the neighbouring USSR, so was not prepared to jeopardise this. But thenceforth the island was permanently divided- Turkey declared the North to be a seperate state, set up a seperate Government there, and declared North Cyprus to be a Republic in 1983.

The island has remain divided ever since. Although there has been some easing of tension over the past decade, with Northern Turks and Southern Greeks now able to cross over from one side to the other and stay there for a few days, and new crossing points opened up, the situation is likely to remain as it is for the foreseeable future. There remains deep suspicion and hostility between nationalist right-wing Greeks and hardline Turks, which it may take generations to overcome. The Greek Cypriot Government in the South condemns Turkey for what it has done, and seldom has a good word to say for the nation, but it is not in open conflict with Turkey itself.