Editing Cyprus (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Cyprus|Timeline of Cypriot history}}
[[File:Choirokoitia.jpg|thumb|Archaeological site of [[Khirokitia]] with early remains of human habitation during the Aceramic Neolithic period (reconstruction)]]

===Prehistoric and ancient period===
{{Main|Prehistoric Cyprus|Ancient history of Cyprus}}

Hunter-gatherers first arrived on Cyprus around 13–12,000 years ago (11,000 to 10,000 BC), based on dating of sites like [[Aetokremnos]] on the south coast and the inland site of Vretsia Roudias.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Tsakalos |first1=Evangelos |last2=Efstratiou |first2=Nikos |last3=Bassiakos |first3=Yannis |last4=Kazantzaki |first4=Maria |last5=Filippaki |first5=Eleni |date=2021-08-01 |title=Early Cypriot Prehistory: On the Traces of the Last Hunters and Gatherers on the Island—Preliminary Results of Luminescence Dating |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/716100 |journal=Current Anthropology |language=en |volume=62 |issue=4 |pages=412–425 |doi=10.1086/716100 |issn=0011-3204 |access-date=26 April 2024 |archive-date=21 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240421225321/https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/716100 |url-status=live }}</ref> The arrival of the first humans coincides with the extinction of the {{Convert|75|cm|ft|abbr=on}} high [[Cypriot pygmy hippopotamus]] and {{Convert|1|m}} tall [[Cyprus Dwarf Elephant|Cyprus dwarf elephant]], the only large mammals native to the island.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.asor.org/pubs/books-monographs/swiny.pdf |title=The Earliest Prehistory of Cyprus: From Colonization to Exploitation |publisher=[[American Schools of Oriental Research]] |year=2001 |editor=Stuart Swiny |location=Boston, MA |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160606210529/http://www.asor.org/pubs/books-monographs/swiny.pdf |archive-date=6 June 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Neolithic]] farming communities emerged on the island by around 10,500 years ago (8500 BC).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bar-Yosef Mayer |first1=Daniella E. |last2=Kahanov |first2=Yaacov |last3=Roskin |first3=Joel |last4=Gildor |first4=Hezi |date=2015-09-02 |title=Neolithic Voyages to Cyprus: Wind Patterns, Routes, and Mechanisms |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15564894.2015.1060277 |journal=The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology |language=en |volume=10 |issue=3 |pages=412–435 |doi=10.1080/15564894.2015.1060277 |issn=1556-4894 |access-date=26 April 2024 |archive-date=28 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230528133150/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15564894.2015.1060277 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Remains of an eight-month-old cat were discovered buried with a human body at a separate [[Neolithic]] site in Cyprus.<ref>{{cite news |last=Wade |first=Nicholas |title=Study Traces Cat's Ancestry to Middle East |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/29/health/29iht-29cat.6404420.html |access-date=4 October 2012 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=29 June 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150509004708/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/29/health/29iht-29cat.6404420.html |archive-date=9 May 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> The grave is estimated to be 9,500 years old (7500&nbsp;BC), predating [[ancient Egypt]]ian civilisation and pushing back the [[Domestication of the cat|earliest known feline-human association]] significantly.<ref>{{cite news |first=Marsha |last=Walton |title=Ancient burial looks like human and pet cat |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2004/TECH/science/04/08/cats.cyprus/index.html |publisher=CNN |date=9 April 2004 |access-date=23 November 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071222092756/http://edition.cnn.com/2004/TECH/science/04/08/cats.cyprus/index.html |archive-date=22 December 2007 |url-status=live}}</ref> The remarkably well-preserved Neolithic village of [[Khirokitia]] is a UNESCO [[World Heritage Site]], dating to approximately 6800&nbsp;BC.<ref>Simmons, A.&nbsp;H. ''Faunal extinction in an island society: pygmy hippopotamus hunters of Cyprus''. New York: Springer 1999, p.&nbsp;15. [https://books.google.com/books?id=hCwYwyEBXEAC&pg=PA15] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412181518/https://books.google.com/books?id=hCwYwyEBXEAC&pg=PA15|date=12 April 2016}}</ref>

During the Late [[Bronze Age]], from around 1650 BC Cyprus (identified in whole or part as [[Alashiya]] in contemporary texts) became more connected to the wider Mediterranean world driven by the trade in [[copper]] extracted from the Troodos Mountains, which stimulated the development of urbanised settlements across the island, with records suggesting that Cyprus at this time was ruled by "kings" who corresponded with the leaders of other Mediterranean states (like the [[pharaoh]]s of the [[New Kingdom of Egypt]], as documented in the [[Amarna letters]]).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Knapp |first1=A. Bernard |last2=Meyer |first2=Nathan |date=2023-07-01 |title=Merchants and Mercantile Society on Late Bronze Age Cyprus |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/724597 |journal=American Journal of Archaeology |language=en |volume=127 |issue=3 |pages=309–338 |doi=10.1086/724597 |issn=0002-9114 |access-date=26 April 2024 |archive-date=18 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240118180509/https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/724597 |url-status=live }}</ref> The first recorded name of a Cypriot king is ''Kushmeshusha'', as appears on letters sent to [[Ugarit]] in the 13th&nbsp;century&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{cite book |author=Eric H. Cline |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_M1bCgAAQBAJ |title=1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed |date=22 September 2015 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-7449-1 |access-date=6 January 2020 |archive-date=17 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240517121631/https://books.google.com/books?id=_M1bCgAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>

At the end of the Bronze Age, the island experienced two waves of Greek settlement.<ref>Thomas, Carol G. and Conant, Craig: ''The Trojan War'', pp.&nbsp;121–122. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2005. {{ISBN|0-313-32526-X}}, 9780313325267.</ref> The first wave consisted of [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean Greek]] traders, who started visiting Cyprus around 1400&nbsp;BC.<ref>[[Andreas G. Orphanides]], "Late Bronze Age Socio-Economic and Political Organization, and the Hellenization of Cyprus", Athens Journal of History, volume&nbsp;3, number&nbsp;1, 2017, pp.&nbsp;7–20</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YOwOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA168 |title=Greek Pottery in the Bronze Age |author=A.D. Lacy |page=168 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |access-date=20 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150915234014/https://books.google.com/books?id=YOwOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA168 |archive-date=15 September 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="lcweb2.loc.gov">{{cite web |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field%28DOCID+cy0013%29 |title=Library of Congress Country Studies. ''Cyprus'' |publisher=Lcweb2.loc.gov |access-date=1 November 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090110091429/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd%2Fcstdy%3A%40field%28DOCID+cy0013%29 |archive-date=10 January 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref> A major wave of Greek settlement is believed to have taken place following the [[Late Bronze Age collapse]] of Mycenaean Greece from 1100 to 1050&nbsp;BC, with the island's predominantly Greek character dating from this period.<ref name="lcweb2.loc.gov" /><ref>Thomas, Carol G. ''The Trojan War''. Santa Barbara, CA, US: Greenwood Publishing Group 2005. p.&nbsp;64. [https://books.google.com/books?id=UzASgBf2W10C&pg=PA98] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151203171026/https://books.google.com/books?id=UzASgBf2W10C&pg=PA98|date=3 December 2015}}</ref>  Cyprus occupies an important role in [[Greek mythology]], being the birthplace of [[Aphrodite]] and [[Adonis]], and home to [[Cinyras|King Cinyras]], [[Teucer]] and [[Pygmalion (mythology)|Pygmalion]].<ref>Stass Paraskos, The Mythology of Cyprus (London: Orage Press, 2016) p.1f</ref> Literary evidence suggests an early Phoenician presence at [[Kition]], which was under [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyrian]] rule at the beginning of the 10th century BC.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hadjisavvas |first=Sophocles |title=The Phoenician Period Necropolis of Kition, Volume&nbsp;I |year=2013 |publisher=Shelby White and Leon Levy Program for Archaeological Publications |url=http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~semitic/wl/publications/2012/hadjisavvas.html |page=1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304111945/http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~semitic/wl/publications/2012/hadjisavvas.html |archive-date=4 March 2016 |access-date=9 September 2019 }}</ref> Some [[Phoenicia]]n merchants who were believed to come from [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]] [[colony|colonised]] the area and expanded the political influence of Kition. After c.&nbsp;850&nbsp;BC, the Phoenicians rebuilt and reused the sanctuaries [at the Kathari site].[[File:Kition, Zeus Keraunios.jpg|thumb|upright|Zeus Keraunios, 500–480 BC, Nicosia museum]]

Cyprus is at a strategic location in the Eastern Mediterranean.<ref>{{cite book |author=Getzel M Cohen |title=The Hellenistic Settlements in Europe, the Islands and Asia Minor |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BnsPcZW4G7YC&pg=PA35 |year=1995 |publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-91408-7 |page=35 |access-date=20 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150911021830/https://books.google.com/books?id=BnsPcZW4G7YC&pg=PA35 |archive-date=11 September 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Charles Anthony Stewart |title=Domes of Heaven: The Domed Basilicas of Cyprus |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R6ux8tRBHq4C&pg=PA69 |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-549-75556-2 |page=69 |publisher=ProQuest LLC |access-date=20 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150915232126/https://books.google.com/books?id=R6ux8tRBHq4C&pg=PA69 |archive-date=15 September 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Michael Spilling |author2=Jo-ann Spilling |title=Cyprus |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ldSQLD985i4C&pg=PA23 |year=2010 |publisher=Marshall Cavendish |isbn=978-0-7614-4855-6 |page=23 |access-date=20 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412132426/https://books.google.com/books?id=ldSQLD985i4C&pg=PA23 |archive-date=12 April 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> It was ruled by the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]] for a century starting in 708&nbsp;BC, before a brief spell under Egyptian rule and eventually [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid]] rule in 545&nbsp;BC.<ref name="lcweb2.loc.gov" /> The Cypriots, led by [[Onesilus]], king of Salamis, joined their fellow Greeks in the [[Ionia]]n cities during the unsuccessful [[Ionian Revolt]] in 499&nbsp;BC against the Achaemenids. The revolt was suppressed, but Cyprus managed to maintain a high degree of autonomy and remained inclined towards the Greek world.<ref name="lcweb2.loc.gov" /> 
During the whole period of the Persian rule, there is a continuity in the reign of the Cypriot kings and during their rebellions they were crushed by Persian rulers from Asia Minor, which is an indication that the Cypriots were ruling the island with directly regulated relations with the Great King and there was not a Persian [[satrap]].<ref name="Parpas">{{Cite web |url=https://www.academia.edu/8861166 |title=Alexander the Great and the Kingdoms of Cyprus – a Reconsideration |access-date=7 August 2022 |archive-date=7 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220807195911/https://www.academia.edu/8861166 |url-status=live |last1=Parpas |first1=Andreas P. }}</ref> The Kingdoms of Cyprus enjoyed special privileges and a semi-autonomous status, but they were still considered vassal subjects of the Great King.<ref name="Parpas"/>

The island was conquered by [[Alexander the Great]] in 333&nbsp;BC and Cypriot navy helped Alexander during the [[siege of Tyre (332 BC)]]. The Cypriot fleet was also sent to help [[Amphoterus (admiral)|Amphoterus]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0530%3Abook%3D3%3Achapter%3D6%3Asection%3D3 |title=Arrian, Anabasis, 3.6.3 |access-date=7 August 2022 |archive-date=7 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220807201301/https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0530:book%3D3:chapter%3D6:section%3D3 |url-status=live }}</ref> In addition, Alexander had two Cypriot generals [[Stasander]] and [[Stasanor]] both from the [[Soli, Cyprus|Soli]] and later both became satraps in Alexander's empire.
Following Alexander's death, the [[Partition of Babylon|division of his empire]], and the subsequent [[Wars of the Diadochi]], Cyprus became part of the [[Hellenistic civilization|Hellenistic empire]] of [[Ptolemaic Kingdom|Ptolemaic Egypt]]. It was during this period that the island was fully [[Hellenization|Hellenised]]. In 58&nbsp;BC Cyprus was acquired by the [[Roman Republic]] and became [[Roman Cyprus]] in 22 BC.<ref name="lcweb2.loc.gov"/>

===Middle Ages===
{{Main|Cyprus in the Middle Ages|Kingdom of Cyprus}}
[[File:Nicosia by Giacomo Franco.jpg|thumb|The [[Walls of Nicosia]] were built by the Venetians to defend the city in case of an Ottoman attack.]]
[[File:Kyrenia 01-2017 img11 Castle exterior.jpg|thumb|[[Kyrenia Castle]] was originally built by the Byzantines and enlarged by the Venetians.]]
When the [[Roman Empire]] was divided into Eastern and Western parts in 286, Cyprus became part of the East Roman Empire (also called the [[Byzantine Empire]]), and would remain so for some 900 years. Under Byzantine rule, the Greek orientation that had been prominent since antiquity developed the strong Hellenistic-Christian character that continues to be a hallmark of the Greek Cypriot community.<ref name="Keefe 1993">{{Country study |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=Federal Research Division, Library of Congress |country=Cyprus |abbr=cy |title=Cyprus: A Country Study |url= https://www.loc.gov/item/92036090/ |edition=Fourth |editor-last=Solsten |editor-first=Eric |year=1993 |isbn=0-8444-0752-6 |last1=Keefe |first1=Eugene K. |last2=Solsten |first2=Eric |chapter=Historical Setting |pages=10–12}}</ref>

Beginning in 649, Cyprus endured repeated attacks and raids launched by [[Umayyad Caliphate]]. Many were quick raids, but others were large-scale attacks in which many Cypriots were killed and great wealth carried off or destroyed.<ref name="Keefe 1993"/> The city of [[Salamis, Cyprus|Salamis]] was destroyed and never rebuilt.<ref name="lcweb2.loc.gov"/> Byzantine control remained stronger in the northern coast, the Arabs exerted more influence in the south. In 688, Emperor [[Justinian II|Justinian&nbsp;II]] and Caliph [[Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan|Abd al-Malik]] signed a treaty whereby Cyprus would be paying an equal amount of tribute to the Caliphate and tax to the Empire, but would remain politically neutral to both while being retained as a province administered by the Empire. There are no Byzantine churches which survive from this period, and the island entered a period of impoverishment.<ref>{{cite book |first=David Michael |author-link=Michael Metcalf |last=Metcalf |title=Byzantine Cyprus, 491–1191 |publisher=Cyprus Research Centre |year=2009|pages=32–33; 427–421}}</ref> Full Byzantine rule was restored in 965, when Emperor [[Nikephoros II Phokas|Nikephoros&nbsp;II Phokas]] scored decisive victories on land and sea.<ref name="lcweb2.loc.gov" />

In 1156 [[Raynald of Châtillon]] and [[Thoros II|Thoros II of Armenia]] brutally sacked Cyprus over a period of three weeks, stealing so much plunder and capturing so many of the leading citizens and their families for ransom, that the island took generations to recover. Several Greek priests were mutilated and sent away to Constantinople.<ref>Norwich, J. J. (1995) ''Byzantium: The Decline and Fall''. London: Viking, p. 121</ref>

In 1185 [[Isaac Komnenos of Cyprus|Isaac Komnenos]], a member of the Byzantine imperial family, took over Cyprus and declared it independent of the Empire. In 1191, during the [[Third Crusade]], [[Richard I of England]] captured the island from Isaac.<ref>Riddle, J.M. ''A History of the Middle Ages''. Lanham, MD, US: Rowman & Littlefield 2008. p.&nbsp;326. [https://books.google.com/books?id=rhWpPr93KjMC&pg=PA326] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150915220219/https://books.google.com/books?id=rhWpPr93KjMC&pg=PA326|date=15 September 2015}}</ref> He used it as a major supply base that was relatively safe from the [[Saracen]]s. A year later Richard sold the island to the [[Knights Templar]], who, following a bloody revolt, in turn sold it to [[Guy of Lusignan]]. His brother and successor [[Aimery of Cyprus|Aimery]] was recognised as [[Kingdom of Cyprus|King of Cyprus]] by [[Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor]].<ref name="lcweb2.loc.gov" />

Following the death in 1473 of [[James II of Cyprus|James&nbsp;II]], the last Lusignan king, the [[Republic of Venice]] assumed control of the island, while the late king's Venetian widow, Queen [[Catherine Cornaro]], reigned as figurehead. Venice formally annexed the [[Kingdom of Cyprus]] in 1489, following the abdication of Catherine.<ref name="lcweb2.loc.gov" /> The Venetians fortified [[Nicosia]] by building the [[Walls of Nicosia]], and used it as an important commercial hub. Throughout Venetian rule, the [[Ottoman Empire]] frequently raided Cyprus. In 1539 the Ottomans destroyed [[Limassol]] and so fearing the worst, the Venetians also fortified [[Famagusta]] and [[Kyrenia]].<ref name="lcweb2.loc.gov" />

Although the Lusignan French aristocracy remained the dominant social class in Cyprus throughout the medieval period, the former assumption that Greeks were treated only as serfs on the island<ref name="lcweb2.loc.gov" /> is no longer considered by academics to be accurate. It is now accepted that the medieval period saw increasing numbers of Greek Cypriots elevated to the upper classes, a growing Greek [[middle class|middle ranks]],<ref>See James G. Schryver, 'Colonialism or Conviviencia in Frankish Cyprus?' in I.W. Zartman (ed.), ''Understanding Life in the Borderlands: Boundaries in Depth and in Motio'' (Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 2010) pp.&nbsp;133–159; see also Evangelia Skoufari "Cyprus during the 16th&nbsp;century: a Frankish kingdom, a Venetian colony, a multicultural society", in ''Joves pensant la Mediterrània – Mar de diàleg'', no.&nbsp;5 dir. Enric Olivé Serret, Tarragona, Publicacions de la Universitat Rovira y Virgili, Tarragona 2008, pp.&nbsp;283–295.</ref> and the Lusignan royal household even marrying Greeks. This included King [[John II of Cyprus|John&nbsp;II of Cyprus]] who married [[Helena Palaiologina]].<ref>Benjamin Arbel, David Jacoby, ''Intercultural Contacts in the Medieval Mediterranean'', (London: Taylor and Francis, 1996) p.&nbsp;45</ref>

===Ottoman Cyprus===
{{Main|Ottoman Cyprus}}
[[File:Atlas Ortelius KB PPN369376781-073av-073br.jpg|thumb|left|''Cypri insvla nova descript 1573'', Ioannes á Deutecum f[ecit]. Map of Cyprus newly drawn by Johannes van Deutecom, 1573.]]
In 1570, a full-scale Ottoman assault with 60,000 troops brought the island under Ottoman control, despite stiff resistance by the inhabitants of Nicosia and Famagusta. Ottoman forces capturing Cyprus [[Cyprus massacre|massacred]] many Greek and Armenian Christian inhabitants.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://countrystudies.us/cyprus/7.htm |editor=Eric Solsten |title=Cyprus: A Country Study |location=Washington |publisher=GPO for the Library of Congress |date=1991 |website=Countrystudies.us |access-date=16 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117041546/http://countrystudies.us/cyprus/7.htm |archive-date=17 January 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> The previous Latin elite were destroyed and the first significant demographic change since antiquity took place with the formation of a Muslim community.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mallinson |first=William |title=Cyprus: A Modern History |publisher=I.&nbsp;B. Tauris |date=30 June 2005 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HEjkuhF2GsMC&pg=PA81 |isbn=978-1-85043-580-8 |page=1 |access-date=23 September 2020 |archive-date=17 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240517121124/https://books.google.com/books?id=HEjkuhF2GsMC&pg=PA81 |url-status=live }}</ref> Soldiers who fought in the conquest settled on the island and Turkish peasants and craftsmen were brought to the island from [[Anatolia]].<ref>{{citation |last=Orhonlu |first=Cengiz |year=2010 |chapter=The Ottoman Turks Settle in Cyprus |title=The First International Congress of Cypriot Studies: Presentations of the Turkish Delegation |editor1-last=Inalcık |editor1-first=Halil |page=99 |publisher=Institute for the Study of Turkish Culture}}</ref> This new community also included banished Anatolian tribes, "undesirable" persons and members of various "troublesome" Muslim sects, as well as a number of new converts on the island.<ref>{{citation |last=Jennings |first=Ronald |year=1993 |title=Christians and Muslims in Ottoman Cyprus and the Mediterranean World, 1571–1640 |page=232 |publisher=New York University Press |isbn=978-0-8147-4181-8}}</ref>
[[File:Buyuk Han, Nicosia - panoramio.jpg|thumb|[[Büyük Han]], a [[caravanserai]] in Nicosia, is an example of the surviving Ottoman architecture in Cyprus.]]
The Ottomans abolished the [[feudal]] system previously in place and applied the [[Millet (Ottoman Empire)|millet system]] to Cyprus, under which non-Muslim peoples were governed by their own religious authorities. In a reversal from the days of Latin rule, the head of the [[Church of Cyprus]] was invested as leader of the Greek Cypriot population and acted as mediator between Christian Greek Cypriots and the Ottoman authorities. This status ensured that the Church of Cyprus was in a position to end the [[Catholic Church]]'s constant expansion efforts on the island.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mfa.gov.cy/mfa/Embassies/Embassy_Madrid.nsf/all/6A33D29D666143A6C1257A36002ECA14/$file/ChipreUnaVisionHistorica.pdf?openelement |title=Cyprus a Historical Overview (Chipre Una Visión Historica) |work=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus website |first=William |last=Mallinson |format=PDF |language=es |access-date=22 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017133438/http://www.mfa.gov.cy/mfa/Embassies/Embassy_Madrid.nsf/all/6A33D29D666143A6C1257A36002ECA14/$file/ChipreUnaVisionHistorica.pdf?openelement |archive-date=17 October 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> Ottoman rule of Cyprus was at times indifferent, at times oppressive, depending on the temperaments of the sultans and local officials.<ref name="Ottoman">[http://countrystudies.us/cyprus/7.htm Cyprus – Ottoman Rule] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117041546/http://countrystudies.us/cyprus/7.htm |date=17 January 2013}}, ''U.S. Library of Congress''</ref>

The ratio of Muslims to Christians fluctuated throughout the period of Ottoman domination. In 1777–78, 47,000 Muslims constituted a majority over the island's 37,000 Christians.<ref>{{citation |last=Hatay |first=Mete |year=2007 |title=Is the Turkish Cypriot population shrinking?|url=http://www.prio.org/Global/upload/Cyprus/Publications/Is%20the%20Turkish%20Cypriot%20Population%20Shrinking.pdf |page=19 |publisher=International Peace Research Institute |isbn=978-82-7288-244-9 |access-date=7 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150702022552/https://www.prio.org/Global/upload/Cyprus/Publications/Is%20the%20Turkish%20Cypriot%20Population%20Shrinking.pdf |archive-date=2 July 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> By 1872, the population of the island had risen to 144,000, comprising 44,000 Muslims and 100,000 Christians.<ref>''Osmanli Nufusu 1830–1914'' by [[Kemal Karpat]], {{ISBN|975-333-169-X}} and ''Die Völker des Osmanischen'' by Ritter zur Helle von Samo.</ref> The Muslim population included numerous [[crypto-Christians]],<ref name="Jennings 1992">{{cite book |author=Ronald Jennings |title=Christians and Muslims in Ottoman Cyprus and the Mediterranean World, 1571–1640 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dslYF9LopnMC&pg=PT596 |date=1 August 1992 |publisher=NYU Press |isbn=978-0-8147-4318-8 |pages=596– |access-date=20 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412181717/https://books.google.com/books?id=dslYF9LopnMC&pg=PT596 |archive-date=12 April 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> including the [[Linobambaki]], a crypto-Catholic community that arose due to religious persecution of the Catholic community by the Ottoman authorities;<ref name="Jennings 1992"/><ref>{{cite book |author=Captain A.&nbsp;R. Savile|title=Cyprus|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nxj9a-Stax4C&pg=PA130|year=1878 |publisher=H.M. Stationery Office |page=130 |access-date=20 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150911024127/https://books.google.com/books?id=nxj9a-Stax4C&pg=PA130 |archive-date=11 September 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> this community would assimilate into the Turkish Cypriot community during British rule.<ref>{{cite book |author=Chrysostomos Pericleous |title=Cyprus Referendum: A Divided Island and the Challenge of the Annan Plan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PHQAAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA131 |year=2009 |publisher=I.B.Tauris |isbn=978-0-85771-193-9 |page=131 |access-date=20 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150911014545/https://books.google.com/books?id=PHQAAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA131 |archive-date=11 September 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>

As soon as the [[Greek War of Independence]] broke out in 1821, several Greek Cypriots left for Greece to join the Greek forces. In response, the Ottoman governor of Cyprus arrested and executed 486 prominent Greek Cypriots, including the Archbishop of Cyprus, [[Kyprianos of Cyprus|Kyprianos]], and four other bishops.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mirbagheri |first1=Farid |title=Historical dictionary of Cyprus |date=2010 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |location=Lanham, Md. [u.a.] |isbn=978-0-8108-6298-2 |pages=xxvii, 124 |edition=[Online-Ausg.]. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f82Jn_H4VukC}}</ref> In 1828, modern Greece's first president [[Ioannis Kapodistrias]] called for union of Cyprus with Greece, and numerous minor uprisings took place.<ref>{{cite book |author1=William Mallinson |author2=Bill Mallinson |title=Cyprus: a modern history |url=https://archive.org/details/cyprusmodernhist00mall |url-access=limited |publisher=I.B.Tauris |year= 2005 |page=[https://archive.org/details/cyprusmodernhist00mall/page/n30 10]|isbn=978-1-85043-580-8}}</ref> Reaction to Ottoman misrule led to uprisings by both Greek and Turkish Cypriots, although none were successful. After centuries of neglect by the Ottoman Empire, the poverty of most of the people and the ever-present tax collectors fueled Greek nationalism, and by the 20th century the idea of ''[[enosis|union]]'' with newly independent Greece was firmly rooted among Greek Cypriots.<ref name="Ottoman" />

Under Ottoman rule, numeracy, school enrolment and literacy rates were all low. They persisted some time after Ottoman rule ended, and then increased rapidly during the twentieth century.<ref>{{cite book |author=Baten, Jörg |title=A History of the Global Economy. From 1500 to the Present. |date=2016 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=51 |isbn=978-1-107-50718-0}}</ref>

===British Cyprus===
{{Main|British Cyprus|Modern history of Cyprus|Cyprus Emergency}}
[[File:Hosting the British flag at Nicosia.jpg|thumb|upright|Hoisting the British flag at Nicosia]]

In the aftermath of the [[Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)]] and the [[Congress of Berlin]], Cyprus was [[Cyprus Convention|leased]] to the [[British Empire]] which de facto took over its administration in 1878 (though, in terms of sovereignty, Cyprus remained a ''[[de jure]]'' Ottoman territory until 5 November 1914, together with [[Khedivate of Egypt|Egypt and Sudan]])<ref name="Lausanne"/> in exchange for guarantees that Britain would use the island as a base to protect the Ottoman Empire against possible Russian aggression.<ref name="lcweb2.loc.gov" />

[[File:Cypriot demonstration 1930.jpg|thumb|[[Greek Cypriots|Greek Cypriot]] demonstrations for [[Enosis]] (union with Greece) in 1930]]
The island would serve Britain as a key military base for its colonial routes. By 1906, when the Famagusta harbour was completed, Cyprus was a strategic naval outpost overlooking the [[Suez Canal]], the crucial main route to India which was then Britain's most important overseas possession. Following the outbreak of the [[First World War]] and the decision of the Ottoman Empire to join the war on the side of the [[Central Powers]], on 5 November 1914 the British Empire formally annexed Cyprus and declared the Ottoman ''[[Khedive|Khedivate]]'' of [[Khedivate of Egypt|Egypt and Sudan]] a [[Sultanate of Egypt|''Sultanate'' and British protectorate]].<ref name="Lausanne"/><ref name="lcweb2.loc.gov"/>

In October 1915, Britain offered Cyprus to Greece, ruled by King [[Constantine I of Greece]], on the condition that Greece join the war on the side of the British and went to [[Kingdom of Serbia|Serbia]]’s assistance, in order to fulfill her Treaty obligations under the [[Greek–Serbian Alliance of 1913|Serbo-Greek pact]] of May 1913.<ref name=Stavridis>Stavridis, Stavros Terry (31 July 1993),
''Greek-Cypriot Enosis of October 1915: “A Lost Opportunity?”''. [[La Trobe University]]. p. 289. Retrieved 5 August 2024.</ref> It gave Greece a golden 
“opportunity” in achieving ''[[enosis]]'' with Cyprus.<ref name=Stavridis/> Alternatively it was a
“lost opportunity” when the [[Alexandros Zaimis|Zaimis]] administration declined the British proposal.<ref name=Stavridis/>

In 1923, under the [[Treaty of Lausanne (1923)|Treaty of Lausanne]], the nascent Turkish republic relinquished any claim to Cyprus,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Xypolia |first=Ilia |title='Cypriot Muslims among Ottomans, Turks and British |journal=Bogazici Journal |year=2011 |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=109–120 |doi=10.21773/boun.25.2.6 |doi-access=free| issn = 1300-9583}}</ref> and in 1925 it was declared a British [[crown colony]].<ref name="lcweb2.loc.gov" /> During the [[Second World War]], many Greek and Turkish Cypriots enlisted in the [[Cyprus Regiment]].

The Greek Cypriot population, meanwhile, had become hopeful that the British administration would lead to ''enosis''. The idea of ''enosis'' was historically part of the ''[[Megali Idea]]'', a greater political ambition of a Greek state encompassing the territories with large Greek populations in the former Ottoman Empire, including Cyprus and [[Asia Minor]] with a capital in [[Constantinople]], and was actively pursued by the [[Cypriot Orthodox Church]], which had its members educated in Greece. These religious officials, together with Greek military officers and professionals, some of whom still pursued the ''Megali Idea'', would later found the guerrilla organisation [[EOKA]] ''(Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston'' or National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ker-Lindsay |first1=James |title=The Cyprus Problem: What Everyone Needs to Know |date=2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-975716-9 |pages=14–5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xTL382g5sWwC |quote=They hoped that the transfer of administration would pave the way for the island to be united with Greece—an aspiration known as 'enosis.' At the time, these calls for enosis were not just limited to Cyprus. Instead, Cyprus was part of a wider political movement&nbsp;... This overarching political ambition was known as the Megali Idea (Great Idea).}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Lange |first1=Matthew |title=Educations in Ethnic Violence: Identity, Educational Bubbles, and Resource Mobilization |date=2011 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-50544-4 |page=88 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ac2NRpHoY3EC}}</ref> The Greek Cypriots viewed the island as historically Greek and believed that union with Greece was a natural right.<ref name="Diez 2002" /> In the 1950s, the pursuit of ''enosis'' became a part of the Greek national policy.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Huth |first1=Paul |title=Standing Your Ground: Territorial Disputes and International Conflict |date=2009 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=978-0-472-02204-5 |page=206 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NIAc-R5fgQoC |quote=From early 1950s onward Greece has favored union with Cyprus through a policy of enosis}}</ref>

[[File:Street riot in Nicosia 1956.jpg|thumb|A British soldier facing a crowd of Greek Cypriot demonstrators in Nicosia (1956)]]

Initially, the Turkish Cypriots favoured the continuation of the British rule.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Papadakis |first1=Yiannis |last2=Peristianis |first2=Nicos |last3=Welz |first3=Gisela |title=Divided Cyprus: Modernity, History, and an Island in Conflict |date=18 July 2006 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-11191-3 |page=2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wzPG7b_m4swC&pg=PA2}}</ref> However, they were alarmed by the Greek Cypriot calls for ''enosis'', as they saw the union of [[Cretan State|Crete]] with Greece, which led to the exodus of [[Cretan Turks]], as a precedent to be avoided,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Isachenko |first1=Daria |title=The Making of Informal States: Statebuilding in Northern Cyprus and Transdniestria |date=2012 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-0-230-39207-6 |page=37 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FQeVnXmjBzYC&pg=PA37}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Pericleous |first1=Chrysostomos |title=Cyprus Referendum: A Divided Island and the Challenge of the Annan Plan |date=2009 |publisher=I.B. Tauris |isbn=978-0-85771-193-9 |pages=135–6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PHQAAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA135}}</ref> and they took a pro-partition stance in response to the militant activity of EOKA.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mirbagheri |first1=Farid |title=Historical Dictionary of Cyprus |date=2009 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-6298-2 |page=xiv|quote=Greek Cypriots engaged in a military campaign for enosis, union with Greece. Turkish Cypriots, in response, expressed their desire for taksim, partition of the island.}}</ref> The Turkish Cypriots also viewed themselves as a distinct ethnic group of the island and believed in their having a separate right to [[self-determination]] from Greek Cypriots.<ref name="Diez 2002">{{cite book |last1=Diez |first1=Thomas |title=The European Union and the Cyprus Conflict: Modern Conflict, Postmodern Union |date=2002 |publisher=Manchester University Press |isbn=978-0-7190-6079-3 |page=83 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A4QTUWBEC2kC&pg=PA83}}</ref> Meanwhile, in the 1950s, Turkish leader [[Adnan Menderes|Menderes]] considered Cyprus an "extension of Anatolia", rejected the partition of Cyprus along ethnic lines and favoured the annexation of the whole island to Turkey. Nationalistic slogans centred on the idea that "Cyprus is Turkish" and the ruling party declared Cyprus to be a part of the Turkish homeland that was vital to its security. Upon realising that the fact that the Turkish Cypriot population was only 20% of the islanders made annexation unfeasible, the national policy was changed to favour partition. The slogan "Partition or Death" was frequently used in Turkish Cypriot and Turkish protests starting in the late 1950s and continuing throughout the 1960s. Although after the Zürich and London conferences Turkey seemed to accept the existence of the Cypriot state and to distance itself from its policy of favouring the partition of the island, the goal of the Turkish and Turkish Cypriot leaders remained that of creating an independent Turkish state in the northern part of the island.<ref>{{cite book |author=Behlul (Behlul) Ozkan (Ozkan) |title=From the Abode of Islam to the Turkish Vatan: The Making of a National Homeland in Turkey |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kCArlsRcHUMC&pg=PA199 |date=26 June 2012 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-18351-1 |page=199 |quote=In line with the nationalist rhetoric that "Cyprus is Turkish", Menderes predicated his declaration upon the geographic proximity between Cyprus and Anatolia, thereby defining "Cyprus as an extension of Anatolia". It was striking that Menderes rejected partitioning the island into two ethnic states, a position that would define Turkey's foreign policy regarding Cyprus after 1957|access-date=20 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150915212612/https://books.google.com/books?id=kCArlsRcHUMC&pg=PA199 |archive-date=15 September 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Bellingeri 2005">{{cite book |author1=G. Bellingeri |author2=T. Kappler |title=Cipro oggi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pUcSji-f1zYC&pg=PA27 |year=2005 |publisher=Casa editrice il Ponte |isbn=978-88-89465-07-3 |pages=27–29 |quote=The educational and political mobilisation between 1948–1958, aiming at raising Turkish national consciousness, resulted in the involving Turkey as motherland in the Cyprus Question. From then on, Turkey, would work hand in hand with the Turkish Cypriot leadership and the British government to oppose the Greek Cypriot demand for Enosis and realise the partition of Cyprus, which meanwhile became the national policy. |access-date=20 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150911010743/https://books.google.com/books?id=pUcSji-f1zYC&pg=PA27 |archive-date=11 September 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In January 1950, the Church of Cyprus organised a [[Cypriot enosis referendum, 1950|referendum]] under the supervision of clerics and with no Turkish Cypriot participation,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Grob-Fitzgibbon |first1=Benjamin |title=Imperial Endgame: Britain's Dirty Wars and the End of Empire |date=2011 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-0-230-30038-5 |page=285}}</ref> where 96% of the participating Greek Cypriots voted in favour of ''enosis''.<ref>{{cite book|author=Dale C. Tatum |title=Who Influenced Whom?: Lessons from the Cold War |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=70NxlYekQIgC&pg=PA43 |access-date=21 August 2013 |date=1 January 2002 |publisher=University Press of America |isbn=978-0-7618-2444-2 |page=43 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012220734/http://books.google.com/books?id=70NxlYekQIgC&pg=PA43 |archive-date=12 October 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Kourvetaris, George A. |title=Studies on modern Greek society and politics |publisher=East European Monographs |year=1999 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bE5oAAAAMAAJ&q=90%25 |page=347 |isbn=978-0-88033-432-7 |access-date=10 November 2020 |archive-date=17 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240517125913/https://books.google.com/books?id=bE5oAAAAMAAJ&q=90%25 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Hoffmeister 2006" />{{rp|9}} The Greeks were 80.2% of the total island's population at the time ([[Demographics of Cyprus|census 1946]]). Restricted autonomy under a constitution was proposed by the British administration but eventually rejected. In 1955 the EOKA organisation was founded, seeking union with Greece through armed struggle. At the same time the [[Turkish Resistance Organisation]] (TMT), calling for Taksim, or partition, was established by the Turkish Cypriots as a counterweight.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cyprus-conflict.net/www.cyprus-conflict.net/mavratsas.html |title=Politics, Social Memory, and Identity in Greek Cyprus since 1974 |author=Caesar V. Mavratsas |publisher=cyprus-conflict.net |access-date=13 October 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080605233259/http://www.cyprus-conflict.net/www.cyprus-conflict.net/mavratsas.html |archive-date=5 June 2008}}</ref> British officials also tolerated the creation of the Turkish underground organisation TMT The Secretary of State for the Colonies in a letter dated 15 July 1958 had advised the Governor of Cyprus not to act against TMT despite its illegal actions so as not to harm British relations with the Turkish government.<ref name="Bellingeri 2005" />

===Independence and inter-communal violence===
{{Main|Cyprus crisis of 1963–64}}
{{multiple image
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| footer            = The first president of Cyprus, [[Makarios III]] (left), and the first vice-president of Cyprus, [[Fazıl Küçük]] (right)
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During British rule, the future of the island became a matter of disagreement between the two prominent ethnic communities, [[Greek Cypriots]], who made up 77% of the population in 1960, and [[Turkish Cypriots]], who made up 18% of the population. From the 19th century onwards, the Greek Cypriot population pursued ''[[enosis]]'', union with [[Greece]], which became a Greek national policy in the 1950s.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Faustmann |first1=Hubert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AzIXtVdDDwgC&pg=PA48 |title=The Government and Politics of Cyprus |last2=Ker-Lindsay |first2=James |publisher=Peter Lang |year=2008 |isbn=978-3-03911-096-4 |page=48 |access-date=23 September 2020 |archive-date=17 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240517121228/https://books.google.com/books?id=AzIXtVdDDwgC&pg=PA48#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Mirbagheri |first1=Farid |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f82Jn_H4VukC&pg=PA25 |title=Historical Dictionary of Cyprus |date=2009 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=9780810862982 |page=25 |access-date=23 September 2020 |archive-date=17 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240517123640/https://books.google.com/books?id=f82Jn_H4VukC&pg=PA25#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> The Turkish Cypriot population initially advocated the continuation of the British rule, then demanded the annexation of the island to Turkey, and in the 1950s, together with Turkey, established a policy of ''[[Taksim (politics)|taksim]]'', the partition of Cyprus and the creation of a Turkish polity in the north.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Trimikliniotis |first1=Nicos |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zS_HAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA104 |title=Beyond a Divided Cyprus: A State and Society in Transformation |date=2012 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1-137-10080-1 |page=104 |access-date=23 September 2020 |archive-date=17 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240517121219/https://books.google.com/books?id=zS_HAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA104#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>[[File:Ethnographic distribution in Cyprus 1960.jpg|thumb|Ethnic map of Cyprus according to the 1960 census]]
Cyprus was [[London and Zürich Agreements|granted independence]] in 1960, following an armed campaign spearheaded by EOKA.<ref name="independence">[http://www.parliament.cy/parliamenteng/index.htm Cyprus date of independence] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060613002758/http://www.parliament.cy/parliamenteng/index.htm|date=13 June 2006}} (click on Historical review)</ref> As per the [[Zürich and London Agreement]], Cyprus officially attained independence on 16 August 1960, and at the time had a total population of 573,566; of whom 442,138 (77.1%) were Greeks, 104,320 (18.2%) Turks, and 27,108 (4.7%) others.<ref name="Solsten2">[http://countrystudies.us/cyprus/21.htm Eric Solsten, ed. ''Cyprus: A Country Study''] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511100228/http://countrystudies.us/cyprus/21.htm |date=11 May 2011}}, Library of Congress, Washington, DC, 1991.</ref> The UK retained the two [[Sovereign Base Areas]] of [[Akrotiri and Dhekelia]], while government posts and public offices were allocated by ethnic quotas, giving the minority Turkish Cypriots a permanent veto, 30% in parliament and administration, and granting the three mother-states guarantor rights.

However, the division of power as foreseen by the constitution soon resulted in legal impasses and discontent on both sides, and nationalist militants started training again, with the military support of Greece and Turkey respectively. The Greek Cypriot leadership believed that the rights given to Turkish Cypriots under the 1960 constitution were too extensive and designed the [[Akritas plan]], which was aimed at reforming the constitution in favour of Greek Cypriots, persuading the international community about the correctness of the changes and violently subjugating Turkish Cypriots in a few days should they not accept the plan.<ref name="Solsten1">[http://countrystudies.us/cyprus/12.htm Eric Solsten, ed. ''Cyprus: A Country Study''] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111012050603/http://countrystudies.us/cyprus/12.htm |date=12 October 2011}}, Library of Congress, Washington, DC, 1991.</ref> Tensions were heightened when Cypriot President Archbishop [[Makarios&nbsp;III]] called for [[Zürich and London Agreement#13 Amendments proposed by Makarios III|constitutional changes]], which were rejected by Turkey<ref name="Hoffmeister 2006">{{cite book |author=Hoffmeister, Frank |title=Legal aspects of the Cyprus problem: Annan Plan and EU accession |publisher=EMartinus Nijhoff Publishers |year=2006 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LZXbg3ZwvGoC |isbn=978-90-04-15223-6 |access-date=23 September 2020 |archive-date=17 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240517123627/https://books.google.com/books?id=LZXbg3ZwvGoC |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|17–20}} and opposed by Turkish Cypriots.<ref name="Solsten1" />

Intercommunal violence [[Bloody Christmas (1963)|erupted]] on 21 December 1963, when two Turkish Cypriots were killed at an incident involving the Greek Cypriot police. The violence resulted in the death of 364&nbsp;Turkish and 174&nbsp;Greek Cypriots,<ref>Oberling, Pierre. ''The road to Bellapais'' (1982), Social Science Monographs, [https://books.google.com/books?id=XIK6AAAAIAAJ&q=According+to+official+records%2C+364+Turkish+Cypriots+and+174+Greek+Cypriots+were+killed+during+the+1963-1964+crisis. p.&nbsp;120] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230428082807/https://books.google.com/books?id=XIK6AAAAIAAJ&q=According+to+official+records,+364+Turkish+Cypriots+and+174+Greek+Cypriots+were+killed+during+the+1963-1964+crisis. |date=28 April 2023 }}: "According to official records, 364&nbsp;Turkish Cypriots and 174&nbsp;Greek Cypriots were killed during the 1963–1964 crisis."</ref> destruction of 109 Turkish Cypriot or mixed villages and displacement of 25,000–30,000 Turkish Cypriots. The crisis resulted in the end of the Turkish Cypriot involvement in the administration and their claiming that it had lost its legitimacy;<ref name="Hoffmeister 2006" />{{rp|56–59}} the nature of this event is still controversial. In some areas, Greek Cypriots prevented Turkish Cypriots from travelling and entering government buildings, while some Turkish Cypriots willingly withdrew due to the calls of the Turkish Cypriot administration.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ker-Lindsay |first1=James |title=The Cyprus Problem: What Everyone Needs to Know |date=2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-975716-9 |pages=35–6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xTL382g5sWwC |access-date=23 September 2020 |archive-date=17 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240517123104/https://books.google.com/books?id=xTL382g5sWwC |url-status=live }}</ref> Turkish Cypriots started living in [[Turkish Cypriot enclaves|enclaves]]. The republic's structure was changed, unilaterally, by Makarios, and Nicosia was divided by the [[Green Line (Cyprus)|Green Line]], with the deployment of [[UNFICYP]] troops.<ref name="Hoffmeister 2006" />{{rp|56–59}}

In 1964, Turkey threatened to invade Cyprus<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/10/newsid_3037000/3037898.stm |work=BBC News |date=24 April 2004 |access-date=25 October 2009 |title=1964: Guns fall silent in Cyprus |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081217190225/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/10/newsid_3037000/3037898.stm |archive-date=17 December 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref> in response to the continuing [[Cypriot intercommunal violence]], but this was stopped by a strongly worded telegram from the US President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] on 5 June, warning that the US would not stand beside Turkey in case of a consequential Soviet invasion of Turkish territory.<ref>{{cite book |title=Johnson's 1964 letter to Inonu and Greek lobbying of the White House |author=Jacob M. Landau|publisher=Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Leonard Davis Institute for International Relations |year=1979}}</ref> Meanwhile, by 1964, ''enosis'' was a Greek policy and would not be abandoned; Makarios and the Greek prime minister [[Georgios Papandreou]] agreed that ''enosis'' should be the ultimate aim and King [[Constantine II of Greece|Constantine]] wished Cyprus "a speedy union with the mother country". Greece dispatched 10,000 troops to Cyprus to counter a possible Turkish invasion.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mirbagheri |first1=Farid |title=Cyprus and International Peacemaking 1964–1986 |date=2014 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-67752-6 |page=28 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Znp9AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA28 |access-date=23 September 2020 |archive-date=17 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240517125857/https://books.google.com/books?id=Znp9AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA28#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[Bloody Christmas (1963)|crisis of 1963–64]] had brought further [[Cypriot intercommunal violence|intercommunal violence]] between the two communities, displaced more than 25,000 Turkish Cypriots into [[Turkish Cypriot enclaves|enclaves]]<ref name="Hoffmeister 2006" />{{rp|56–59}}<ref name="Intercommunal Violence">{{cite web |date=21 December 1963 |title=U.S. Library of Congress – Country Studies – Cyprus – Intercommunal Violence |url=http://countrystudies.us/cyprus/13.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110623135118/http://countrystudies.us/cyprus/13.htm |archive-date=23 June 2011 |access-date=25 October 2009 |publisher=Countrystudies.us}}</ref> and brought the end of Turkish Cypriot representation in the republic.

===1974 coup d'état, invasion, and division===
{{Main|1974 Cypriot coup d'état|Turkish invasion of Cyprus}}
[[File:Famagusta-Varosha 2007.JPG|thumb|[[Varosha, Famagusta|Varosha (Maraş)]], a suburb of Famagusta, was abandoned when its inhabitants fled in 1974 and remains under Turkish military control.]]
On 15 July 1974, the [[Greek military junta of 1967–1974|Greek military junta]] under [[Dimitrios Ioannides]] carried out a [[1974 Cypriot coup d'état|coup d'état]] in Cyprus, to [[Enosis|unite the island with Greece]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Papadakis |first1=Yiannis |title=Nation, narrative and commemoration: political ritual in divided Cyprus |journal=History and Anthropology |date=2003 |volume=14 |issue=3 |pages=253–270 |doi=10.1080/0275720032000136642 |s2cid=143231403 |quote=culminating in the 1974 coup aimed at the annexation of Cyprus to Greece}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Atkin |first1=Nicholas |last2=Biddiss |first2=Michael |last3=Tallett |first3=Frank |title=The Wiley-Blackwell Dictionary of Modern European History Since 1789 |isbn=978-1-4443-9072-8 |page=184 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1QyXCTW_MCQC |date=23 May 2011 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |access-date=26 August 2017 |archive-date=17 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240517125914/https://books.google.com/books?id=1QyXCTW_MCQC |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Journal of international law and practice, Volume&nbsp;5 |date=1996 |publisher=Detroit College of Law at Michigan State University |page=204}}</ref> The coup ousted president [[Makarios&nbsp;III]] and replaced him with pro-[[enosis]] nationalist [[Nikos Sampson]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |title=Cyprus: Big Troubles over a Small Island |date=29 July 1974 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,911440,00.html |access-date=13 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111221060408/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,911440,00.html |archive-date=21 December 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In response to the coup,{{efn|See:<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ronen |first1=Yaël |title=Transition from Illegal Regimes under International Law |date=2011 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-49617-9 |page=62 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4OEHtL5xoroC |quote=Tensions escalated again in July 1974, following a coup d'état by Greek Cypriots favouring a union of Cyprus with Greece. In response to the coup, Turkey invaded Cyprus. |access-date=23 September 2020 |archive-date=17 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240517125752/https://books.google.com/books?id=4OEHtL5xoroC |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Bryant |first1=Rebecca |last2=Papadakis |first2=Yiannis |title=Cyprus and the Politics of Memory: History, Community and Conflict |date=2012 |publisher=I.B.Tauris |isbn=978-1-78076-107-7 |page=5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y4WUhDjksUUC |quote=In response to the coup, Turkey launched a military offensive in Cyprus that divided the island along the Green Line, which now splits the entire island. |access-date=23 September 2020 |archive-date=17 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240517125819/https://books.google.com/books?id=y4WUhDjksUUC |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Diez |first1=Thomas |title=The European Union and the Cyprus Conflict: Modern Conflict, Postmodern Union |date=2002 |publisher=Manchester University Press |isbn=978-0-7190-6079-3 |page=105 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A4QTUWBEC2kC |quote=Turkey did, however, act unilaterally in 1974, in response to a military coup in Cyprus instigated by the military junta ruling then in Greece with the apparent objective of annexing the island. |access-date=23 September 2020 |archive-date=17 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240517125754/https://books.google.com/books?id=A4QTUWBEC2kC |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Ker-Lindsay |first1=James |last2=Faustmann |first2=Hubert |last3=Mullen |first3=Fiona |title=An Island in Europe: The EU and the Transformation of Cyprus |date=2011 |publisher=I.B. Tauris |page=3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R1QEn3G4L7MC |quote=Divided since 1974, when Turkish forces invaded in response to a Greek led coup, many observers felt that taking in the island would either be far too risky or far too problematic. |isbn=9781848856783 |access-date=20 June 2015 |archive-date=17 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240517124237/https://books.google.com/books?id=R1QEn3G4L7MC |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Mirbagheri |first1=Faruk |title=Historical Dictionary of Cyprus |date=2009 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-6298-2 |page=43 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f82Jn_H4VukC |quote=On 20 July 1974, in response to the coup and justifying its action under the Treaty of Guarantee, Turkey landed forces in Kyrenia.}}</ref>}} five days later, on 20 July 1974, the [[Turkish invasion of Cyprus|Turkish army invaded]] the island, citing a right to intervene to restore the constitutional order from the 1960 [[Treaty of Guarantee (1960)|Treaty of Guarantee]]. This justification has been rejected by the [[United Nations]] and the international community.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gray |first1=Christine |title=International Law and the Use of Force |date=2008 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-102162-6 |page=94 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qnFCAgAAQBAJ |access-date=23 September 2020 |archive-date=17 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240517124202/https://books.google.com/books?id=qnFCAgAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Turkish air force began bombing Greek positions in Cyprus, and hundreds of [[paratroopers]] were dropped in the area between Nicosia and Kyrenia, where well-armed Turkish Cypriot enclaves had been long-established; while off the Kyrenia coast, Turkish troop ships landed 6,000 men as well as tanks, trucks and armoured vehicles.<ref>{{cite book |author=Taki Theodoracopulos |title=The Greek Upheaval: Kings, Demagogues, and Bayonets |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZPscAAAAYAAJ |date=1 January 1978 |publisher=Caratzas Bros. |isbn=978-0-89241-080-4 |page=66 |access-date=20 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150911011201/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZPscAAAAYAAJ |archive-date=11 September 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Eric Solsten |author2=Library of Congress. Federal Research Division |title=Cyprus, a country study |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5UuFAAAAIAAJ |year=1993 |publisher=Federal Research Division, Library of Congress |isbn=978-0-8444-0752-4 |page=219 |access-date=20 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905234346/https://books.google.com/books?id=5UuFAAAAIAAJ |archive-date=5 September 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Three days later, when a ceasefire had been agreed,<ref name="Craig 2001">{{cite book |author1=Brendan O'Malley |author2=Ian Craig |title=The Cyprus Conspiracy: America, Espionage and the Turkish Invasion |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4Jz3AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA195 |date=25 June 2001 |publisher=I.B. Tauris |isbn=978-0-85773-016-9 |pages=195–197 |access-date=11 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412182115/https://books.google.com/books?id=4Jz3AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA195 |archive-date=12 April 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> Turkey had landed 30,000 troops on the island and captured Kyrenia, the corridor linking Kyrenia to Nicosia, and the Turkish Cypriot quarter of Nicosia itself.<ref name="Craig 2001" /> The junta in [[Athens]], and then the Sampson regime in Cyprus fell from power. In Nicosia, [[Glafkos Clerides]] temporarily assumed the presidency.<ref name="Craig 2001" /> But after the peace negotiations in [[Geneva]], the Turkish government reinforced their Kyrenia bridgehead and started a second invasion on 14 August.<ref>{{cite book |author=Sumantra Bose |title=Contested Lands: Israel-Palestine, Kashmir, Bosnia, Cyprus, and Sri Lanka |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KKZcgOJPjVkC&pg=PA86 |date=30 June 2009 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-02856-2 |page=86 |access-date=11 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412133548/https://books.google.com/books?id=KKZcgOJPjVkC&pg=PA86 |archive-date=12 April 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> The invasion resulted in [[Morphou]], [[Karpass Peninsula|Karpass]], Famagusta and the [[Mesaoria]] coming under Turkish control.

International pressure led to a ceasefire, and by then 36% of the island had been taken over by the Turks and 180,000 Greek Cypriots had been evicted from their homes in the north.<ref>U.S. Congressional Record, V.&nbsp;147, Pt.&nbsp;3, 8 March 2001 to 26 March 2001 [https://books.google.com/books?id=fJ9DhiRRtIoC&pg=PA4095] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910224624/https://books.google.com/books?id=fJ9DhiRRtIoC&pg=PA4095|date=10 September 2015}}</ref> At the same time, around 50,000 Turkish Cypriots were displaced to the north and settled in the properties of the displaced Greek Cypriots. Among a variety of sanctions against Turkey, in mid-1975 the US Congress imposed an arms embargo on Turkey for using US-supplied equipment during the [[Turkish invasion of Cyprus]] in 1974.<ref>{{cite book |title=Turkey and the United States: The Arms Embargo Period |publisher=Praeger Publishers (5 August 1986) |isbn=978-0275921415 |year=1986}}</ref> There were 1,534 Greek Cypriots<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cyprus-mail.com/news/main.php?id=34064&cat_id=1 |title=Over 100 missing identified so far |newspaper=Cyprus Mail |access-date=13 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927202937/http://www.cyprus-mail.com/news/main.php?id=34064&cat_id=1 |archive-date=27 September 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> and 502 Turkish Cypriots<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cyprus-mail.com/news/main.php?id=30795&cat_id=1 |title=Missing cause to get cash injection |newspaper=Cyprus Mail |access-date=13 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930014514/http://www.cyprus-mail.com/news/main.php?id=30795&cat_id=1 |archive-date=30 September 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> missing as a result of the fighting from 1963 to 1974.

The Republic of Cyprus has ''[[de jure]]'' [[sovereignty]] over the entire island, including its [[territorial waters]] and [[exclusive economic zone]], with the exception of the Sovereign Base Areas of [[Akrotiri and Dhekelia]], which remain under the UK's control according to the [[London-Zürich Agreements|London and Zürich Agreements]]. However, the Republic of Cyprus is de facto partitioned into two main parts: the area under the effective control of the Republic, in the south and west and comprising about 59% of the island's area, and the north,<ref>{{cite web |title=According to the United Nations Security Council Resolutions 550 and 541 |url=https://www.un.org/documents/sc/res/1984/scres84.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090319123420/http://www.un.org/documents/sc/res/1984/scres84.htm |archive-date=19 March 2009 |access-date=27 March 2009 |publisher=United Nations}}</ref> administered by the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, covering about 36% of the island's area. Another nearly 4% of the island's area is covered by the [[United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus|UN buffer zone]]. The international community considers the northern part of the island to be territory of the Republic of Cyprus occupied by Turkish forces.{{efn|See:<ref>{{cite book |author=European Consortium for Church-State Research. Conference |title=Churches and Other Religious Organisations as Legal Persons: Proceedings of the 17th Meeting of the European Consortium for Church and State Research, Höör (Sweden), 17–20 November 2005 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hogL92shGUIC&pg=PA50 |year=2007 |publisher=Peeters Publishers |isbn=978-90-429-1858-0 |page=50 |quote=There is little data concerning recognition of the 'legal status' of religions in the occupied territories, since any acts of the 'Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus' are not recognized by either the Republic of Cyprus or the international community.|access-date=20 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412144859/https://books.google.com/books?id=hogL92shGUIC&pg=PA50 |archive-date=12 April 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Quigley |title=The Statehood of Palestine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iTR3BQ0aJ6UC&pg=PA164 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-49124-2 |page=164 |quote=The international community found this declaration invalid, on the ground that Turkey had occupied territory belonging to Cyprus and that the putative state was therefore an infringement on Cypriot sovereignty. |date=6 September 2010 |access-date=20 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906001102/https://books.google.com/books?id=iTR3BQ0aJ6UC&pg=PA164 |archive-date=6 September 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Nathalie Tocci |author-link=Nathalie Tocci |title=EU Accession Dynamics and Conflict Resolution: Catalysing Peace Or Consolidating Partition in Cyprus?|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T6Z0Io3kQZ4C&pg=PA56 |date=January 2004 |publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. |isbn=978-0-7546-4310-4 |page=56 |quote=The occupied territory included 70&nbsp;percent of the island's economic potential with over 50&nbsp;percent of the industrial&nbsp;... In addition, since partition Turkey encouraged mainland immigration to northern Cyprus.&nbsp;... The international community, excluding Turkey, condemned the unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) as a. |access-date=20 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150915202840/https://books.google.com/books?id=T6Z0Io3kQZ4C&pg=PA56 |archive-date=15 September 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Dr Anders Wivel |author2=Robert Steinmetz |title=Small States in Europe: Challenges and Opportunities |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iUeWqEjS6-IC&pg=PA165 |date=28 March 2013 |publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. |isbn=978-1-4094-9958-9 |page=165 |quote=To this day, it remains unrecognised by the international community, except by Turkey |access-date=20 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150922110421/https://books.google.com/books?id=iUeWqEjS6-IC&pg=PA165 |archive-date=22 September 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Peter Neville |title=Historical Dictionary of British Foreign Policy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dVosJPY04xAC&pg=PA293 |date=22 March 2013 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-7371-1 |page=293 |quote=Ecevit ordered the army to occupy the Turkish area on 20 July 1974. It became the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, but Britain, like the rest of the international community, except Turkey, refused to extend diplomatic recognition to the enclave. British efforts to secure Turkey's removal from its surrogate territory after 1974 failed. |access-date=20 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150918212811/https://books.google.com/books?id=dVosJPY04xAC&pg=PA293 |archive-date=18 September 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>}} The occupation is viewed as illegal under international law and amounting to illegal occupation of EU territory since Cyprus became a member of the [[European Union]].<ref>{{cite book |author1=James Ker-Lindsay |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R1QEn3G4L7MC&pg=PA15 |title=An Island in Europe: The EU and the Transformation of Cyprus |author2=Hubert Faustmann |author3=Fiona Mullen |date=15 May 2011 |publisher=I.B.Tauris |isbn=978-1-84885-678-3 |page=15 |quote=Classified as illegal under international law, and now due to Cyprus' accession into the [[European Union]] is also an illegal occupation of EU territory. |access-date=20 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150918194718/https://books.google.com/books?id=R1QEn3G4L7MC&pg=PA15 |archive-date=18 September 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Post-division===
[[File:Cy-map.png|thumb|upright=1.6|A map showing the division of Cyprus]]

After the restoration of constitutional order and the return of Archbishop [[Makarios&nbsp;III]] to Cyprus in December 1974, Turkish troops remained, occupying the northeastern portion of the island. In 1983, the [[Assembly of the Republic (Northern Cyprus)|Turkish Cypriot parliament]], led by the Turkish Cypriot leader [[Rauf Denktaş]], [[Declaration of Independence of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus|proclaimed]] the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), which is recognised only by Turkey.<ref name="CIA"/>

The events of the summer of 1974 dominate the [[Cyprus dispute|politics]] on the island, as well as [[Greco-Turkish relations]]. [[Turkish settlers in Northern Cyprus|Turkish settlers]] have been settled in the north with the encouragement of the Turkish and Turkish Cypriot states. The Republic of Cyprus considers their presence a violation of the [[Geneva Convention]],<ref name="Hoffmeister 2006" />{{rp|56–59}} whilst many Turkish settlers have since severed their ties to Turkey and their second generation considers Cyprus to be their homeland.<ref>{{cite book |title=Encyclopedia of Human Rights, Volume&nbsp;5 |date=2009 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0195334029 |page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofhu0005unse_j7e0/page/460 460] |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofhu0005unse_j7e0 |url-access=registration}}</ref>
[[File:EU Foreign Ministers Gymnich Meeting in Cyprus. 7.-8. September 2012 (7954502290).jpg|thumb|Foreign Ministers of the European Union countries in Limassol during Cyprus Presidency of the EU in 2012]]
The Turkish invasion, the ensuing occupation and the declaration of independence by the TRNC have been condemned by United Nations resolutions, which are reaffirmed by the Security Council every year.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cyprusun.org/?cat=52 |title=Full list UN Resolutions on Cyprus |publisher=Un.int |access-date=29 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120930051656/http://www.cyprusun.org/?cat=52 |archive-date=30 September 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===21st century===
[[File:Close to the buffer zone - panoramio.jpg|thumb|Street in the divided capital of Nicosia]]
Attempts to resolve the Cyprus dispute have continued. In 2004, the [[Annan Plan]], drafted by then UN Secretary General [[Kofi Annan]], was put to a [[Cypriot Annan Plan referendums, 2004|referendum]] in both Cypriot administrations. 65% of Turkish Cypriots voted in support of the plan and 74% Greek Cypriots voted against the plan, saying that it disproportionately favoured Turkish Cypriots and gave unreasonable influence over the nation to Turkey.<ref>{{cite book |last=Palley |first=Claire |title=An International Relations Debacle: The UN Secretary-general's Mission of Good Offices in Cyprus 1999–2004 |publisher=Hart Publishing |date=18 May 2005 |page=224 |isbn=978-1-84113-578-6}}</ref> In total, 66.7% of the voters [[Cypriot Annan Plan referendum, 2004|rejected the Annan Plan]].

On 1 May 2004 Cyprus joined the [[European Union]], together with nine other countries.<ref>Stephanos Constantinides & Joseph Joseph, 'Cyprus and the European Union: Beyond Accession', ''Études helléniques/Hellenic Studies'' 11&nbsp;(2), Autumn 2003</ref> Cyprus was accepted into the EU as a whole, although the EU legislation is suspended in Northern Cyprus until a final settlement of the Cyprus problem.

Efforts have been made to enhance freedom of movement between the two sides. In April 2003, Northern Cyprus unilaterally eased checkpoint restrictions, permitting Cypriots to cross between the two sides for the first time in 30 years.<ref>{{cite news |url-status=live |title=Emotion as Cyprus border opens |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2969089.stm |access-date=3 May 2016 |work=BBC News |date=23 April 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304065858/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2969089.stm |archive-date=4 March 2016}}</ref> In March 2008, a wall that had stood for decades at the boundary between the Republic of Cyprus and the [[United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus|UN buffer zone]] was demolished.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6433045.stm |title=Greek Cypriots dismantle barrier |work=BBC News |access-date=7 March 2008 |date=9 March 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307041606/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6433045.stm |archive-date=7 March 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref> The wall had cut across [[Ledra Street]] in the heart of Nicosia and was seen as a strong symbol of the island's 32-year division. On 3 April 2008, Ledra Street was reopened in the presence of Greek and Turkish Cypriot officials.<ref>[http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/04/03/europe/EU-GEN-Cyprus-Ledra-Street.php Ledra Street crossing opens in Cyprus] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080615132540/http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/04/03/europe/EU-GEN-Cyprus-Ledra-Street.php |date=15 June 2008}}. [[Associated Press]] article published on [[International Herald Tribune]] Website, 3 April 2008</ref> The two sides relaunched reunification talks in 2015,<ref>{{cite news |last=Hadjicostis |first=Menelaos |date=11 May 2015 |title=UN envoy says Cyprus reunification talks to resume May 15 |url=https://apnews.com/b80d6a4b9c50403589f4582f7ebcf0d6 |work=Associated Press News |access-date=24 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524115638/http://www.apnewsarchive.com/2015/UN-envoy-says-divided-Cyprus-rival-leaders-to-restart-stalled-reunification-talks-May-15/id-b80d6a4b9c50403589f4582f7ebcf0d6 |archive-date=24 May 2015 | url-status=live }}</ref> but these collapsed in 2017.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Smith |first1=Helena |title=Cyprus reunification talks collapse amid angry scenes |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/07/cyprus-reunification-talks-collapse-amid-angry-scenes |website=The Guardian |access-date=1 March 2021 |date=7 July 2017 |archive-date=7 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170707144641/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/07/cyprus-reunification-talks-collapse-amid-angry-scenes |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[European Union]] warned in February 2019 that Cyprus was selling [[Passports of the European Union|EU passports]] to [[Russian oligarch]]s, and thus would allow [[organized crime|organised crime]] syndicates to infiltrate the EU.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/02/cyprus-golden-passports-bring-russians-eu-190202172320680.html |title=Cyprus 'golden passports' bring Russians into the EU |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=4 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190204165732/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/02/cyprus-golden-passports-bring-russians-eu-190202172320680.html |archive-date=4 February 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> In 2020, leaked documents revealed a wider range of former and current officials from Afghanistan, China, Dubai, Lebanon, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine and Vietnam who bought a Cypriot citizenship prior to a change of the law in July 2019.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/08/exclusive-cyprus-sold-passports-politically-exposed-persons-200823204320183.html |title=Exclusive: Cyprus sold passports to 'politically exposed persons' |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=24 August 2020 |archive-date=24 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200824100832/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/08/exclusive-cyprus-sold-passports-politically-exposed-persons-200823204320183.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rakopoulos |first1=Theodoros |last2=Fischer |first2=Leandros |title=In Cyprus, the Golden Passports Scheme Shows Us How Capitalism and Corruption Go Hand in Hand |journal=Jacobin |date=10 November 2020 |url=https://jacobinmag.com/2020/11/cyprus-golden-passports-citizenship-corruption |access-date=13 November 2020 |archive-date=12 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112225241/https://jacobinmag.com/2020/11/cyprus-golden-passports-citizenship-corruption |url-status=live }}</ref> Since 2020 Cyprus and Turkey have been [[Cyprus–Turkey maritime zones dispute|engaged in a dispute]] over the extent of their [[exclusive economic zone]]s, ostensibly sparked by oil and gas exploration in the area.<ref>{{cite news |title=Cyprus: EU 'appeasement' of Turkey in exploration row will go nowhere |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-greece-turkey-eu-cyprus-idUSKCN25D1FZ |work=Reuters |date=17 August 2020 |access-date=13 September 2020 |archive-date=17 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200817150821/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-greece-turkey-eu-cyprus-idUSKCN25D1FZ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In November 2023, the [[Cyprus Confidential]] data leak published by the [[International Consortium of Investigative Journalists]] showed the country's financial network entertaining strong links with Russian oligarchs and high-up figures in the Kremlin, supporting the regime of [[Vladimir Putin]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Cyprus Confidential – ICIJ |url=https://www.icij.org/investigations/cyprus-confidential/ |website=icij.org |access-date=14 November 2023 |date=14 November 2023 |archive-date=24 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224150800/https://www.icij.org/investigations/cyprus-confidential/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In July 2024, on the 50th anniversary of the Turkish invasion of Northern Cyprus, Turkish President Erdoğan rejected a United Nations-endorsed plan for a federal government and supported the idea of having two separate states within Cyprus. Greek Cypriots immediately rejected Erdoğan's two-state proposal, calling it a "non-starter".<ref>{{cite web |title= Erdoğan dashes hopes for resumption of Cyprus talks on invasion's 50th anniversary |url= https://www.politico.eu/article/turkish-president-erdogan-dashes-hopes-resumption-cyprus-talks-invasion-50th-anniversary/ |work=Politico |access-date=21 July 2024 |date=20 July 2024 }}</ref>