Editing Cyprus problem (section)

===Establishment of the constitution===
By now the island was on the verge of civil war. Several attempts to present a compromise settlement had failed. Therefore, beginning in December 1958, representatives of Greece and Turkey, the so-called "mother lands" opened discussions of the Cyprus issue. Participants for the first time discussed the concept of an independent Cyprus, i.e., neither ''enosis'' nor ''taksim''. Subsequent talks always headed by the British yielded a so-called compromise agreement supporting independence, laying the foundations of the Republic of Cyprus. The scene then naturally shifted to London, where the Greek and Turkish representatives were joined by representatives of the Greek Cypriots, the Turkish Cypriots (represented by Arch. Makarios and Dr [[Fazıl Küçük]] with no significant decision-making power), and the British. The Zürich-London agreements that became the basis for the Cyprus constitution of 1960 were supplemented with three treaties – the Treaty of Establishment, the Treaty of Guarantee, and the Treaty of Alliance. The general tone of the agreements was one of keeping the British sovereign bases and military and monitoring facilities intact. Some Greek Cypriots, especially members of organisations such as [[EOKA]], expressed disappointment because ''enosis'' had not been attained. In a similar way some Turkish Cypriots especially members of organisations such as TMT expressed their disappointment as they had to postpone their target for ''taksim'', however most Cypriots that were not influenced by the three so called guarantor powers (Greece, Turkey, and Britain), welcomed the agreements and set aside their demand for ''enosis'' and ''taksim''. According to the Treaty of Establishment, Britain retained sovereignty over 256 square kilometres, which became the [[Akrotiri and Dhekelia|Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area]], to the northeast of [[Larnaca]], and the [[Akrotiri and Dhekelia|Akrotiri Sovereign Base Area]] to the southwest of [[Limassol]].

Cyprus achieved independence on 16 August 1960.