Cyprus: What is to be Done?

Abstract

C YPRUS I became independent in 1960 after agreement both on independence and the constitutional structure of the island was reached by Greece and Turkey without the direct participation of the people of Cyprus, either through representatives or otherwise, in the talks and discussions that led to the agreement. The resulting constitution, known as the 1960 or Zurich constitution, established a 'form of dual government by Greek and Turkish Cypriots ',2 80 per cent and 18 per cent respectively of the total population of the island. The independence, territo,rial integrity and security of the republic, as well as the state of affairs established by the Basic Articles of the constitution, were guaranteed by Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom under the Treaty of Guarantee. Owing to its structural defects and the general state of relationships between the two communities at the time, the 1960 constitution not only failed to resolve the ethnic conflict but exacerbated it further. Its artificial and rigid structure could not absorb the inter-communal tension created by the difficulty of implementing and operating it. Almost everything became controversial, and the accumulation of unresolved issues resulted in the intensification of the existing differences. Thirteen proposals to amend the constitution were put forward by Archbishop Makarios, President of the Republic, but they were not accepted by the Turkish leadership. The eruption of violence in December 1963, signalled the degeneration of the conflict into crisis and overt confrontation. After the outbreak of disorder, the Turkish Cypriots followed a policy of self-segregation and withdrawal into several 'Turkish' enclaves where they set up their own governmental and administrative structures. The government of the republic came under the almost exclusive control of the Greek Cypriots who proceeded to invoke 'the principle of necessity' to justify the resulting deviations from the 1960 constitution. Various initiatives to resolve the crisis, including UN mediation, were launched between 1963 and 1968, and between 1968 and 1974 the two