Geography
in the
News™
Neal G.
Lineback
EFFORTS TO
UNIFY CYPRUS
The Mediterranean island of
Cyprus recently was in the news, as
Greek Cypriots swept an opposition
leader into power. The Greek citizens
were worried that a plan endorsed by
incumbent President Glafcos Clerides
to reunify the island ceded too much to
Turkish Cypriots. A recent New York
Times story (Feb. 17) on elections in
Cyprus was not front-page news, but it
pointed to continuing cultural conflict
between Greek and Turkish Cypriots.
Cyprus is located in the northeastern corner of the Mediterranean, about
40 miles (64 km.) south of Turkey, 70
miles (113 km.) from Syria, and 120
miles (193 km.) from Beirut, Lebanon.
About 3,572 square miles (9,251 sq. km.)
in total area, Cyprus, the
Mediterranean’s third largest island, is
only about two-thirds as large as Connecticut, the third smallest U.S. state.
The estimated 2000 population of
Cyprus was about 750,000, about 78
percent of whom are of Greek origin
and 18 percent of Turkish descent. The
religion of most Greeks is Greek Orthodox, while the Turks are Muslims.
Archeological evidence suggests
human habitation of the island for at
least 10,000 years. Greek (Mycenean)
settlers arrived about 1200 B.C. From
then until A.D. 1191, Cyprus was controlled periodically by the Phoenicians,
Assyrians, Egyptians, Persians, Greeks
and Romans. In 1191, Richard the LionHearted of England captured the island during the Crusades, but he soon
sold it to a Frenchman.
The Ottoman Turks captured
Cyprus in 1571 and dominated it until
1878. During this time, considerable
Turkish settlement occurred on the island. As the Ottoman Empire collapsed,
Greek Cypriots living in the north fled
to the southern part of the island and
Turkish Cypriots fled north. Today,
Greek Cypriots control the southern
half of the island.
A demilitarized 112-mile (180-km)
line runs roughly east-west across the
island through the capital city of Nicosia
(nick-OH-see-AH), geographically
separating Greek and Turkish Cypriots. Patrolled by U.N. peacekeepers,
this Green Line separates the self-declared independent state, called the
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus,
from the Republic of Cyprus. The Turkish Republic is not recognized by any
country except Turkey.
Since the presidential election in
February 1993, U.N. and local politicians have tried to reunite the island.
Years of frenetic negotiations, however,
have failed to solve the 39-year-old faceoff between the two cultures. Greek
Cypriots definitely want reunification,
but on their own terms rather than on
those negotiated by the U.N. The divided island of Cyprus continues to
smolder.
And that’s Geography in the News.
March 7, 2003. #666.
however, the British were given administration of the island in 1878. In 1925
Cyprus was made a British crown colony
and was used as a holding area for
Jewish immigrants prior to the formation of Israel in 1948.
Increased agitation by Greek Cypriots throughout the 1950s led to independence from the British in 1960. Greek
Cypriots wanted Cyprus to become part
of Greece, while Turkish Cypriots did
not. A constitution drawn up for Cyprus
by the British, Greek and Turkish governments forbade the new country from
political union with another country or
partition of the island between the Greek
and Turkish Cypriots.
The leader of the Greek Cypriots
was Archbishop Makarios (ma-CAHree-OS), a partisan politician, who became president of Cyprus. To the disdain of the Turkish minority, Makarios
attempted to “adjust” the constitution
to favor the Greek majority and a closer
relationship with Greece. Fighting broke
out between the Greek and Turkish
Cypriots, and the United Nations sent
in its first peacekeeping forces in 1964.
On July 15, 1974, Makarios was
overthrown by a Greek-backed military
coup led by even more radical Greek
Cypriot generals, whose intent was a
union with Greece. Five days later Turkey invaded Cyprus and captured the
northern two-fifths of the island. Major
population adjustments resulted, as
(The author is a Geography Professor
at Appalachian State University, Boone,
NC.)
Unity?
(G
ree
Larnaca
Limassol
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Geography in the News #666
© 2003 maps.com
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