A Brief History of Cyprus

The island of Cyprus has had a tumultuous history and its strategic location on the crossroads of East and West has been a cause of invasions, conquest and strife for her inhabitants. Before its annexation to Rome in 58 BC, Phoenicians, Achaeans, Assyrians, Egyptians, Persians and the British occupied Cyprus. However, the first inhabitants of the island date back much further; they are proved to have settled on the island around 7000 BC.

A major part of population of Cyprus accepted Christianity around 43 AD, and some 300 years later, Cyprus came under the rule of the Byzantine Empire, following the division of the Roman Empire. The Byzantine rule over Cyprus lasted until 1192, when Richard the Lionheart took possession of the island as a revenge for the misbehaviour by the rulers of Cyprus towards his fleet which was on its way to the Third Crusade. After marrying Berengaria of Navarre in Cyprus, where she was crowned the Queen of England, Richard sold the island to the Knight Templars who soon after sold it to Guy de Lusignan, the deposed King of Jerusalem. That marked the beginning of the feudal system, and the population was under severe suppression. The Lusignan Era ended when Queen Cornaro surrendered Cyprus to Venice, in 1489. Venetians viewed the island as the last bastion against the Ottoman Empire in the Eastern Mediterranean, so they left their mark in Cyprus by destroying many palaces and buildings in order to surround the major cities with fortified walls, which at the time were considered works of art of military architecture. Although the Ottoman army captured almost all Cyprus in 1570, with help of these walls the Venetians managed to hold their posts in Famagusta where the Ottoman siege of the city lasted for more than a year, until late 1571.

The Ottoman period in Cyprus lasted for more than 300 years, during which the Ottoman population of Cyprus originally gained its own Cypriot identity, bringing to existence two communities in Cyprus instead of one; Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot.

In 1878, under the Cyprus Convention, the Ottoman Empire let Britain assume the administration of Cyprus in return for military support against Russia.

In 1914, Britain annexed the island as the Ottomans joined the First World War on Germany's side. In 1925, Cyprus was declared a Crown Colony under British Rule, following the Treaty of Lausanne.

In 1960, the Treaty of Zurich was signed to give independence to Cyprus whilst protecting the rights of the Turkish Cypriot population. The guarantors of this treaty were Britain, Greece and Turkey. In 1963 relations between the Greek and Turkish communities separated by language, culture and religion, had deteriorated, and would continue to do so for the next 11 years.

In the summer of 1974 Greece attempted a military coup with the intention of union with Greece. On July 20, 1974 after consultation with Britain, Turkey intervened with military peace keeping action to protect the Turkish Cypriot community. Since this time the island has remained divided with the Turkish and Greek Cypriots looking to find a fair solution to reunite the island negotiations are ongoing but slow process. On November 15, 1983 the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was founded as a territory fully independent of the Republic of Cyprus in the south.