Cyprus - History
Since 1974, Cyprus has been divided de facto into the government-controlled two-thirds of the island and the remaining one-third of the island, which is administered by Turkish Cypriots. Greek and Turkish Cypriots share many customs but maintain distinct identities based on religion, language, and close ties with their respective "motherlands." Greek is predominantly spoken in the south, Turkish in the north. English is widely used. Cyprus has a well-developed system of primary and secondary education. The majority of Cypriots earn their higher education at Greek, Turkish, British, and other European or American universities. Both the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities have developed private colleges and publicly supported universities.
Cyprus is at present called by the Turks Kibris. In the Bible it is called Chiltim from Cirium, one of its ancient cities. The Greeks gave it a variety of names, as Paphos, Cytherea, Acamantis, Ceraslis, Asphelia, Amathusia, Erusa, &c. It was consecrated to Venus, and is represented by the Greek and Latin poets as the birthplace of that goddess and the abode of the Graces. The name of Cyprus, which has prevailed over all the others, was derived from the cypress-tree, which grew here in great abundance.
Human settlement on Cyprus stretches back nearly eight millennia and by 3700 BC, the island was a crossroads between East and West. The island fell successively under Assyrian, Egyptian, Persian, Greek, and Roman domination. The Phoenicians appear to have been the first inhabitants of Cyprus. They settled colonies here at a very early period, perhaps two thousand years before Christ. The Ethiopians are mentioned as constituting a part of the early population; but these are supposed to have been either Egyptians, or Ethiopian slaves who were introduced by the Egyptians, when the latter obtained possession of the island. The history oi Cyprus, under the Phoenicians, is very little known When they first landed in the island, it was covered with a thick forest. Copper mines were discovered shortly after, and the woods were cut down for the purpose of smelting the ore. When the Phoenicians began to navigate tbe Mediterranean more extensively they found the forests of Cyprus valuable for the timber they afforded for ship-building.
The Egyptians conquered the whole island, of the greater part of it, in the sixth century BC. Strabo describes Cyprus, about this period, as divided among several petty tyrants or chieftains, who were at times in alliance with the neighboring powers of Asia Minor and at other times at war with them. When the Persians extended their dominion in the west, this island shared the fate of the adjoining states, and became a dependency of the great king. On the overthrow of the Persian empire by Alexander, Cyprus fell into his hands. On his death, the island, with Egypt, was assigned to Ptolemy, the son of Lagus. The Ptolemies retained possession of Cyprus for many generations. Sometimes it was united to the kingdom of Egypt, and at others it was governed, as a separate principality, by a chief of the Ptolemyian dynasty.
Zcno, the philosopher, was a native of Cyprus. He was born at Citium, 346 BC, and educated as a merchant. Zeno borrowed some doctrines of his philosophy from the other schools. The Stoics resembled the Cynics to some extsnt in their general austerity of manners and character. They inculcated indifference to pleasure and pain, adversity and prosperity, as a stale of mind essential to happiness. Their; system of morals was in general strict, and outwardly correct, but founded on a cold and self-relying pride. They defended suicide, and Zeno himself is said to have died by his own hand. The doctrines of Stoicism stimulated men to heroic deeds.
In BC 64 the Roman senate discussed the expediency of declaring Egypt and Cyprus to be Roman provinces, in virtue of a pretended testament of Ptolemy Alexander II, but bribery averted for a little the execution of the threatened measure. The parsimony of the king of Cyprus unwittingly hastened on the annexation of that island. Appius Claudius, a tribune, fell into the hands of some pirates of Cilicia. In his distress he appealed to Ptolemy for the funds necessary to obtain his release. Ptolemy was avaricious and a coward. He grudged the money, but not daring to refuse the demand entirely, sent only two talents as ransom. The pirates considered the sum too small, but eventually released Claudius upon his word of honour that more should be sent them. Claudius was indignant at the low ransom offered by Ptolemy, and swore he would be revenged upon him. On his return to Rome he succeeded in inducing the senate to pass a law declaring Cyprus to be a Roman province, and confiscating the estates of Ptolemy, its king (BC 57).
This unjust decree Cato the younger was ordered to carry into execution. Being also intrusted with a mission to Byzantium, Cato sent forward from Rhodes his friend Canidius to treat with Ptolemy. Unable to resist the will of Rome, the latter consented to cede the island on oondition of his being appointed high-priest of Paphos for life — a very lucrative appointment. Ptolemy, however, felt the disgrace so keenly that he poisoned himself, and thus made the task of Cato easy. Learning of the death of the king, Cato despatched his nephew Brutus to take possession of the treasures, and keep them in safety until he could himself visit the island, which he did as soon as he had settled his affairs at Byzantium. The treasures awaiting him proved to be of the highest value. The royal furniture was rich in gold and silver vessels, in tables, jewels, and purple—all of which Cato, with great care and in the most profitable manner, converted into money. He carried to Rome 7,000 talents of silver.
Christianity was introduced early in the Christian Era, when Cyprus was under Roman rule, by the apostles Paul, Mark, and Barnabas. The martyrdom of Barnabas and the later discovery of his tomb are particularly important events in the history of the Church of Cyprus and were instrumental in the church's becoming autocephalous rather than remaining subordinate to the patriarchate of Antioch. After doctrinal controversies split Christianity between East and West, the church survived 400 years of attempts by Roman Catholic rulers to force recognition of the authority of the pope in Rome.
For 800 years, beginning in 364 AD, Cyprus was ruled by Byzantium. Cyprus was celebrated for its abundant population, which was computed at above a million, and for the beauty of its scenery, and the gay manners and loose disposition of the inhabitants. The women were models of beauty, and the whole island was sacred to Venus; hence she was called Cypria, or the Cyprian goddess. After several vicissitudes of fortune, it became a separate principality, under a branch of the imperial house of the Comneni.
During the crusades, Richard I. of England made himself master of the island, and sold it to the Templarsr or Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. They governed Cyprus with so much tyranny that the inhabitants revolted, and Richard was compelled to resume the sovereignty. In 1192, he transferred it to Guy of Lusignan, who had been the Christian king of Jerusalem, but was expelled from that city by the Saracens. The Lusignan dynasty reigned in Cyprus for nearly three hundred years, during which period the island enjoyed great prosperity.
By AD 1288, although the military orders had been compelled to leave the Holy Land, the brave Hospitallers were not willing to give up all hopes of regaining possession of it. The grand-master having fled to the island of Cyprus, soon communicated to the various establishments connected with the order, the loss which the Christian world had sustained, and the Knights of Saint John rallied around their superior from every commandery in Europe.
In 1458, by the death of John III of Lusignan, the crown devolved on Charlotte, his daughter. She was dethroned by her illegitimate brother James, assisted by the Mamelukes of Egypt. James, having married Catharine Cornaro, a Venetian lady, died in 1473, leaving the kingdom to ius widow. She was delivered of a son shortly afterwards, and the republic of Venice assumed the guardianship of the young prince. On his death in 1489, the Venetians persuaded Catharine to abdicate the crown in favor of the republic; and in this manner Cyprus became transferred to the dominion of Venice.
Cyprus remained in the possession of the Venetians nearly a century. In 1570, the Turks, under Selim II, invaded the island. They took Nicosia by storm, and massacred twenty thousand of the inhabitants. They next laid siege to Famagosta, which was long and gallantly defended, but was forced to capitulate in 1571. The Vonetian commander, Bragadino, was flayed alive, in violation of the terms by which he surrendered, and all the other officers were put to the sword. The Turkish pasha, Mustapha, by whose command this act of perfidious cruelty was performed, caused the skin of Bragadino to be stuffed with straw, and hung up at the yard-arm of his ship as he returned to Constantinople.
The Ottomans applied the millet system to Cyprus, which allowed religious authorities to govern their own non-Muslim minorities. This system reinforced the position of the Orthodox Church and the cohesion of the ethnic Greek population. Most of the Turks who settled on the island during the three centuries of Ottoman rule remained when control of Cyprus--although not sovereignty--was ceded to Great Britain in 1878. Many, however, left for Turkey during the 1920s.
Under the 1878 Convention of Defensive Alliance between Britain and Turkey, Britain took over the administration of Cyprus from Turkey, although Turkey retained formal sovereignty. In 1914, when Turkey entered the Great War on the side of the Central Powers, Britain annexed Cyprus. British sovereignty was recognised by Turkey under the terms of the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne and Cyprus became a Crown Colony in 1925.
Cyprus gained its independence from the United Kingdom and established a constitutional republic in 1960, after an anti-British campaign by the Greek Cypriot EOKA (National Organization of Cypriot Fighters), a guerrilla group that desired political union, or enosis, with Greece. Archbishop Makarios, a charismatic religious and political leader, was elected president.
Shortly after the founding of the republic, serious differences arose between the two communities about the implementation and interpretation of the constitution. The Greek Cypriots argued that the complex mechanisms introduced to protect Turkish Cypriot interests were obstacles to efficient government. In November 1963, President Makarios advanced a series of constitutional amendments designed to eliminate some of these special provisions. The Turkish Cypriots opposed such changes. The confrontation prompted widespread intercommunal fighting in December 1963, after which Turkish Cypriots ceased to participate in the government. Following the outbreak of intercommunal violence, many Turkish Cypriots (and some Greek Cypriots) living in mixed villages began to move into enclaved villages or elsewhere. UN peacekeepers were deployed on the island in 1964. Following another outbreak of intercommunal violence in 1967-68, a Turkish Cypriot provisional administration was formed.
In July 1974, the military junta in Athens sponsored a coup led by extremist Greek Cypriots against the government of President Makarios, citing his alleged pro-communist leanings and his perceived abandonment of enosis. Turkey, citing the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee, intervened militarily to protect Turkish Cypriots.
In a two-stage offensive, Turkish troops took control of 38% of the island. Almost all Greek Cypriots subsequently fled south while almost all Turkish Cypriots moved to the north. Since the events of 1974, UN peacekeeping forces have maintained a buffer zone between the two sides. Except for occasional demonstrations or infrequent incidents between soldiers in the buffer zone, the island was free of violent conflict from 1974 until August 1996, when violent clashes led to the death of two demonstrators and escalated tension. The situation has been quiet since 1996.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
