Welcome To Northern Cyprus

The third largest island in the Mediterranean , Cyprus has been occupied by a succession of peoples from Europe and Asia who sought its wealth of minerals and timber .

In the 8th century BC it was within the Assyrian empire , then the Babylonian Egyptian and Persian . In 58 BC the island was seized by the Romans as part of Ptolemy`s Egyptian empire . Richard the Lionheart settled on the island in 1191 during the third Crusade and after selling it to the Knights Templar permitted Guy de Lusignan who had lost his kingdom of Jerusalem , to buy the island.

Cyprus remained in Lusignan possession until captured by the Venetians in 1489 . From 1571 to 1878 it was ruled by the Ottomans until they leased its administration to Britain. Independence was granted in 1960 but after a Greek military coup in 1974 Turkey was forced to intervene to safeguard the interests of the Turkish Cypriots on the island .

Partition followed and the administration of North Cyprus was subsequently proclaimed.

One Island : Two Communities

Under British Rule , the island saw a lot of communal strife between the Turkish and Greek Cypriots who were the cohabitants of the island .

Finally in 1960 after long negotiations both in London and Zurich the island gained its independence as a Republic State. The sharing of power did not stop the disagreement between the two communities.

An armed conflict erupted in December 1963 by the Greek Cypriots that brought on the division of the island in a series of events , the most important of which took place in 1974 . Then the supporters of Enosis (the union of the island with Greece) aided and abetted the Greek Army elements toppled Makarios in an attempt to unify Cyprus with Greece. Turkey reacted and within one week using its rights under the Treaty of Guarantee sent its forces to crush the insurgency and secure the safety of the Turkish Cypriots .

Hence the division of the island. Now the Greek Cypriots occupy the Southern part of the island , and the Turkish Cypriots the Northern part . Negotiations have been carried out under the auspices of the UN and the UN Secretary General is personally supervising the negotiations through his representatives . The object of the said negotiations is to establish the grounds for an overall settlement that will safeguard the interests of both communities.