Europe 367
Fatalities: >999 deaths
Narrative: This dispute is the Turkish-Cypriot War fought in the summer of 1974.
Cyprus was always a difficult issue for Turkey and Greece once Greece gained inde-
pendence from the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century. Britain effectively quelled
Greek and Turkish efforts to incorporate the territory by occupying it themselves and
eventually reorganizing it as a colony. However, the 1959 London-Zurich Agreements
made Cyprus independent and, by the terms of the agreement, indivisible. Though
predominantly Greek, a small but active Turkish minority persistently resulted in the
government in Ankara using its power to exercise leverage over Cyprus and Greece.
In 1974, the colonels’ regime in Greece initiated a coup against sitting head of
state Makarios III. Though Greek himself, Makarios III was no friend of the Greek
colonels’ regime and wanted them to vacate their military bases. Rather than do so,
Greece removed him on July 15, via the sympathetic Cypriot national guard. Turkey
suspected that the ultimate end game was incorporation of Cyprus into Greece and
acted fast. It already had a military presence on the island but mobilized an additional
8,000 troops and dispatched them to Cyprus. More rapid mobilization put the Turkish
numbers at 40,000 on the island. An ultimatum was delivered to the Greek regime on
July 18: Greece was to withdraw or suffer the consequences. Greece refused, and the
Turks responded with an invasion of Cyprus on July 20. The Turks were superior in
all aspects to the Greek forces, and the embarrassment here was the leading cause of
the end of the colonels’ regime in Greece. After failed negotiations from August 8 to
14, the Turks resumed military activities. A second ceasefire on August 16 ended the
conflict. The result of the invasion was a new de facto partition of Cyprus. The de
facto independent and Turkey-supported Northern Cyprus covers the northeast of the
island and accounts for almost 40 percent of the island’s territory. A UN-administered
buffer zone separates Turkish Cyprus and Greek Cyprus while the remainder that was
not the UN Green Line or territory allocated to Britain via the 1959 agreement became
Greek Cypriot.
MID#2178
Dispute Number: 2178
Date(s): June 30, 1986 to July 12, 1986
Participants: 640 Turkey/352 Cyprus
Outcome (and Settlement): Unclear (Unclear)
Fatalities: None
Narrative: The Turkish prime minister visited the Turkish Republic of Northern
Cyprus, a state recognized as legitimate only by Turkey itself. This diplomatic visit
was intended to strengthen the claim to Northern Cyprus by Turkish Cypriotes. Two
days after the prime minister’s departure the Turkish military stationed in the region
closed its border to trade with the Greek Republic of Cyprus. Most speculated that the
action was to disrupt the United Nations peacekeeping mission, forcing the United
Nations to recognize the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus as a legitimate political
entity. The closed borders were reopened on July 12, 1986.
Coding changes: Start Date changed from July 2, 1986. End Date changed from July
2, 1986.