No abstract

Cyprus became independent in 1960, after a fierce dispute between Britain, Greece and Turkey; but the island did not find a way towards normal political development. After 1960, the Cyprus Republic, and mainly its President, Archbishop Makarios, could follow either the long-term option of implementing the 1959 Zurich–London agreements and integrating with the West; or the short-term option of trying to acquire unlimited independence and following a non-aligned policy. From late 1962, as disagreements with the Turkish Cypriots grew, Makarios oriented himself to extensive constitutional revision, and finally proposed this unilaterally in late 1963. It was then that the second Cyprus crisis erupted.

In the early period after World War II, Cyprus became useful to Britain both for the military projection of British power in the Middle East, and for the planning of an air campaign against the Soviet Union itself. At the same time, the mounting British difficulties in the Middle East, especially the loss of the Suez base in 1954, meant that Cyprus, under full British sovereignty, was the most “secure” British position in the region. Thus, strategic and military needs were important in the British decision to retain the island. Even after Cypriot independence in 1960, London retained two large sovereign bases in Cyprus.

No abstract

No abstract