The Origins of the UN Presence in Cyprus

Abstract

The Republic of Cyprus, as founded in 1960, lasted just three years. On 21 December 1963 the political tensions that had been developing between the Greek and Turkish communities over the previous months, if not years, finally erupted into violence. From the earliest stages the governments of the United Kingdom, Greece and Turkey became concerned with these events. These three countries, collectively known as the Guarantor Powers, had all been given a role in maintaining the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the Republic of Cyprus under the terms of the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee and for each of them violence in Cyprus was a threat to their interests. For the United Kingdom any serious disturbance on the island threatened the lives of the large number of British citizens living there and had the potential to proliferate in such a way as to present a challenge to the existence of the strategically important Sovereign Base Areas that had been ceded to Britain upon Cypriot independence in 1960. For Turkey, the domestic political situation was such that any attacks on the Turkish Cypriots would necessitate some form of military intervention. This in turn threatened to embroil Greece. Thus the events taking place on the island posed a risk to the integrity NATO’s entire southern flank. The three Guarantor Powers approached the Government of Cyprus on 25 December 1963 with a proposal to institute a tripartite peacekeeping force in an attempt to prevent further conflict.