Cyprus's membership of the EU and the resolution of the Cyprus problem

Abstract

After claiming its independence in 1960 ethnic problems arose in Cyprus. Even though it was united through the London and Zurich Accords, which were upheld by the three signatory states, Greece, Turkey and Great Britain, nationalist sentiment still ruled over the ethnic societies. The Greek Cypriot leaders lobbied for Enosis, whereas the Turkish Cypriots leaders saw this as a threat to their community and threatened to seek help from Turkey. While relations between both communities worsened, there was instability in the Greek legislature, and the leader of the Greek Cypriots was threatened to be overthrown. With this volatility on the part of the Greek Cypriots, Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974. Subsequently Cyprus's internal conflict became more evident as the ethnic communities were segregated. The Turkish Cypriots occupied the northern part of the island, and the Greek Cypriots migrated southwards, ethnic clashes ensued. While the Greek Cypriot leaders wanted unity, the Turkish Cypriots wanted equality. The mistrust between the communities resulted in the establishing of a breakaway state in 1983. The Turkish Cypriots declared their territory as the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus". This division has also affected Greco-Turkish relations as well. The International Community decided to step in and attempt to ease relations between the two communities, so as to ultimately achieve a just and viable solution. This thesis will examine Cyprus's history of ethnic conflict from 1960 to the present. Special attention will be given to the attempts at unification and solution of the Cyprus Problem. The UN initiatives will be overviewed with some detail as these have been the most prominent; however intercommunal talks and the role of the EU will also be discussed. In 2004 Cyprus became a member of the EU hence the EU's relationship with the Cyprus and the degree of impact it had on the ethnic conflicts will be given special importance. The questions posed through out this thesis are; why did the attempts at unification fail, did its relationship with the EU help in appeasing the situation and how will Cyprus benefit from EU membership. This thesis concludes that Cyprus does indeed benefit from EU membership and unification can now only be found in the European union's framework, however for this to happen first their must be an improvement in Greco-Turkish relations.