What is the beginning and end of the dispute between the two major ethnic groups in Cyprus?

The Republic of Cyprus, referred to as Cyprus for short, is an island country, located at the junction of Europe and Asia, in the eastern Mediterranean, with an area of 925 1 km2. The population is less than 950,000. Cyprus belongs to Asia geographically, but it is a part of Europe culturally and politically. The scenery here is pleasant, and it is called "the back garden of Europe".

Due to the washing of history, the population living in Cyprus for a long time is mainly composed of more than 70% Greeks and less than 10% Turks. There are serious contradictions and differences between the two ethnic groups, and there are shadows of Greece and Turkey behind them. This situation is even more complicated, leading to the conflict lasting 30 to 40 years from the11950s. Although the conflict has subsided today, Cyprus is still divided between the north and the south.

So, what are the causes and consequences of the division and division of Cyprus? What happened in the middle? How did the conflict stop?

The formation of two major ethnic groups

Because of its special geographical position, Cyprus has been at the forefront of the confrontation between Christian civilization and Islamic civilization throughout the Middle Ages, so some people say that the history of Cyprus is a condensed brief history of medieval Europe.

After the complicated historical changes and the change of the throne from 1 19 1, Venice * * * took control of the island in 1473 and formally annexed the Kingdom of Cyprus in 1489.

Because the Venetians did a lot of trade, their trade route was to cross the eastern Mediterranean, land on the eastern Mediterranean, and go to India or China via the ancient Silk Road. This highlights the geographical advantages of Cyprus and gradually develops into an important port. The great development of trade naturally stimulated the demand for labor, attracted a large number of Greek laborers to work here, and gradually formed Cyprus with Greeks as the main body.

1453, the rising Ottoman Empire destroyed the declining East Rome, then seized Greece, the last dependency of the Eastern Roman Empire, and took control of the whole Balkan Peninsula. After that, it expanded eastward and gradually controlled the eastern Mediterranean, becoming the actual controller of the eastern trade routes. Naturally, it was greedy for the wealth of Venetians and wanted to monopolize the eastern trade. Venice needs a lot of money to support the war against the northern holy alliance, so the conflict between the two sides continues, and Cyprus has certainly become the forefront and focus of the conflict.

15 17, the Ottoman Empire captured Egypt, which interrupted the past east-west route. Venice's income was greatly reduced, and Cyprus gradually lost the protection of Venice, and finally it was occupied by the Ottoman Empire in 157 1. In order to strengthen its rule over Cyprus, the Ottoman Empire immigrated to Cyprus, which became the beginning of the Turkish Cypriot community. Killing and persecuting Christians not only aggravated ethnic conflicts, but also planted seeds for future conflicts in Cyprus.

For more than two centuries, the Greeks on the island lived under the oppression of the Ottoman Empire until 182 1. In order to get rid of the rule of the Ottoman Empire, a war of independence broke out in Greece. This also inspired Greek Cypriots of the same nationality, religion and comrades to fight for independence and join the Greek army one after another.

As a result, Greece finally got rid of Ottoman rule and gained independence, but the fate of Cyprus was tragic and remained unchanged, because a new Greece was unable to take care of the island. However, the belief that "Cyprus belongs to Greece" has taken root since then.

A newly born Greece has made all ethnic groups who believe in the Orthodox Church in the Balkans have the desire for independence, and independence movements have come and gone. At the same time, Russia extended a helping hand to "save the Slavic Orthodox compatriots", and the tenth Russian-Turkish war broke out in 1877, and the Russian army liberated the entire Balkan Peninsula and once approached Constantinople. The Ottoman Empire was frightened and had to ask Britain for help. In return, it "leased" Cyprus to Britain and became a British colony. Cyprus has once again become a bargaining chip among major powers.

Zoning of centralized housing

Because Ottoman Turkey joined the Allied Forces in World War I, Britain announced the annexation of Cyprus as punishment, even though it had occupied Cyprus.

In response to Nazi Germany in World War II, the British army began to recruit volunteers in the colonies. Due to the generous treatment, the Greeks and Turks forgot their differences and joined the "Cyprus" legion formed by the British army.

After World War II, the Greek residents of Cyprus advocated the return of Cyprus to Greece, while the Turkish residents hoped to maintain the status quo, and the differences and contradictions between the two communities were completely open. Political contradictions gradually evolved into conflicts, and Greek extremists formed guerrillas to attack the British army. The Turks, on the other hand, staged demonstrations, and Britain, who wanted to sit on the sidelines, had no choice but to come forward to solve the problem.

Here, the famous "Greek-Turkish Crisis" happened, and the Soviet Union infiltrated the Balkan region and tried to establish a * * * production party regime in this region. The United States is superior and directly pulls Turkey and Greece into NATO at the same time. Suddenly, the Cyprus problem became subtle. Of course, the United States and NATO do not want conflicts between their allies, let alone the Soviet Union. In this case, Cyprus has reached the point where it cannot be solved.

Faced with such a situation, the British came up with their own unique trick, that is, divide and rule. However, this division is still different from India's previous division. This division is to concentrate scattered ethnic areas according to ethnic groups. Moreover, the partition went smoothly, and both sides accepted the partition calmly. After the partition was basically completed, Turkey, Greece and Cyprus signed the Zurich-London Agreement on August 1960 under British arbitration. So far, the whole island of Cyprus has gained the status of an independent sovereign state.

After the partition, the residents of the same ethnic group became more concentrated, and the differences between the two ethnic groups, which had been in constant conflict, grew bigger and bigger under the instigation of the British, and eventually became ethnic contradictions. The differences between the two ethnic groups on the quota of government posts became more and more serious, and the situation eventually got out of control, leading to bloody conflicts. 1963, 1963 In February, 1963, two Turks died in a case handled by the Greek police, which led to a large-scale bloody conflict between the two sides, resulting in more than 500 deaths and nearly 30,000 Turks becoming homeless and refugees.

Subsequently, the government announced the expulsion of all Turkish officials and surrounded some Turkish settlements in Greek residential areas. However, after the demise of the Ottoman Empire, Turkey, which has been pursuing the status of a great power, wanted to take this incident as an opportunity to try to send troops to intervene, but it could only give up under the deterrence of the United States. Greece sent 654.38 million troops to Cyprus as support. Suddenly, the back garden on the east coast of the Mediterranean became tense.

Division of fait accompli

However, under such circumstances, something happened in Greece, an ally of Cyprus, which changed the history of Cyprus. This is 1967. On April 2 1, the Greek right-wing military corps staged a coup to overthrow the civilian government and form the Greek military government. However, there is great disunity and opposition within the military government, which leads to political instability. 1973165438+1October 17 ionidis, the head of the secret police, came to power again and became a dictator.

But the dictator doesn't have that high prestige to control the chaotic domestic situation, and the army doesn't completely obey his command. This morning, he came up with a circuitous plan to transfer contradictions and improve his reputation through foreign wars, so Cyprus naturally became his first choice to achieve his personal goals. 1On July 5th, 974, instigated by Ioniades, a coup took place in Cyprus, which overthrew the government and announced the merger of Cyprus and Greece.

In the face of this situation, Turkey will certainly not sit idly by. On July 20th, Turkey sent troops to Cyprus on the grounds of "defending the Zurich-London Treaty", while Greece, as the initiator, sent troops to Cyprus on July 20th, 2 1. The subsequent peace talks ended without results. Finally, with the strong intervention of the United Nations, the conflict ended. 40% of the land in the north was occupied by Turkey, and 20,000 people became refugees.

On February 1975 13, Turkey established the "Turkish Federation of Northern Cyprus", which was not recognized by the UN Security Council. The United States banned the sale of Turkish weapons, did not want the Soviet Union to get its hands on Turkey, and could not tolerate Turkey's challenge to NATO. Under the clear attitude of the United States, the conflict finally ended, but the division of Cyprus continued.

Since then, profound changes have taken place in the international situation. In the context of the Cold War, the United States should maintain a balance with the Soviet Union, support Israel in maintaining the situation in the Middle East, and respond to the domestic anti-Vietnam War. After the collapse of the military government, Greece began to seriously develop its economy and refused to intervene in international affairs.

Turkey is experiencing economic recession, political chaos and frequent military coups. At this time, the Turkish government urgently needed to get rid of the passive situation and find the transfer point of contradictions, so it wanted to imitate Greece in those days.

At this time-1June 6, 982, the fifth Middle East war broke out, and the US troops sent troops to Lebanon.1kloc-0/October 23, the Beirut airport incident shocked the world, and 24/kloc-0 marines were killed by a bomb in the suicide incident, forcing the US troops to retreat, and there was a power vacancy in the Middle East.

This sudden incident is undoubtedly a godsend for Turkey, which is in chaos, and it also makes Turkey feel that the West is powerless and unwilling to interfere in Cyprus. So on June 5438+0983165438+10/5, the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" was formally established. As Turkey had previously judged, the international community had no reaction to its establishment. With the escalation of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union and the fierce war between Palestine and Israel, Cyprus is no longer important to them.

The Turkish government has achieved its goal, one is to stabilize the political situation as expected, and the other is to establish the "Republic of Northern Cyprus", but Cyprus is completely divided.

Segmentation and development after segmentation

After the war, both sides gradually accepted the reality of partition between the north and the south. Because of the relative concentration and unification of the north and south races, the cohesion and execution of the country have been improved.

In 1980s, with the great development of European economy, the geographical advantage of South Cyprus as a natural port reappeared. Moreover, the pleasant climate and picturesque scenery here have attracted many wealthy Europeans to come here for vacation. South Cyprus seized the opportunity to develop its economy rapidly, and the country entered the ranks of high income, and joined the European Union in 2004.

Northern Cyprus, whose sovereignty is only recognized by Turkey, has become a vassal of Turkey politically and economically, and once fell into poverty due to internal turmoil in Turkey. But in recent years, with the rapid development of tourism, Northern Cyprus has also entered the ranks of developed countries.

In 2004, Kofi Annan, then Secretary-General of the United Nations, put forward the Annan Plan to solve the Cyprus problem. In the referendum of South and North Cyprus, more than 60% of the residents of North Cyprus supported reunification. However, nearly 80% of the residents of southern Serbia are opposed to reunification, because the residents of southern Serbia know very well that once unified, they will have to pay more taxes to support northern Serbia, which is unacceptable to the people of southern Serbia. Despite the failure of the plan, both sides are relatively calm, without excessive behavior, and can live in peace.

Today's Cyprus is not like the struggle between the two peoples in the past. Instead, it is a stable political situation and a rich life. On both sides of the "Green Line" designated by the United Nations, South Cypriots and North Cypriots can also travel freely.

It seems that today's tranquility, peace, happiness and freedom have swept away those cruel struggles in the past. Maybe they realize that the present situation is much more real than those illusory political pursuits and spiritual beliefs.