Glossary

This glossary contains terms in tCr stories that might be unfamiliar to some readers. If you’d like to suggest a new glossary item, please post a comment below.

A

ANNAN PLAN: This peace plan would have reunified the island, with two constituent states under a central government. It was the culmination of many years of negotiations. However, the Annan Plan—which was named for Kofi Annan, the United Nations Secretary General at the time—was defeated in a referendum in April 2004, one week before the Greek Cypriots joined the European Union on May 1. Greek Cypriots voted 3-to-1 against the plan; while Turkish Cypriots voted 2-to-1 for the plan, which required approval by the majority of both sides for passage.

C

CONFIDENCE BUILDING MEASURES: These are commonly referred to in short as CBMs. They’re projects designed to help reduce the mistrust between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, before proceeding to a final settlement. Essentially, walk before you run. Some confidence building measures include the demining project, opening up new crossing points, reconstructing central Nicosia, and resolving questions about missing persons—both Greek and Turkish Cypriots—from the conflicts in the 60s and 70s.

THE CYPRUS PROBLEM: This is a very flexible phrase, dating back to at least to the 1950s, when British colonial officers referred to “The Cyprus Problem” as they dodged bombs in Nicosia. After independence, in 1960, the term came to refer to the tension between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, especially as many Greek Cypriots felt that the 1960 constitution gave the Turkish Cypriots too much power. Since the 1974 war, the phrase has meant the division of the island. Politicians, diplomats and journalists all refer to the collective difficulties of the past 50 years as “The Cyprus Problem.” The foreign ministry on the Greek side of the island even has a “Cyprus Problem” office.

E

ÉNOSIS: This is a Greek word meaning “union.” By the time the British arrived in 1878, many Greek Cypriots longed for the union of Cyprus with Greece. Britain had ceded the Ionian islands to Greece in 1864, so énosists hoped for the same outcome for Cyprus. Cries for énosis became more acute throughout British rule, with 96 percent of Greek Cypriots supporting the idea in 1950. The hard-won independence of Cyprus in 1960 came as a huge disappointment to many Greek Cypriots, who would have preferred union with Greece—even considering that, at the time, Greece was dominated by a far-right government and struggling to recover from German occupation during World War II.

EOKA: A Greek paramilitary group formed in 1954 to fight British rule. It bore many resemblances to the Irish Republican Army, including requiring vows of secrecy and obedience from members. Technically there were two versions of EOKA. In 1971, General George Grivas, the group’s original military chief, founded EOKA-B to continue the strugge for énosis. Today, there are many streets on the Greek side of the island named for Grivas, or for his nom de guerre, Dighenis.

G

GREEK CYPRIOT NATIONAL GUARD: In 1960, the constitution called for the creation of a Cypriot army, which was to be 60 percent Greek Cypriot and 40 percent Turkish Cypriot, with a similar mix at all ranks—notwithstanding the fact that the Turkish Cypriots were about 18 percent of the population. Instead, President Makarios authorized the creation of an all-Greek Cypriot National Guard. Now there’s also a Turkish Cypriot National Guard on the other side of the island, in addition to some 30,000 mainland Turkish troops stationed there. All Cypriot men are required to serve in the national guard on their side, primarily to man guardposts on the Green Line.

GREEN LINE: This term was first applied to the makeshift barrier that Greek and Turkish Cypriots constructed between their neighborhoods in Nicosia. It was called the “Green Line” after a green marking that a British officer made on a map. After the 1974 war, the Green Line was extended across the island, to include the buffer zone between the Greek and Turkish ceasefire lines. United Nations peacekeepers have patrolled the Green Line within Nicosia since 1964, and across the island since 1974.

L

LUSIGNANS: The early crusades bypassed Cyprus. But during the Third Crusade, the island fell to England’s King Richard I (1157-1199), better known as Richard the Lionheart. He sold Cyprus to Guy de Lusignan, a minor French nobleman. His descendents, known as the Lusignans, ruled Cyprus for nearly three centuries, until the Venetians wrested power from them in 1474. The Venetians ruled Cyprus until the Ottoman Turks invaded in 1570, ending nearly four centuries of domination by Roman Catholics over the island’s original Greek Orthodox inhabitants.

R

RAUF DENKTASH: In the 1950s, Denktash was a founder of TMT and a protegee of Dr. Fazil Küçük. His mentor became the vice president of Cyprus in 1960, a post that was reserved for a Turkish Cypriot. But Denktash was a died-in-the-wool separatist. He’s well-known for saying that there are no Greek and Turkish Cypriots—only Greeks and Turks—and the only thing Cypriot is a donkey. He became the Turkish Cypriot political leader in 1973. Then, in 1983, he declared a separate state in the north, calling it the TRNC. Beginning in 2000, as Greek Cypriot talks to enter the European Union progressed—and Turkish Cypriot sentiment shifted from separatism to reunification—there were major protests in North Cyprus against his policies. He was replaced by Mehmet Ali Talat in an election in December 2003.

REPUBLIC OF CYPRUS: This was the official name of Cyprus at independence. Since the partition of the island in 1974, the Greek Cypriot government has continued under this name, although clearly the political arrangement has altered from the 1960 constitution. Regardless of whether Turkish Cypriots lean towards separatism or reunification, most of them do not feel that their interests are represented by the Republic of Cyprus—i.e. the Greek Cypriot government. EU negotiators hoped that accession talks would help bring about reunification. Instead, only Greek Cypriots entered the European Union on May 1, 2004. Many Greek Cypriot politicians would argue with that last sentence, because technically, all of the island is now considered EU territory. But EU law has been suspended in the part of the island under Turkish military control until a final settlement can be reached. So for all intents and purposes, only the Greek Cypriots are represented in Brussels now.

T

TAKSIM: Most Turkish Cypriots were dead-set against énosis, or the union of Cyprus with Greece; and they preferred taksim, the division of the island between Greek and Turkish zones.

TMT: A Turkish Cypriot paramilitary group, similar to the Greek Cypriots’ EOKA. Both were launched in the 1950s. EOKA fought for énosis—the union of Cyprus with Greece—and TMT fought for taksim—the division of Cyprus into Greek and Turkish zones.

TREATIES of ESTABLISHMENT, ALLIANCE and GUARANTEE: These three closely-related treaties are part of the 1960 constitution. The Treaty of Establishment set aside 99 square miles as soverign British military bases. This was a precondition for independence from Britain, and the land is not part of the Republic of Cyprus. The Treaty of Alliance allowed Greece to station 900 troops and Turkey to station 600 troops permanently on the island. The Treaty of Guarantee said that Britain, Greece and Turkey would guarantee the independence of Cyprus, should anything alter the conditions of the 1960 constitution.

TRNC: The Turkish Republic of North Cyprus was declared in 1983 by Rauf Denktash, who was then the Turkish Cypriot political leader. Since then only Turkey has granted political recognition to the TRNC, which comprises the part of the island that remains under Turkish military control.

U

UNFICYP: This stands for the United Nations Forces in Cyprus, but everyone involved just calls it by its acronym. UNFICYP has been responsible for the Green Line in Nicosia since 1964, and the buffer zone that spans the length of the island since 1974. Technically, the United Nations needs to renew UNFICYP’s mandate twice a year, but this has occurred like clockwork ever since the first forces arrived more than 40 years ago.
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