Middle Ages

395 AD Cyprus becomes part of the Byzantine Empire.

647 The Arabs invade Cyprus under under Muawiya and occupy it.

683 The Arab garrison is withdrawn after the Arabs are defeated by Constantine IV.

688 Emperor Justinian II and Caliph al-Malik sign a treaty. No garrisons stationed in the island, and the collected taxes being divided among the Arabs and the Emperor.

965 Cyprus is restored to Byzantine rule by Nicepheros Phokas 1185-1192 Cyprus independent Empire under Isaak Comnenus

1570 The Ottomans invade Cyprus.

1571 The Ottomans take Famagusta, Cyprus becomes a part of the Ottoman Empire.

1572-1668 Twenty eight bloody uprisings, most of these were by the Muslim forefathers of the Turkish Cypriots, who staged 27 rebellions according to famous Cyprus historian Harry Luke. One of the most memorable is that of rebel leader Halil Agha who in 1624, assainated the Ottoman pasha, Chil Osman in Nicosia, and later burned his palace.

Halil Agha held control over certain areas of Cyprus, which was an embarrassment for the Ottomans. Agha criticized both the Ottomans for asking for too much tax from the Muslims and the Greeks who were acting as good citizens by paying a larger amount of these taxes. He gained support from other Muslim Turkish Cypriots.

Agha challeged Ottoman authority over the island, so much so that the imperial porte in Constantinople ordered that soldiers be dispatched to crush the militia. Later agha was defeated and beheaded. But his campaign is important for Turkish Cypriot feelings of nationhood. Had he succeeded there would have been a Turkish Cypriot state as earlier as 1624.

1625-1700 Great depopulation of Cyprus. The plague wipes out over half of the population

1821 Greek Cypriots side with Greece in a revolt against Turkish rule. The island's leading churchmen are executed as punishment. 20,000 Christians flee the island.

1869 The Suez Canal opens.

Modern History An overview

Following the Ottoman Empires defeat in World War I, Cyprus was annexed by Britain in 1925 and made a crown colony.

Between 1955-59 EOKA was created by Greek Cypriots and led by George Grivas which targeted mainly British but also Turkish Cypriots and leftist Greeks at a smaller scale, in a campaign of violence to perform enosis (union of the island with Greece). However the EOKA campaign did not result union with Greece but rather an independent republic, The Republic of Cyprus, with two communal chambers in 1960.

The 1960 constitution carried important safeguards for the participation of Turkish Cypriots to the state affairs, like vice-president being Turkish Cypriot, 30% of parliament being Turkish Cypriot, etc. Archbishop Makarios would be the President and Dr Fazil Kucuk would become Vice President. One of the articles in the constitution was the creation of separate local municipalities so that Greek and Turkish Cypriots could manage their own municipalities in the big towns. This article of the constitution was never implemented by the Republic and president Archbishop Makarios.

In response to the Greek-backed coup Turkey invaded the island in 1974 and seized the northern third of the island, Turkish Cypriots in the south would travel north and Greek Cypriots in the north would move south. The de facto state of northern Cyprus was proclaimed in 1975 under the name "Turkish Federated State of Northern Cyprus". The name was changed to its present form on 15 November 1983. The only country to formally recognise The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is Turkey. Turkey and the TRNC refer to the Republic of Cyprus as the "Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus" and refuse formal recognition.

Modern History Timeline

1878-1960: British occupation. The British take over the administration of the island, ceded by the Ottomans, for its strategic value, to protect their sea route to India via the Suez Canal. In exchange, Britain agrees to help Turkey against future Russian attacks. Crown commissioners: Sir Robert Biddulph (1880-?) Sir Walter Sendall (1892-1898) Sir Charles King-Harman (1904-1910)

1914: Cyprus is annexed by Britain when Turkey joins with Germany and Austro-Hungary in World War I.

1925: Cyprus becomes a British Crown Colony. Governors: Sir Richmond Palmer

1931: First serious riots of Greek Cypriots demanding Enosis, the union with Greece. The government-house in Nicosia is burned down and martial law is declared afterwards and the legislative council is abolished. The display of the Greek flag and the Greek National Anthem were banned.

1939: Greek Cypriots fight with the British in World War II, but remain set on Enosis after the war is over. The Turkish Cypriots, however want the British rule to continue.

1946-1949: Thousands of displaced Jews are sent to camps on Cyprus by the British Government.

1950: Archbishop Makarios III is elected as political and spiritual leader. Makarios becomes the head of the autocephalous Cypriot Orthodox Church and heads the campaign for Enosis with the support of Greece.

1955: A series of bomb attacks starts a violent campaign for Enosis by EOKA (National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters) led by George Grivas, an ex-colonel in Greek army, born in Cyprus. Grivas takes name of Dighenis, and conducts guerrilla warfare from a secret hideout in the Troodos Mountains. He is estimated to have 300 men at maximum, yet successfully plagues 20,000 British troops and 4,500 police.

1956: Britain deports Makarios to the Seychelles in attempt to quell the revolt. Turkish Cypriots are used as auxiliaries of British Security Forces, and become one of the major targets of the EOKA. 1957: Field Marshal Sir John Harding is replaced by the civilian governor Sir Hugh Foot in a conciliatory move.

1958: Turkish Cypriots are alarmed by British conciliation and begin demands for partition. There are inter-communal clashes and attacks on British.

1960: British, Greek and Turkish governments sign a Treaty of Guarantee to provide for an independent Cypriot state within the Commonwealth of Nations and allowing for the retention of two Sovereign Base Areas of Dhekelia and Akrotiri. Under the treaty, each power has the right to take military action in the face of any threat to the constitution. Cyprus becomes independent of foreign rule. Archbishop Makarios, (Greek Cypriot) becomes the first President, Dr Kutchuk (Turkish Cypriot) Vice-President. Both have the right of veto. Turkish Cypriots, who form 18% of the population, are guaranteed vice-presidency, three out of ten ministerial posts and 30% of jobs in the public service, 40% in the army and separate municipal services in the five major towns. Overall, a very complex constitution is drafted, including a lot of decisions to be taken by majority of votes overall as well as within each community.

1963-1973: Greek Cypriots view the constitution as unworkable and propose changes abolishing all veto rights and many ethnic clauses; these proposals are rejected by Turkish Cypriots and the Turkish government. Inter-communal fighting errupts. A UN Peace Keeping Force is sent in, but is powerless to prevent incidents. Thousands of Turkish Cypriots retreat into enclaves and are embargoed by the Greek Cypriots. The UN attempts to supply them with food and medicine. The Turks are to remain in the enclaves for the next 11 years until the partition of the island in 1974.

1974: On 15 July the military government (junta) in Greece with the support of the CIA and American national security advisor Henry Kissinger orders a coup by the Greek National guard to overthrow Makarios who they see as being too pro-Russian. Makarios is forced to flee to the British base. A puppet regime is imposed under Nikos Sampson, a former EOKA fighter and paid CIA operative. Five days after the coup on 20 July Turkish Turkey invades Cyprus and captures 3% of the islands territory around the town of Kyrenia, driving out the Greek Cypriot population. Three days later the coup is put down and democracy is restored. On 14 August after UN talks break down it lands 40,000 troops on the north coast. 200,000 Greek Cypriots Flee to the South, while turkish Cypriots are forced to leave their homes in the South. Turkish forces are left in control of 37% of the island. Facing threats from Turkey the United Nations and the Cyprus government agree to allow the Turkish Cypriots living in the free areas to be transferred by the UN and British SBA authorities to the occupied north against their will.

1975: Turks announce a Federate State in the north, with Rauf Denktaş as leader. UN Forces stay as buffer between the two zones.

*1977: Makarios dies, having been restored as President of Greek Cyprus after 1974. He is succeeded by Spyros Kyprianou.

1983: The Turkish Federated State declares itself independent as the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), with Denktaş as President. The new state is not recognised by any country except Turkey and officially boycotted.

1992-1995: UN sponsored talks between the two sides run into the sand, but with a commitment to resume.

2001: The European Court of Human Rights finds Turkey guilty of continuing human rights violations against the Greek Cypriots, and the Turkish Cypriots also.

2003: Cyprus is set to join the European Union in May 2004. Renewed negotiations about the status of the island take place. On 23 April 2003, the line which divides the two parts of Cyprus was partly opened. Thousands of Turkish and Greek Cypriots cross the border to the "other side" after 30 years.

24 April 2004 The Annan Plan for unification is rejected by the majority of Greek Cypriots in a bipartisan referendum. Cyprus as a whole joins the EU on 1 May but the EU acquis is suspended in the north.