Cyprus

C

Judiciary

Under reforms instituted in 1964, the legal system in the Greek Cypriot community is headed by a supreme court. Lesser tribunals include assize courts and district courts. A supreme court and subordinate courts have also been established in the Turkish sector.

D

Defense

The Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities have separate military organizations, the former aided by Greece, the latter by Turkey. in 2004, the Greek Cypriots maintained an army of about 10,000 members and a paramilitary police force numbering about 750. Turkey maintains about 36,000 troops on the island, and Turkish Cypriot forces total about 5,000. The United Nations (UN) stationed a peacekeeping force on Cyprus in 1963 with headquarters in Nicosia; in 2002 this force totaled about 1,200 members.

E

International Organizations

The Republic of Cyprus is a member of the UN, the Commonwealth of Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Council of Europe, and the European Union (EU). The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is not an officially recognized state.

VI

History of Cyprus

Archeological excavations indicate that people have lived on Cyprus since before 6000 BC. Bronze Age development was extensive, based on Cyprus’s mineral wealth and its favorable geographic position in the eastern Mediterranean.

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A

Early History

In subsequent centuries seafaring and trading peoples of the Mediterranean set up scattered settlements along the coasts of Cyprus. As early as the 14th century BC, Cyprus was colonized by the Mycenaeans, a civilization from the Greek Pelopónnesos (the southern peninsula of Greece). Later in the same century, a great influx of Achaean Greeks arrived in Cyprus (see Achaean League). The first Greek colony is believed to have been founded by traders from Arcadia about 1400 bc (see Ancient Greece). The people of Phoenicia began to colonize the island about 800 bc.

Beginning with the rise of Assyria during the 8th century bc, Cyprus was controlled by each of the empires that successively dominated the eastern Mediterranean. Assyrian occupation was followed by the rule of ancient Egypt (550 bc), then Persia (525 bc). During the Persian occupation King Evagoras I, ruler of the Cypriot city of Salamis, made the first recorded attempt to unify the city-states of Cyprus. In 391 bc Evagoras, with the aid of Athens, led a successful revolt against Persia and temporarily made himself master of the island. Shortly after his death, however, Cyprus again became a Persian possession.

For almost 1,000 years thereafter control of the island passed from empire to empire. Alexander the Great took Cyprus from Persia in 333 bc, and after his death in 323 bc the island again became an Egyptian possession, under the Ptolemies. Rome gained control in 58 bc (see Roman Empire). In ad 1191 Cyprus was seized by Richard I of England, who gave it to Guy of Lusignan, titular king of Jerusalem. The Lusignan dynasty built several large forts and castles, some of which are still standing. In 1489, Venice took control of Cyprus. The Ottoman Empire captured the island in 1571 and held it until 1878, when it was defeated in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877 and 1878 (see Russo-Turkish Wars). Fearing greater expansion by Russia, the Ottoman government agreed to give the United Kingdom control of Cyprus.

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