Modern History of Cyprus - Post Invasion and Present Day

Post Invasion and Present Day

In 1983, the 1974 Turkish area declared itself the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, recognised only by Turkey despite United Nations Security Council Resolutions that have called the declaration "legally invalid" and as such Cyprus declared its northern ports to be formally closed. The United Nations urged all states to respect the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the Republic Of Cyprus and reject the declaration of independence of the occupied North.

United Nations Peacekeeping Forces maintain a buffer zone between the two sides. Except for occasional demonstrations or infrequent incidents between soldiers in the buffer zone, there had been no violent conflict since 1974 until August 1996, when Anastasios (Tassos) Isaac and Solomos Solomou were killed while demonstrating in a motorcycle rally after crossing into the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus area. Tasos Isaak was beaten to death by a group of Turkish civilians and three Turkish Cypriot policemen. Solomos Solomou was shot in the throat by a Turkish army officer when he tried to bring the Turkish flag down from a military watch-post.

UN-led talks on the status of Cyprus resumed in December 1999 to prepare the ground for meaningful negotiations leading to a comprehensive settlement. Efforts to get Turkey to end its presence and re-integrate the Northern areas into a Federal structure continued but to little avail. The Cypriot government did not recognise any sovereignty that the Turkish administration may have and therefore do not allow International flights or free trade with the Turkish-controlled sections of the island. Discussions took place to try and remove these embargoes as it has been argued they violate the human rights of the citizens in the Northern areas. The Annan Plan for Cyprus, a United Nations proposal for reunification was developed, calling for a referendum.

As Cyprus planned to join the European Community in May 2004, there negotiations about the status of the Island increased. In December 2003, the buffer zone between the two parts of Cyprus was partly opened. Since then, members of both communities (and citizens of EU) have been able to cross the buffer zone at the opened check points. In 2004, the planned UN-sponsored referendum on reunification was held on 21 April. Turkish Cypriots voted to accept the UN plan as stated in the referendum, but Greek Cypriots rejected it by a large majority.

The first elections to take place after Cyprus's accession to the European Union and the failed referendum, were in 2008. The country was highly politicized over President Tassos Papadopoulos extremist stance on negotiations with the Turkish minority. Papadopoulos was eliminated in the first round voting, and Dimitris Christofias of AKEL, the communist party of Cyprus, became president defeating right-wing Ioannis Kasoulidis. Christofias started talks with Mehmet Ali Talat on the reunification of Cyprus as a bizonal federal state, but his hopes for Greek Cypriot approval of such a plan were soon scotched by the nationalist's victory in the 2009 parliamentary elections.