Cyprus Question

This thesis aims to examine the development of inter-communal fighting inCyprus between 1948 and 1974. It focuses on the domestic factors of inter-communal fighting by analyzing the gradual evolution of Greek and TurkishCypriot stances. The thesis argues that the inter-communal fighting of Cyprus is rooted in the historical and domestic factors. This thesis analyzesthe continuities and changes in Cyprus politics. This work accordingly willexamine the articulation of various political and social factors in Cyprus.Contrary to the prevailing dominant perspective, this thesis mentions thatthe inter-communal fighting was not the product of only external forces buttheir articulation with domestic factors as they evolved historically.Therefore, the main reference point of this study will be the ‘‘ethnic polarization’’ as the basic determinant of the conflict. Evaluating thedevelopment of inter-communal struggle, this thesis also emphasizes thegradual mobilization and the eventual politicization of the main aims of theGreek and Turkish communities.

The discovery of oil and natural gas reserves in the Middle East at the beginning of the twentieth century changed the fate of the region. From a backwater of international politics, the Middle East became central to international strategic rivalries. Almost a century later, energy discoveries in the Eastern Mediterranean are unlikely to bring about such tectonic shifts in the strategic fortunes of the Levant. Yet they have generated fresh interest in their potential impact on existing regional disputes and power constellations.
The recent discovery of sizable quantities of natural gas in the seabed between Israel and Cyprus has added to the complexity of international politics in the region. Cyprus and Israel are expected to be the first two states to benefit, as they have already signed large contracts for exploration and drilling projects that would soon turn them into net energy exporters. The possibility of discovering further energy reserves has revived the question of delineating the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of all littoral states in the Eastern Mediterranean and added one potential regional dispute. Turkey's role has been important, not only because it is one of the region's littoral states and a large energy importer, but also because it could serve as a transport hub for the delivery of extracted hydrocarbons to the world market. Nevertheless, the Cyprus question, disputes over the delineation of the EEZ and Turkey's frozen relations with Israel have deterred regional cooperation, despite the positive effect that it could have, not least for European energy security.

This study is based on a broad range of newly declassified documents which garner revelatory findings pertaining to the involvement of Czechoslovakia in the Cyprus dispute in the years 1960–1974. These new findings reveal that the countries of the Eastern Bloc sought to prevent the overthrow of the Cypriot President Makarios during the studied period, as his foreign policy ensured that the island would not become a NATO base against allied Arab countries in the Middle East. Czechoslovakia played a considerable role in keeping Makarios in power by arms deliveries (some of them hitherto unknown), which allowed him to build up the special police forces to counterweight the National Guard controlled by Greece and face attempts of the Greek junta to overthrow him. Additionally, this article analyses activities of Czechoslovak intelligence on the island which managed to obtain valuable information on the politically unstable Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East from the inner circle of President Makarios. Czechoslovak intelligence, contrary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, backed weapon sales to Cyprus and supported the island’s non-alignment policy because these guaranteed a steady supply of valuable intelligence on the entire Middle East.

As Konstantinos Tsatsos, President of the Hellenic Republic (1975-1980) had overtly remarked, the Orthodox Church never reacted against the communist regimes.


                                                CORRIGENDA!
Please have in view two errors of the present essay, namely
I. Page 72, Laszlo Tokés was a Protestant preacher and not a Catholic priest.
II. Page 80, it was Makarios III and not Makarios II who was elected Archbishop of Cyprus in 1950.
        Please forgive the author for these errors, because Errare humanum est!