Cyprus Crisis 1974-75 Political-Juridical Aspects

SMU Law Review Volume 29 | Issue 2 Article 2 1975 Cyprus Crisis 1974-75 Political-Juridical Aspects Ann Van Thomas Wynen A. J. Thomas Jr. Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.smu.edu/smulr Recommended Citation Ann Van Thomas Wynen, et al., Cyprus Crisis 1974-75 Political-Juridical Aspects, 29 Sw L.J. 513 (1975) https://scholar.smu.edu/smulr/vol29/iss2/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at SMU Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in SMU Law Review by an authorized administrator of SMU Scholar. For more information, please visit http://digitalrepository.smu.edu. THE CYPRUS CRISIS 1974-75: POLITICAL-JURIDICAL ASPECTS* by Ann Van Wynen Thomas** and A.J. Thomas, fr.*** O N July 15, 1974, Greek officers, who commanded the Greek Cypriot National Guard, staged a coup d' tat overthrowing the legitimate Government of the Republic of Cyprus and attempting to assassinate the democratically elected President of that Republic, Archbishop Makarios. The coup and attempted assassination were instigated on instruction from the military junta then ruling in Greece. The purpose of these actions was to impose on Cyprus a government more favorable to that military junta and thereby bring about enosis (union) with Greece.' Makarios, being forewarned of the plot, escaped, and with the help of the British was flown to London. 2 Thus began another episode in the long, tragic and bizarre history of the island of Cyprus. Five days later, the actions of the Greeks led to counter-action by the Turks in the form of a Turkish military invasion with some 40,000 men and 300 tanks, bringing with them all the human sufferings and barbarities 3 of war. It is the purpose of this study to explore these actions of Greece and Turkey from the standpoint of their legality or illegality according to the principles of international law. Preceding a study of the international legal aspects of the Cyprus crisis, a presentation of the history of the situation becomes necessary. I. HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS Background. The island of Cyprus occupies a strategic position in the eastern Mediterranean, five hundred miles from Greece but only forty miles from Turkey. It has a total area of 3,572 square miles with a maximum length of one hundred thirty-eight miles and a maximum width of fifty-nine miles. Of its estimated population of 650,000, eighty percent speak Greek and follow the Greek Orthodox religion, eighteen percent speak Turkish and are Moslems. The remainder is made up of Armenians, Maronites and British. Cypriot recorded history has been traced to the thirteenth century B.C. when the first Greek colonization took place. Prior to the first century A.D. * This Article was inspired by some of the issues raised at an International Symposium on Cyprus sponsored by the Athens Panteios School of Political Science, Athens, Greece, March 1-14, 1975, which the authors attended as guests of that school. ** B.A., University of Rochester; J.D., University of Texas; LL.M., Southern Methodist University. Associate Professor of Political Science, Southern Methodist University. *** B.S., Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas; LL.B., University of Texas; LL.M., S.J.D., University of Michigan. William Hawley Atwell Professor of Constitutional Law, Southern Methodist University. 1. N.Y. Times, July 16, 1974, § 1, at 16, col. 2. 2. Id., July 18, 1974, § 1, at 1, col. 8. 3. Id., July 21, 1974, § 1, at 1, col. 8. SOUTHWESTERN LAW JOURNAL ,[Vol. 29 it was ruled by Assyrians, Egyptians, Phonecians, Persians, Macedonians and Romans. Byzantine rule followed that of Rome and in turn gave way to a dynasty of crusaders which lasted until 1489 when the island was taken over by the Venetians. Another change of sovereignty occurred in 1571 when the island was conquered by the Ottoman Turks, a rule which was to continue for three hundred and seven years, and during which there emerged the Turkish Cypriot community to exist side by side with the Greek speaking community. 4 Turkish rule ended in 1878 when Turkey agreed that Cyprus should be occupied and administered by Great Britain as a base, thus facilitating British promises to protect the Ottoman Empire from Russian aggression." In November 1914, upon Turkey's entry into World War I on the side of the Central Powers, the island was formally annexed by Britain, and in 1925 it was made into a British crown colony.6 Following World War II, the British rulers were faced with more and more cries for enosis-the right of Hellenic Cyprus to return to "Mother" Greece. The countering force was Turkish insistence upon partition of the island between Greece and Turkey to protect the Turkish Cypriot minority. These demands led to civil strife fomented for the most part by a Greek terrorist organization, EOKA, led by Archbishop Makarios and a Greek Army Colonel, George Grivas. In 1957, after ten years of sporadic guerrilla warfare, the British finally agreed to change the sovereign status of the island. There was to be no enosis with Greece, nor any partition. Rather, Cyprus was to become an independent nation. But its independence was to be burdened with certain restrictions to allay the fears of the Turkish Cypriot 7 minority. In 1959, following long discussions with Archbishop Makarios, representing the Greek Cypriots, and Dr. Fazil Kutchuk, the leader of the Turkish Cypriots, a tripartite meeting of representatives of the Greek Government, the Turkish Government and the British Government drew up a new Constitution s for the island and three important treaties, the Treaty of Guarantee,0 the Treaty of Alliance,' ° and the Treaty of Establishment. 1 ' At the end of the meeting, the Constitution and the treaties were presented 4. Ehrlich, Cyprus, the "Warlike Isle": Origins and Elements of the Current Crisis, 18 STAN. L.REv. 1021 (1966). 5. In the Turkish-British agreement there was a stipulation that Cyprus was to pay to Turkey a yearly sum of 92,799 pounds, 11 shillings, and thruppence. This was such a burden on the island's economy that for over 70 years the development of the country was thwarted by lack of funds. For a discussion of the resolution of this problem see Georghallides, The Commutation of Cyprus's Payment of the Turkish Debt Charge, 4 ENETHPIE 379 (1970-1971). 6. For a complete 4-volume history of Cyprus see G. HILL, A HMSTORY OF CYPRUS (1952). 7. Turnbull, Cyprus and the British, 1 BRrrISH HISTORY ILLUSTRATED 52 (1974). 8. The Constitution is set forth in 3 A. PEASLEY, CONsTrrtTONS OF NATIONSEUROPE 138-221 (rev. 3d ed. 1968). For an excellent short discussion of these articles see P. POLYviOU, CYPRUS, THE TRAGEDY AND THE CHALLENGE 16-33 (1975); Ehrlich, supra note 4, at 1031-37. 9. Treaty of Guarantee, Aug. 16, 1960, 382 U.N.T.S. 4, No. 5475. 10. Treaty of Alliance, set forth in ROYAL INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, CYPRUS: THE DISPUTE AND THE SETrLEMENTr 72-120 (1959). 11. Treaty (...truncated)