Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1625-1700
Plague wipes out over 50% of the estimated population on the island. A string of bloody insurgencies against op-
pressive Ottoman rule are savagely quashed. Plague ends (1700).
1821
Greek Cypriots side with Greece in a revolt against Turkish rule. The island's leading Orthodox clergy are ex-
ecuted as punishment, and 20,000 Christians flee the island.
1878-1923
Britain leases Cyprus from Turkey, as the administrator of the island. The British formally annex Cyprus in 1914.
Turkey does not recognise the annexation until 1923.
1914-15
Turkey sides with Germany in WWI. Britain offers Cyprus to Greece as incentive to support the British. King
Constantine declines in an attempt to remain neutral.
1923-25
Turkey is compensated by the British for its loss of the island. Cyprus becomes a Crown Colony (1925) and is
governed by the British High Commissioner.
1955-60
Ethniki Organosi tou Kypriakou Agona (EOKA; National Organisation for the Cypriot Struggle) is founded.
Guerrilla warfare is directed at the British. Makarios is first president of an independent Cyprus.
1963−64
President Makarios proposes constitutional changes; inter-communal fighting ensues. Turkish Cypriots withdraw
and UN peacekeeping forces arrive. The Green Line is first drawn across Nicosia.
1974
Greek junta organises a coup. Turkish army invades, taking a third of the island. Archbishop's Palace is the scene
of much fighting. Makarios resumes presidency. Cyprus is divided thereafter.
1975
Turkish Cypriots establish an independent administration, naming Rauf Denktaş as its leader. Denktaş and
Clerides then agree on a population exchange between North and South.
1977
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