Year: 2021
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: In 1960, the island of Cyprus, which has an important geostrategic position, gained independence from Great Britain. The Republic of Cyprus was formed on the island with 80 % of the Greeks and 18 % of the Turks. The Greeks supported the idea of enosis, i.e. unification with Greece actively encouraged from Athens that inspired the activities of irredentist extremist groups on the island. The Turkish population of the island sought to federalize the island and found support in Ankara. In the 1960–1970s the USSR developed close and warm relations with the leadership of Cyprus. The seizure of power in Greece by the anti-communist and nationalist junta of the “black colonels” further brought the positions of the Soviet Union and Turkey closer to the Cyprus issue. However, while Moscow opposed any policy that could increase Washington’s influence in the Mediterranean region, Ankara was interested in maintaining a regional balance between Turkey and Greece. At the turn of the 1960s–1970s the USSR and Turkey took a unified position, which included the principles of supporting the independence of Cyprus and the equality of the two communities. The military coup in Turkey in 1971 and the occupation of northern Cyprus in July-August 1974 by the Turkish army led to a short-time cooling of relations between the countries, which was easily overcome after the US Senate imposed an embargo on Turkey in 1975. Thus, the Cyprus problem contributed to the rapprochement of Soviet-Turkish positions in Mediterranean affairs.
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W3216626567