50 years later: Status quo holds in Cyprus as political will wavers

Graffiti and damage along the Green Line in Nicosia. © Diego Cupolo

İSTANBUL – Saturday marks 50 years since Turkey’s military invasion and occupation of northern Cyprus on July 20, 1974.

The event is often framed as a Turkish intervention against a Greek-backed coup, though communal divisions and violence took hold earlier, with roots predating Cypriot independence from Britain in 1960.

Today, the island remains partitioned with a Greek community in the Republic of Cyprus (RoC) in the south, a Turkish community in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and two British sovereign base areas.

Following the collapse of the 2017 Crans-Montana negotiations, experts told Turkey recap the conditions for reunification talks have “deteriorated” and division lines between the communities appear to be hardening.

Still, political parties on both sides are pursuing avenues for more cooperation, citing rising inter-communal trade as a sign of progress. At the same time, the United Nations continued efforts this year to find “common ground” for a path forward.

As another milestone approaches for Cyprus, politicians and analysts said the main impediment to renewed talks was a persistent lack of political will, both from domestic and international actors.

“Every time a negotiation process collapses, hope for reunification is shattered,” Andromachi Sophocleous, VP of the RoC’s pro-reunification Volt Party, told Turkey recap.

“On the one hand, Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot side have moved away from a federal model and are now supporting a two-state solution,” she added. “At the same time … it is evident the Greek Cypriot side, itself, is ignoring calls for more tangible peacebuilding efforts that would set the ground for viable reunification prospects.”