The role of British imperialism in the Cyprus issue

Tomorrow marks the 50th anniversary of the Cyprus Peace Operation. The operation was carried out to prevent the annexation of the island by Greece, and thanks to this operation, the Republic of Turkey did not abandon Cyprus as the Ottomans abandoned the Aegean islands to Greece, and half of Cyprus remained under Turkish control.

From the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence in 1821 to the process leading to the First World War, the Ottomans gradually lost the Aegean islands to Greece, and only a few islands remained from the Ottoman Empire to the Republic of Turkey.

The issue of which country the Aegean islands would belong to was resolved almost entirely in favor of Greece, including the transfer of the Dodecanese, which the Italians occupied in 1912, to Greece. Cyprus is an exception in this regard. We can say that British imperialism, even if by chance, played a role in keeping the north of Cyprus, just as much as Turkey's determination, which the Ottomans could not demonstrate.

The Ottomans suffered a heavy defeat by the Russians in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878. After the Ottoman Army was rendered almost completely ineffective in the Balkans and the Caucasus, there was no obstacle left to prevent the Russians from occupying Istanbul and subsequently Anatolia. The British intervened at the point where the Ottomans were most desperate and sent their fleet to Istanbul.

For the Russians, who knew how determined the British were to preserve the Ottoman Empire since the Crimean War, the message was quite clear. The sight of British ships in the Bosphorus by Russian forces reaching Yeşilköy would be enough for the Russians to stop their operations on all fronts.

Russian imperialism had once again collided with British imperialism, and thanks to the British's deep-rooted policy of "keeping Russia away from warm seas," the Ottoman Empire had been saved from the brink of collapse.

It was inevitable that such critical aid would have a price. On July 4, 1878, Abdul Hamid II gifted Cyprus to the British in exchange for their aid during the war and for their continued support of the Ottomans in the peace negotiations that would begin in Berlin nine days later. Cyprus, which officially remained Ottoman territory, was temporarily given to the British as a naval base (so that the British could send their ships to help the Ottomans in a much shorter time), and the taxes of Cyprus continued to be sent to Istanbul.

However, no one had any doubt that Cyprus had been given to the British permanently, and the British would officially annex Cyprus upon declaring war on the Ottoman Empire in 1914.

In 1878, when Cyprus came under British control, there were separatist movements in Cyprus aimed at connecting the island to Greece, just as in other islands where Greeks lived. Although the fact that the island was effectively out of Ottoman hands further strengthened the separatist ideology, the British presence caused this ideology to be put on ice for a while, as it would have been equivalent to suicide for the Greeks to rebel against British authority at that time.

The Greeks' rebellion against British authority and their open expression of their intention to unite with Greece (Enosis) took place after the First World War. The tension that rose from the 1920s turned into bloody actions with the establishment of EOKA (National Organization of Cypriot Fighters) in 1955 (small-scale bloody actions had also occurred in 1931 before 1955). Although EOKA's actions at this time were targeting the British, Turks inevitably became part of this conflict because many Turks served in the British police force on the island.

EOKA's movement would be partially successful, and in 1960, Britain would agree to withdraw from Cyprus, except for certain military bases (a total of 256 square kilometers). However, the result obtained was far from what the separatist Greeks desired. Britain and Turkey did not agree to the annexation of Cyprus to Greece; instead, the Republic of Cyprus was established under the administration of a Greek prime minister and a Turkish deputy prime minister.

Like many colonies that the British abandoned after the Second World War, the Republic of Cyprus was built on foundations that were not solid at all. The resulting outcome satisfied neither the Turks nor the Greeks, and the joint Turkish-Greek administration became unworkable within three years. Following the collapse of the joint administration, the Greeks would launch their first attacks on December 21, 1963, with the aim of taking full control of the island. In the events that lasted from December 21 to December 31, known as Bloody Christmas, 364 Turks and 174 Greeks died, and about 25,000 Turks were forced to leave their villages and flee to safe areas. The blood spilled on December 21 would irreparably damage the relationship between Turks and Greeks and would be the first spark that started the process leading to the 1974 operation.

The Ottomans had lost the Aegean islands as a result of their weaknesses. When the British withdrew from Cyprus, the conditions were completely different. It was certain that Turkey, an important power in the region, would not abandon the Turkish Cypriots to their fate as the Ottomans had abandoned the Turks in the Aegean Islands.

Two years after the establishment of EOKA, the Turkish Resistance Organization was founded to protect Turkish Cypriots from EOKA's attacks, and Turkey played an active role in the Cyprus issue in the process leading to the Cyprus Peace Operation. Despite all of Turkey's initiatives, the Greeks did not agree to a compromise and did not give up their demands to be dominant in the administration. The appointment of Nikos Sampson, a supporter of Enosis, as prime minister in a coup in 1974 and Greece's refusal to withdraw its armed forces from the island were the final straw. With the Cyprus Peace Operation launched 50 years ago on July 20, Turkey intervened militarily and completely ended the Greek threat to Turks on the island.

Although the Cyprus Operation has created many new problems, it guaranteed the presence of Turks on the island and brought order to the island. Before the First World War, it was not possible for the Ottomans to show such will, organize such an operation, and get the great powers to accept it in the Aegean islands.

In this respect, it is possible to argue that if Cyprus had not come under British control in 1878, it would most likely have been annexed to Greece (or suffered an Italian occupation) in the years leading up to the First World War and would have been permanently lost to the Turks. Similarly, if the Aegean islands (especially islands with a significant number of Turks, such as Chios) had come under British control in the same years, it is possible that their current situation would be different from what it is today.