Cyprus-Forum.com

[Viewpoint]

709: Assyrian conquest of Cyprus by king Sargon II (721-705 BC) of Assyria.
669/663: Independent city-kingdoms
570: conquest by the Egyptians under Amasis.
around 500: first Cypriote coins, using the Persian weight system.
499: Kingdoms of Cyprus take part in the Ionian rising under Onesilos of Salamis.
defeat of the Cypriote kings, re-conquest of the island.
Around 450: increased importance of Kition.
450 Phoenician rulers in Salamis
411 The Teucrid Evagoras I regains the throne of Salamis.
around 400: Evagoras attempts an independent rule on Cyprus with Athenian help.
Ca. 380: Persian reconquest,
386: treaty of Antakidas, Persian rule over Cyprus accepted by Athens.
350 Cypriote rebellion, crushed by Artaxerxes in 344.
351-332 Pythagoras of Salamis and other Cypriote kings go over to Alexander The Great during the siege of Tyre.
331-310 Nicocreon
310-306 Menelaos is made satrap of Cyprus.
306-301 Antigonus
301-30 BC Ptolemaic Lagid Dynasty
116 BC Ptolemy Philometor sent to Cyprus by his mother Cleopatra
109 BC Alexander the brother of Ptolemy IX Lathyros sent to Cyprus by his mother Cleopatra.
107 BC Alexander returns from Cyprus and is made king of Egypt. Ptolemy campaigns in Palestine.
58 BC Cyprus becomes a Roman province.
51 BC Cyprus placed under the rule of Cleopatra by Julius Caesar.
30 BC Cyprus reverts to Roman rule.
45 AD Saint Paul, St Barnabas and St Mark introduce Christianity to Cyprus and convert the Roman governor Sergius Paulus
115-116 AD A messianic Jewish revolt results in the massacre of 240,000 Cypriots. Trajan intervenes to restore the peace and expels the Jews from Cyprus.
335 The revolt of the usurper Calocaerus is omated by Flavius Dalmatius.
c.350 AD Salamis is rebuilt by Constantius II the son of Constantine after being destroyed by earthquakes and is renamed Constantia.
395 AD Cyprus becomes part of the Byzantine Empire.
647 The Arabs invade Cyprus under under Muawiya and occupy it.
683 The Arab garrison is withdrawn after the Arabs are defeated by Constantine IV.
688 Emperor Justinian II and Caliph al-Malik sign a treaty. No garrisons stationed in the island, and the collected taxes being divided among the Arabs and the Emperor.
965 Cyprus is restored to Byzantine rule by Nicepheros Phokas
1185-1192 Cyprus independent Empire under Isaak Comnenus
1192 Cyprus captured by Richard I of England whilst on his way to Acre. The island is sold to the Templar Order, who in turn sell it to Guy of Lusignan.
1192-1489 Guy of Lusignan and his descendants rule Cyprus as an independent kingdom.
1489-1571 Cyprus becomes an overseas colony of the Venetian Republic after having been purchased from the last member of the Lusignan dynasty.
1571 Having been put under siege the previous year, Famagusta is captured and Cyprus becomes part of the Ottoman Empire.
1571 The Ottomans take Famagusta, Cyprus becomes a part of the Ottoman Empire.
1572-1668 Twenty eight bloody uprisings, most of these were by the Muslim forefathers of the Turkish Cypriots, who staged 27 rebellions according to famous Cyprus historian Harry Luke. One of the most memorable is that of rebel leader Halil Agha who in 1624, assainated the Ottoman pasha, Chil Osman in Nicosia, and later burned his palace
1625-1700 Great depopulation of Cyprus. The plague wipes out over half of the population
1821 Greek Cypriots side with Greece in a revolt against Turkish rule. The island's leading churchmen are executed as punishment. 20,000 Christians flee the island.
1869 The Suez Canal opens.
Timeline
1878-1960: British occupation. The British take over the administration of the island, ceded by the Ottomans, for its strategic value, to protect their sea route to India via the Suez Canal. In exchange, Britain agrees to help Turkey against future Russian attacks.
Crown commissioners:
Sir Robert Biddulph (1880-?)
Sir Walter Sendall (1892-1898)
Sir Charles King-Harman (1904-1910)
1914: Cyprus is annexed by Britain when Turkey joins with Germany and Austro-Hungary in World War I.
1925: Cyprus becomes a British Crown Colony.
Governors:
Sir Richmond Palmer
1931: First serious riots of Greek Cypriots demanding Enosis, the union with Greece. The government-house in Nicosia is burned down and martial law is declared afterwards and the legislative council is abolished. The display of the Greek flag and the Greek National Anthem were banned.
1939: Greek Cypriots fight with the British in World War II, but remain set on Enosis after the war is over. The Turkish Cypriots, however want the British rule to continue. 1946-1949: Thousands of displaced Jews are sent to camps on Cyprus by the British Government.
1950: Archbishop Makarios III is elected as political and spiritual leader. Makarios becomes the head of the autocephalous Cypriot Orthodox Church and heads the campaign for Enosis with the support of Greece.
1955: A series of bomb attacks starts a violent campaign for Enosis by EOKA (National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters) led by George Grivas, an ex-colonel in Greek army, born in Cyprus. Grivas takes name of Dighenis, and conducts guerrilla warfare from a secret hideout in the Troodos Mountains. He is estimated to have 300 men at maximum, yet successfully plagues 20,000 British troops and 4,500 police.
1956: Britain deports Makarios to the Seychelles in attempt to quell the revolt. Turkish Cypriots are used as auxiliaries of British Security Forces, and become one of the major targets of the EOKA.
1957: Field Marshal Sir John Harding is replaced by the civilian governor Sir Hugh Foot in a conciliatory move.
1958: Turkish Cypriots are alarmed by British conciliation and begin demands for partition. There are inter-communal clashes and attacks on British.
1960: British, Greek and Turkish governments sign a Treaty of Guarantee to provide for an independent Cypriot state within the Commonwealth of Nations and allowing for the retention of two Sovereign Base Areas of Dhekelia and Akrotiri. Under the treaty, each power has the right to take military action in the face of any threat to the constitution. Cyprus becomes independent of foreign rule. Archbishop Makarios, (Greek Cypriot) becomes the first President, Dr Kutchuk (Turkish Cypriot) Vice-President. Both have the right of veto. Turkish Cypriots, who form 18% of the population, are guaranteed vice-presidency, three out of ten ministerial posts and 30% of jobs in the public service, 40% in the army and separate municipal services in the five major towns. Overall, a very complex constitution is drafted, including a lot of decisions to be taken by majority of votes overall as well as within each community.
1963-1973: Greek Cypriots view the constitution as unworkable and propose changes abolishing all veto rights and many ethnic clauses; these proposals are rejected by Turkish Cypriots and the Turkish government. Inter-communal fighting errupts. A UN Peace Keeping Force is sent in, but is powerless to prevent incidents. Thousands of Turkish Cypriots retreat into enclaves and are embargoed by the Greeks Cypriots. The UN attempts to supply them with food and medicine. The Turks are to remain in the enclaves for the next 11 years until the partition of the island in 1974.
1974: On 15 July the military government (junta) in Greece with the support of the CIA and American national security advisor Henry Kissinger orders a coup by the Greek National guard to overthrow Makarios who they see as being too pro-Russian. Makarios is forced to flee to the British base. A puppet regime is imposed under Nikos Sampson, a former EOKA fighter and paid CIA operative.
Five days after the coup on 20 July Turkish Turkey intervenes in Cyprus and captures 3% of the islands territory around the town of Kyrenia, driving out the Greek Cypriot population.
Three days later the coup is put down and democracy is restored.
On 14 August after UN talks break down it lands 40,000 troops on the north coast. 200,000 Greek Cypriots Flee to the South, while Turkish Cypriots are forced to leave their homes in the South. Turkish forces are left in control of 37% of the island. Facing threats from Turkey the United Nations and the Cyprus government agree to allow the Turkish Cypriots living in the free areas to be transferred by the UN and British SBA authorities to the occupied north against their will.
1975: Turks announce a Federate State in the north, with Rauf Denktaş as leader. UN Forces stay as buffer between the two zones. *1977: Makarios dies, having been restored as President of Greek Cyprus after 1974. He is succeeded by Spyros Kyprianou.
1983: The Turkish Federated State declares itself independent as the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), with Denktaş as President. The new state is not recognised by any country except Turkey and officially boycotted.
1992-1995: UN sponsored talks between the two sides run into the sand, but with a commitment to resume.
2001: The European Court of Human Rights finds Turkey guilty of continuing human rights violations against the Greek Cypriots, and the Turkish Cypriots also.
2003: Cyprus is set to join the European Union in May 2004. Renewed negotiations about the status of the island take place.
On 23 April 2003, the line which divides the two parts of Cyprus was partly opened. Thousands of Turkish and Greek Cypriots cross the border to the "other side" after 30 years.
24 April 2004 The Annan Plan for unification is rejected by the mayority of Greek Cypriots in a bipartisan referendum.
Cyprus as a whole joins the EU on 1 May but the EU acquis is suspended in the occupied north.

Why just concentrate on just a very small part of your history??? all the events have inflenced your current situation or do you manipulate history to suit your arguements, the GCs lit the bomb not the Ottomans 8they were long gone) and that bomb exploded in your faces.

[G.Man]

We brits still get the blame, but not as much as america, and they should have...

Its very hard to forget history, but everyone is different to the ottoman empire of old...

There has been conflict between greek and turk for as long as history has been recorded but this conflict is history, not present... If there is to be a solution, people are gonna have to start forgiving past atrocities from both sides... Looking to the future requires learning from the mistakes from the past and not perpetuating them..

1960-1974 was a terrible time for cyprus, and it could be argued that Britain relinquishing its hold on Cyprus allowed the turks an excuse to invade, britain until then maintaining the peace... until they became the victims of the terrorists..

Many cypriots became british citizens during the british control... they fought alongside britain against germany and turkey in ww1 and 2...

Only god knows how many killed each other during this time... But does it matter anymore? Do the Jews constantly berate Germany for the past? Can the dead be brought back? Yes one side was worse than the other, that is always the case... But does it mean those acts will be repeated if the island is one again reunified? It will take a long time for people to start trusting each other again, but until the process starts, the situation will just stay as is... For peace to really begin, people have got to start pushing their politicians to move forward... if they dont move forward then dont elect them next time...

Concessions will need to be made on both sides, and Turkey needs to get into the EU, so now is the best time to push this forward...

Look for the gains, not the losses... It is better to exchange land now and get on with ones lives, than wait for people to demolish houses that they will need to put up again once the land is exchanged...

I, maybe naively, am convinced everyone in cyprus wants to see an end to the situation as it is now... But shouting at each other on a forum isnt the answer... telling your politicians is...

[Piratis]

Viewpoint, history in Cyprus doesn't start in 709. Greek Cypriots were the majority of Cyprus long long time before that.

In any case history before the 15 century in Cyprus is relevant only for Greek Cypriots since Turkish Cypriots did not exist then.

So this is how the interaction of Turks and Greeks starts in Cyprus:

Throughout the period of Venetian rule, Ottoman Turks raided and attacked at will. In 1489, the first year of Venetian control, Turks attacked the Karpas Peninsula, pillaging and taking captives to be sold into slavery. In 1539 the Turkish fleet attacked and destroyed Limassol. Fearing the ever-expanding Ottoman Empire, the Venetians had fortified Famagusta, Nicosia, and Kyrenia, but most other cities were easy prey.

In the summer of 1570, the Turks struck again, but this time with a full-scale invasion rather than a raid. About 60,000 troops, including cavalry and artillery, under the command of Lala Mustafa Pasha landed unopposed near Limassol on July 2, 1570, and laid siege to Nicosia. In an orgy of victory on the day that the city fell--September 9, 1570--20,000 Nicosians were put to death, and every church, public building, and palace was looted. Word of the massacre spread, and a few days later Mustafa took Kyrenia without having to fire a shot. Famagusta, however, resisted and put up a heroic defense that lasted from September 1570 until August 1571.

So Viewpoint, the Turks first came to Cyprus by destroying cities, butchering people, looting etc. This kind of behaviour continues until today with the Turks illegally occupying 1/3rd of our country.
So:

Who started it? The Turks - FACT
Who did the most crimes by far? The Turks - FACT
Who continues insist on crimes today? The Turks - FACT

So stop trying to blame the GCs for what is happening in Cyprus by magnifying the GC crimes, when those crimes are just 1% of your own crimes that you choose to forget even when they happen as we speak.

1931: First serious riots of Greek Cypriots demanding Enosis, the union with Greece. The government-house in Nicosia is burned down and martial law is declared afterwards and the legislative council is abolished. The display of the Greek flag and the Greek National Anthem were banned.
1939: Greek Cypriots fight with the British in World War II, but remain set on Enosis after the war is over. The Turkish Cypriots, however want the British rule to continue.

So what we have here is:
1) An island made of 82% Greeks and 3500 years of Greek history to be part of Greece.
2) The same island to be part of a foreign empire against the will of the great majority of the people.

Asking for 1) is a crime, asking for 2) is good?? Were is the logic in that???

[Filitsa]

We brits still get the blame, but not as much as america, and they should have...

G.Man, what are you talking about? We're not the ones who pretended to give Cyprus its independence. Guarantors, my arse!

[Viewpoint]

Piratis my unfortunate and deluded neighbour, your hate for anything Turkish including us clouds and distorts your mindset. You were a conquered people back in 1571, if you look back in history you will see all great empires fought major battles where many perished and conquered the weak nations, this is not exclusive to the Ottomans so get over it.

You also conveniently forget that you gained independence not from the Turks but from the British, so it was they who conquered and ruled you. The Ottomans had long gone and you saying that because they beat you up more back then we are are more to blame. Apportioning blame to either side will not get you anywhere but it may serve as some sort of comfort for your actions which greatly contributed to where we are today.

Piratis its you that lit the bomb to blow us TCs to kingdom come but it exploded in your faces this has nothing to do with the Ottomans and more to do with using your numerical power to force Enosis with Greece.
You had the opportunity in 1960 to build a common Cypriot nation with equal human right and democracy that you chant today. But ho no your greed for union with Greece is the gun powder which made that bomb explode in youe face and leave you with the matnal scares you so obviously exibit in 2006. The Turks are to blame for everything.
Well what I would like you to think about is your mentality and stance taking you in the idrection you want to go? if it is then you have no problems but if you are unhappy and feel that more shoudl eb done then you have to stand up and say so to your leaders.
The result of your elections appear to confrim the former rather than the later. Good luck has you have chosen more of the same, Status Quo.

[Radio]

Well, your e-mails and 'phone calls to Ch. 5 worked. They 'pulled' the programme and replaced it with one about a property developer in Spain.

[Alexander]

Piratis my unfortunate and deluded neighbour, your hate for anything Turkish including us clouds and distorts your mindset. You were a conquered people back in 1571, if you look back in history you will see all great empires fought major battles where many perished and conquered the weak nations, this is not exclusive to the Ottomans so get over it.

You also conveniently forget that you gained independence not from the Turks but from the British, so it was they who conquered and ruled you. The Ottomans had long gone and you saying that because they beat you up more back then we are are more to blame. Apportioning blame to either side will not get you anywhere but it may serve as some sort of comfort for your actions which greatly contributed to where we are today.

Piratis its you that lit the bomb to blow us TCs to kingdom come but it exploded in your faces this has nothing to do with the Ottomans and more to do with using your numerical power to force Enosis with Greece.
You had the opportunity in 1960 to build a common Cypriot nation with equal human right and democracy that you chant today. But ho no your greed for union with Greece is the gun powder which made that bomb explode in youe face and leave you with the matnal scares you so obviously exibit in 2006. The Turks are to blame for everything.
Well what I would like you to think about is your mentality and stance taking you in the idrection you want to go? if it is then you have no problems but if you are unhappy and feel that more shoudl eb done then you have to stand up and say so to your leaders.
The result of your elections appear to confrim the former rather than the later. Good luck has you have chosen more of the same, Status Quo.

Yes, and what a pile of crap your Ottomans left behind. It took Greeks another hundred years to make this country fit to live in.

[Pasha]

I suppose you recall this from memory as you were around at the time.

[Alexander]

I suppose you recall this from memory as you were around at the time.

Maybe a visit to the military occupied areas might give you a clue. If its not drugs, its cholera.

[Viewpoint]

Piratis my unfortunate and deluded neighbour, your hate for anything Turkish including us clouds and distorts your mindset. You were a conquered people back in 1571, if you look back in history you will see all great empires fought major battles where many perished and conquered the weak nations, this is not exclusive to the Ottomans so get over it.

You also conveniently forget that you gained independence not from the Turks but from the British, so it was they who conquered and ruled you. The Ottomans had long gone and you saying that because they beat you up more back then we are are more to blame. Apportioning blame to either side will not get you anywhere but it may serve as some sort of comfort for your actions which greatly contributed to where we are today.

Piratis its you that lit the bomb to blow us TCs to kingdom come but it exploded in your faces this has nothing to do with the Ottomans and more to do with using your numerical power to force Enosis with Greece.
You had the opportunity in 1960 to build a common Cypriot nation with equal human right and democracy that you chant today. But ho no your greed for union with Greece is the gun powder which made that bomb explode in youe face and leave you with the matnal scares you so obviously exibit in 2006. The Turks are to blame for everything.
Well what I would like you to think about is your mentality and stance taking you in the idrection you want to go? if it is then you have no problems but if you are unhappy and feel that more shoudl eb done then you have to stand up and say so to your leaders.
The result of your elections appear to confrim the former rather than the later. Good luck has you have chosen more of the same, Status Quo.

Yes, and what a pile of crap your Ottomans left behind. It took Greeks another hundred years to make this country fit to live in.

Excuse me when did the Greeks rule after the Ottomans?? if you are referring to Greek/Greek Cypriot rule then you are surely referring to 1960 onwards and look what that produced a divided island.