The Cyprus Issue: 1960 Treaties, Federation Talks and the Two-State Solution

Why It Matters

The Cyprus issue is the unresolved question of how the island's two peoples, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, share or divide sovereignty after the 1960 partnership republic collapsed. The United Nations, the European Union, Greece and the Republic of Cyprus still back a bicommunal, bizonal federation. Ankara and the Turkish Cypriot leadership argued from 2021 that more than five decades of federal negotiations have failed and that a lasting settlement must start from the sovereign equality and equal international status of the two sides, which in practice means two states.

The dispute matters beyond the island. It touches the guarantor system created in 1960, EU–Türkiye relations, NATO cohesion, UN peacekeeping and the energy and maritime questions covered in our guide to Blue Homeland and the Eastern Mediterranean.

Background

1959–1960: Zurich, London and the partnership republic

The 1960 Republic of Cyprus was created by agreements reached in Zurich (11 February 1959) between the Greek and Turkish prime ministers and in London (19 February 1959) with the United Kingdom and the two Cypriot communities. Before that, the island had been under Ottoman rule from 1571 to 1878 and then British administration, which was recognised internationally at Lausanne in 1923. In the 1950s, the Greek Cypriot goal of ENOSIS (union with Greece) and the armed campaign of EOKA, founded in 1955 under Colonel Georgios Grivas, met Turkish Cypriot demands for protection and, increasingly, partition (taksim). Turkish sources say Turkish Cypriots left 33 mixed villages between 1955 and 1958.

The settlement rested on three treaties and a constitution:

• Treaty of Establishment: set up the Republic and kept two British Sovereign Base Areas (Akrotiri and Dhekelia).
• Treaty of Guarantee: Article I obliges Cyprus to maintain its independence, territorial integrity, security and constitutional order, and prohibits union with any other state and partition. Article II names Türkiye, Greece and the UK as guarantors. Article IV provides for consultation and, where concerted action is not possible, reserves to each guarantor the right to take action 'with the sole aim of re-establishing the state of affairs created by the present Treaty'.
• Treaty of Alliance: allowed contingents of 950 Greek and 650 Turkish troops on the island.
• 1960 Constitution: a Greek Cypriot President and a Turkish Cypriot Vice-President, each with separate vetoes over foreign affairs, defence and security. It also set a 70:30 ratio in the House of Representatives and public service, a 60:40 ratio in the army, and separate communal chambers.

The Republic became independent on 16 August 1960.

1963–1964: constitutional crisis, violence and Resolution 186

On 30 November 1963, President Makarios proposed 13 constitutional amendments, among them ending the Vice-President's veto, unifying municipalities and reducing Turkish Cypriot proportions in public service. The Turkish Cypriot leadership and Ankara rejected them as dismantling the partnership. Greek Cypriot officials presented the proposals as a way to remove obstacles to a functioning state.

On 21 December 1963, fighting broke out in Nicosia ('Bloody Christmas', Kanlı Noel). Turkish and Turkish Cypriot sources describe a coordinated attack carried out under the so-called Akritas Plan, which they say led to the expulsion of roughly 30,000 Turkish Cypriots from 103 villages and their removal from state institutions. Greek Cypriot sources generally describe inter-communal conflict, dispute that the plan was implemented as an ethnic-cleansing blueprint, and say Turkish Cypriot officials withdrew from government. On 30 December 1963, a ceasefire line separated parts of Nicosia, which became known as the Green Line.

On 4 March 1964, UN Security Council Resolution 186 called on 'the Government of Cyprus' to maintain law and order and recommended a peacekeeping force. UNFICYP was established later that month. The Greek Cypriot side and most states read the text as recognising the Republic's continuing legal government. Ankara argues that it gave one community's administration the status of the state, which entrenched a structural asymmetry.

1974: the coup and the Peace Operation

On 15 July 1974, the Greek military junta and the Cyprus National Guard's Greek officers overthrew Makarios and installed Nicos Sampson, a former EOKA fighter. On 20 July 1974, Türkiye launched what it calls the Cyprus Peace Operation, invoking Article IV of the Treaty of Guarantee after consulting the United Kingdom, which did not take part. A second phase followed on 14 August after the Geneva talks failed. The junta in Athens fell on 23–24 July 1974.

UN Security Council Resolution 353 (20 July 1974) called for a ceasefire and the withdrawal of foreign military personnel present other than under international agreements. Resolution 360 (16 August 1974) recorded disapproval of unilateral military actions. The operation left about 36–37% of the island under Turkish Cypriot administration. Commonly cited estimates put the number of displaced Greek Cypriots at 160,000–200,000, and tens of thousands of Turkish Cypriots also moved north. Both communities still carry unresolved missing-persons and property cases.

1975–1983: from federation principles to the TRNC

In 1975, the Turkish Federated State of Cyprus was declared. The 1977 Makarios–Denktaş High-Level Agreement and the 1979 Kyprianou–Denktaş agreement set the basis of a bicommunal, bizonal federation. On 15 November 1983, Rauf Raif Denktaş proclaimed the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). UN Security Council Resolution 541 (1983) called the declaration legally invalid and urged states not to recognise it, and Resolution 550 (1984) repeated that call. Only Türkiye recognises the TRNC. In 2022, the Turkish Cypriot State received observer status in the Organization of Turkic States.

The federation record: 2004 to 2017

The Annan Plan (fifth revision, March 2004) proposed a United Cyprus Republic of two constituent states, a rotating presidency and a continued guarantee system. It went to simultaneous referendums on 24 April 2004:

President Tassos Papadopoulos urged a 'no' vote, citing concerns about security arrangements, settlers, property and the durability of the settlement. Ankara and Turkish Cypriots point out that the community that said yes was left outside the EU's full acquis (Protocol 10 to the Accession Treaty suspends it in the north). The EU Council's 26 April 2004 conclusions pledged to end the isolation of the Turkish Cypriot community, but a proposed Direct Trade Regulation stalled. The Republic of Cyprus joined the EU on 1 May 2004.

Talks continued: the 2008–2012 leader-level negotiations, the February 2014 joint declaration and the 2015–2017 talks. At Crans-Montana (28 June–7 July 2017), under UN Secretary-General António Guterres, the five-party conference deadlocked over security and guarantees, troops and the 'effective participation' and rotating-presidency arrangements. Each side blamed the other. The Greek Cypriot side and Greece said Türkiye would not accept an end to guarantees and troops. The Turkish side said the Greek Cypriot side would not accept political equality, rotation or the continuation of the guarantee system.

2021–2025: Geneva, New York and a changing leadership

Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar was elected in October 2020 on a platform of a two-state settlement. At the informal enlarged '5+UN' meeting in Geneva (27–29 April 2021), Guterres said sufficient common ground did not exist to resume formal negotiations. Ankara and the TRNC presented sovereign equality and equal international status as the new starting point. Nicosia, Athens, the EU and the UN rejected a two-state basis.

Guterres hosted a trilateral meeting in New York on 15 October 2024 with Greek Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Tatar. The UN framed it as part of exploring whether conditions exist to resume talks. Ankara and the Turkish Cypriot leadership read it as confirming that no common ground exists for a federal model. Informal UN-hosted meetings continued in 2025. In October 2025, Turkish Cypriots elected Tufan Erhürman, who has favoured resuming negotiations on a federal basis with conditions on political equality, as their new leader. The positions described below are those of the governments and institutions, and readers should check for later developments.

Key Players & Positions

Republic of Cyprus (Greek Cypriot administration)

According to the Republic's foreign ministry and presidential statements, Cyprus is a sovereign, internationally recognised state and an EU member. It describes 1974 as an invasion and continuing occupation of about a third of its territory, and demands the withdrawal of Turkish troops and abolition of the guarantee system. It supports a UN-led solution based on a bicommunal, bizonal federation with political equality, as set out in Security Council resolutions, and rejects any two-state or confederal arrangement.

Greece

Greece's foreign ministry supports the same UN framework, backs the Republic of Cyprus's positions and calls for a settlement without guarantees and without unilateral Turkish intervention rights. Athens argues that the Treaty of Guarantee preserved independence and territorial integrity, and that Article IV did not authorise the use of force or partition. Greece also condemns the 1974 coup and has prosecuted junta leaders.

The United Nations

United Nations Security Council resolutions, notably 1251 (1999), describe a settlement as a 'State of Cyprus' with a single sovereignty, single international personality and single citizenship, comprising two politically equal communities in a bicommunal, bizonal federation. Resolutions 541 and 550 deem the TRNC declaration invalid. UNFICYP, established in 1964, still patrols the buffer zone. The Secretary-General has consistently supported resuming talks on the agreed basis and has not endorsed a two-state basis.

The European Union

The EU treats the whole island as EU territory, with the acquis suspended in areas where the Republic does not exercise effective control. Council and European Council conclusions support a comprehensive settlement within the UN framework, consistent with Security Council resolutions and the principles on which the EU is founded. EU institutions have rejected a two-state solution.

The United Kingdom

The UK is a guarantor, holds the Sovereign Base Areas and supports a UN-facilitated settlement. It did not take military action in 1974. London has taken part in the enlarged informal meetings as a guarantor.

Turkish Cypriot leadership

The TRNC government and its presidency, in Tatar's term, presented sovereign equality and equal international status as the basis for any further process, and cited the 2004 vote as proof of Turkish Cypriot willingness to settle. The newly elected leadership favours a negotiated federal approach with firm conditions, which shows that the community's positions are not static.

Source Comparison

When reading media on Cyprus, check which of three things a source is describing: treaty text (Zurich, London, Guarantee), UN resolutions, or a party's interpretation. Our Editorial Principles explain how we attribute claims, and the Fact Check Arena tests individual claims against primary sources.

Key Terms & Related Guides

• ENOSIS: the Greek Cypriot nationalist goal of union with Greece, which the Treaty of Guarantee prohibits.
• EOKA / EOKA-B: Greek Cypriot armed organisations, the first founded in 1955 under Grivas.
• Taksim: partition, a Turkish Cypriot objective in the 1950s.
• Treaty of Guarantee: the 1960 treaty among Cyprus, Greece, Türkiye and the UK; Article IV reserves a right of action for guarantors.
• Bicommunal, bizonal federation (BBF): the UN-endorsed settlement model: two politically equal communities within two constituent states under a federal government.
• Sovereign equality and equal international status: the Turkish and Turkish Cypriot formula for a settlement based on two states.
• Green Line / buffer zone: the UN-patrolled separation line.
• Protocol 10: the 2004 EU protocol suspending the acquis in areas not under the Republic's control.
• UNFICYP: the UN peacekeeping force established in 1964.

Related guides: Blue Homeland and the Eastern Mediterranean, The Seville Map Explained, The 2019 Türkiye–Libya Maritime Memorandum, Editorial Principles and Fact Check Arena.

Diplomacy Arena presents Türkiye's official perspective and legal theses alongside the counter-arguments of other parties, and clearly labels analysis as distinct from reporting. Claims are attributed to primary sources such as treaty texts, UN documents, official statements and archival records, with links provided wherever available.

Cross-Publication Dossiers & Sister Desk Perspectives

For complementary primary-source analysis across our specialist editorial network, consult:

• World Agenda Review: The Cyprus Issue: 1960 Treaty of Guarantee, Federation Talks and the Two-State Solution — Cyprus issue explained: from the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee and 1974 to failed federation talks, with UN, EU and Greek views and Türkiye's two-state position.
• The Global Anatomy: The Cyprus Issue Explained: 1960 Treaty of Guarantee and the Sovereign Equal Two-State Solution — Cyprus issue explained: from the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee to 1963, 1974 and the TRNC, plus every party's position and Türkiye's two-state solution case.
• Political Ledger: The Cyprus Issue: 1960 Treaty of Guarantee, Turkish Cypriot Equality and the Two-State Doctrine — Cyprus issue 1960 Treaty of Guarantee two-state solution explained: from EOKA and 1963 to 1974, the TRNC, failed federation talks, and each side's case.