THE CYPRUS EXPERIENCE

THE ZURICH AND LONDON AGREEMENTS AND THE 1960 CONSTITUTION Overview Ruled by the British since 1878, Cyprus officially became a Crown Colony in 1925. By 1955, approximately four-fifths of the local population comprised Greek Cypriots and approximately one-fifth comprised Turkish Cypriots. In 1955, the Greek Cypriots rose in armed struggle against the British and demanded Union with Greece. The British procured the involvement of Turkey in the overall dispute. Ultimately, on 11 February 1959, the Greek and Turkish Governments reached the so-called Zurich Agreement in an attempt to resolve the crisis. The 1960 Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus has its roots in the Zurich Agreement, which in turn was incorporated in the agreements reached between the Greek and Turkish Governments and that of the United Kingdom at a Conference in London on 19 February 1959. On that date also the representatives of the Greek and Turkish Communities of Cyprus “accepted” the accords reached. Eventually these agreements were embod- ied in three treaties and a Constitution, usually called the 1960 or Zurich Constitution, which were all duly signed in Nicosia on 16 August 1960 and thus became the legal framework of the Republic of Cyprus. 9 Was the Zurich and London settlement an imposed one, or was it freely accepted by the Greek and Turkish Cypriots? 10 On this, traditionally one of 9  See Polyviou, Cyp r us: Conflict and Negotiation 1960-1980 (1980); Soulioti, Fettered Independence: Cyprus, 1878-1964 (2006). 10  See Soulioti, supra , Polyviou, Cyprus on the Edge , supra , Ehrlich, Cyprus 1958-1967 (1974). 9