Cyprus Introduction

HE REPUBLIC OF CYPRUS came into being on August 16, 1960. The reluctant republic, as it has often been termed, was seen as a necessary compromise by Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, the two peoples who would live within it, and the three foreign powers who had been parties to its creation. Greek Cypriots preferred enosis, that is, the union of their island with the Greek motherland, rather than the creation of an independent state. Turkish Cypriots preferred that the island remain under British rule as it had been since 1878.