Cyprus (1974)

The island of Cyprus was recognized as an independent republic in August 1960. However, there had long been divisions between the two dominant ethno-linguistic communities on the island (Greek and Turkish) and differing views on whether the island should be independent or be annexed to other countries was the cause of sporadic violence throughout the late 1950s and 1960s. There were multiple attempts to mediate the conflict, involving guarantees by the Governments of Greece, Türkiye and the former colonial authority, the UK. The UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus was created in 1964 to prevent further outbreaks of intercommunal violence (S/RES/186). Throughout this period, GA resolutions frequently encouraged mediation efforts and good offices, and non-interference in Cyprus by external actors on all sides.¹

On 15 July 1974, “a coup d’état was carried out against the President of Cyprus”² by “the National Guard, under the direction of Greek officers”, according to UN sources.³ Five days later, Türkiye launched a “military intervention”, which led to “full-scale hostilities between the National Guard of Cyprus on one side and the Turkish Army and Turkish Cypriot fighters on the other”.⁴ This resulted in the de facto division of Cyprus between Turkish Cypriots in the north and Greek Cypriots in the south that remains to the present. On 16 August 1974, the SC expressed its grave concern regarding the deteriorating situation, which represented a threat to peace and security in the Mediterranean (S/RES/360). It recorded its “formal disapproval of the unilateral military actions undertaken” and urged parties to comply with prior resolutions, withdraw foreign military personnel and return to peaceful negotiations (ibid.). The GA then echoed many of these points in its resolution on the matter: in resolution 3212 (XXIX) adopted on 1 November 1974, the GA urged the “speedy withdrawal of all foreign armed forces … from the Republic of Cyprus and the cessation of all foreign interference in its affairs”, and called for reinforcing good offices and efforts to find a peaceful solution, as well as efforts to strengthen the peacekeeping force and humanitarian efforts (A/RES/3212(XXIX)). Following the 1974 GA debate, the SC unanimously endorsed the resolution (S/RES/365).

The GA remained seized with the issue in subsequent decades, and in 1977 requested the establishment of an investigatory body with the participation of the Red Cross to speedily resolve the issue of missing persons in Cyprus.⁵ Later in 1983, the GA expressed support for intercommunal talks and 1977–1979 agreements considered the withdrawal of all occupation forces from the Republic of Cyprus as an essential basis for the solution of the problem, and called for the respect of freedom of settlement and right to property.⁶