Cyprus 1974: Anatomy of an Invasion

Conventional wisdom and ideologies hold that responsibility for the partition of the Republic of Cyprus in the wake of Turkey’s multiple advances on the island in summer 1974 rests on domestic ethnic and religious tensions between the Turks and the Greeks. This book, drawing on a wealth of archival material, shows that this is not the case at all. As the detailed report of the United Nations mediator, Galo Plaza, had shown in 1965, the Turks and the Greeks living on the island could easily have co-existed if left alone to determine their future. This did not happen. The partition of the island had been inscribed in NATO’s policy since the 1950s, rewarding the strongest component of NATO’s southern flank, Turkey, at the expense of Greece, the weaker component. The volume details the role of CIA agents in Greece and the machinations of the Greek junta of Dimitrios Ioannides to overthrow the charismatic leader of Cyprus, Archbishop Makarios, who had been fighting for an independent and non-aligned Cyprus. It also explains how the partition of Cyprus in 1974 has opened up prospects for the partition of the Aegean Sea between Greece and Turkey, with Greece’s eastern Aegean islands becoming ’NATOlands’ in the service of the war against Russia.

The volume is an essential reading for researchers and students of the history and politics of Cyprus, Greece, Turkey and south-eastern Europe.

Vassilis K. Fouskas is a Professor of International Politics & Economics and Co-Director of the research centre for the study of States, Markets & People (STAMP) at the Royal Docks School of Business & Law, University of East London. He is the founding editor of the Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies (Routledge-Taylor & Francis, 8 issues a year, since 1998). His work has been translated into more than 10 languages.

William D. E. Mallinson, a former diplomat, taught international history and history of ideas in many Universities in Britain, Italy and Greece for decades. He holds a PhD in history from the London School of Economics and he is considered one of the foremost authorities on the Cyprus issue. He shares his time between London, Paris and Athens.