The World’s Last Divided Capital
Older readers likely remember when the Berlin Wall finally fell in 1989, signalling the de facto conclusion of the fifty-year long Cold War. Famous photographs and videos exist of Germans taking to the streets of Berlin and physically tearing the wall down to be re-united with friends, families, and countrymen. Although fragments of the Wall remain, in both personal collections and in central Berlin, its purpose has (much like the Wall itself) been shattered.
But there is still a city which has not yet been as fortunate as Berlin.
A map shows the current demarcation lines between Cyprus and the area invaded by Turkey. Credit: New World Encyclopedia
Nicosia lies in central Cyprus, just south of the Kyrenia Range mountains. Its 200,000 people live in a strange reality: the city is the world’s last divided capital. Across the island, and directly through Nicosia, stretches a UN buffer zone, also known as the “Green Line”, that keeps two opposing sides of an armed conflict apart. Curiously, however, it wasn’t the result of a civil war - it was actually a full-scale invasion by Turkey that took place.
In the mid-1950’s Cyprus existed as a British colony consisting of both an ethnic Greek majority, and ethnic Turkish minority, Cypriots. The island’s independence came when demonstrations against British colonial rule turned violent - with a series of bombing attacks and riots, lasting for approximately two years, eventually leading to an agreement being reached that declared Cyprus an independent republic (though two British military bases remain).
But independence was not the only goal of the Cypriot population. Enosis, or the incorporation of Cyprus as a part of Greece, had been deeply ingrained into the movement of the pro-independence population - even after its leader, the later president Makarios, dropped it from negotiations with the British. By 1974, a coup d’etat in Athens, Greece, placed a fiercely anti-communist and former Cypriot National Guard military leader (Dimitrios Ioannides) in power. Ioannides held close suspicions of Makarios due to his left-wing support in Cyprus and visits to the capitals of communist nations. Under the instruction of Greek military officers, the Cypriot national guard staged their own coup, overthrowing Makarios and seeking to establish enosis under Nikos Sampson, the new president of Cyprus.
To the north, the Turkish government found itself unhappy with the events unfolding in Cyprus. In their eyes, the Turkish minority of Cyprus were being oppressed under a military junta that was forcing them to be a part of a nation they held no allegiance to. Turkish government sources state that Turkish Cypriots were even forced from their homes into refugee camps and forced to survive in a state of violence they were unable to influence the outcome of.
Turkish troops make landfall in Cyprus. Credit: Lobby for Cyprus
Merely five days after Nikos Sampson took office, the Turkish military invaded the northern coast of Cyprus, conquering a mere 3% of the island before agreeing to a ceasefire organised by the UN Security Council. But this ceasefire was short-lived. One month later, by as early as the second round of negotiations, the Turkish military had gone back on the offensive, advancing to claim nearly 40% of the island. The newly drafted ceasefire reflects the current UN-defined and enforced Green Line that runs through Nicosia. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was later declared as a sovereign state, though it is recognised by no UN member state aside from Turkey.
To this day, UN forces remain in Cyprus to enforce the ceasefire line, which continues to leave Nicosia as the world’s last divided capital city. The future for this city - and entire island - are not clear. Although little progress has been made to reunify, and remove Turkish troops from the island, relations have slowly improved over time. Humanitarian aid has been allowed to be carried out, and in 2008, more border crossing points were opened by both parties. But with the ever-uncertain nature of Turkish politics, it' remains to be seen what happens with the diplomatic Rubik’s cube that is modern Nicosia.
TAI Score: Degree 2. While the situation has changed little since 1974, so has the emergence of its solution. The island remains divided and a source of tension between two NATO allies. The increasingly authoritarian rule of Erdogan has done little to remedy the situation. While the growth of tensions is currently not on the horizon, risk assessors should remain wary and vigilant.
