Cyprus Demands Self Determination

The 1940s were tumultuous in terms of world history. However, they were also pivotal in shaping the destiny of Cyprus, Britain's solitary colony in the eastern Mediterranean, the easterly outpost of Hellenism and the battleground for one of the bloodiest emergencies in British imperial history (late 1950s). Accordingly, this book has two main objectives. The first is to trace the formulation of British colonial policy towards Cyprus, which resulted in the offer of limited constitutional reform in 1947. The second is to explore the contrasting responses of the left and right wings of the Greek Cypriot majority. The book argues that London's policy was driven by the perceived need to perpetuate British sovereignty. This overriding aim conditioned all attempts at constitutional reform. It had the effect of driving a wedge between these two Cypriot wings. The Right consistently demanded immediate self-determination (i.e. enosis) while the Left adopted a moderate stance, accepting self-government as a staging post on the road towards self-determination. The product of extensive archival research as well as interviews with veterans of the era, this book fills a glaring void in the English language literature on the history of Cyprus and of the empire it once formed part.

This account of Turkish policy towards Cyprus since the 1950s was first published in Greece to considerable critical acclaim. What makes the book of such particular interest is the author's detailed study, often from primary sources, of Turkish ambitions to create a 'legal' basis for the Turkish Cypriots' demand for separate self-determination and sovereignty. The often painful consequences of cultivating mistrust between the Turkish and Greek Cypriot population are fully explained. The author also considers the implications of creating reunification of Cyprus as a bi-communal member state of the European Union, where the human rights of all Cypriots are fully safeguarded.

The United Nations has rarely been given a fair hearing with regard to its work in Cyprus. Despite competing demands for its limited resources being challenged by the local parties and at the mercy of contradictory political directions at the international level, the UN has actually achieved more than is generally realized. This is the first volume to critically appraise all the major areas of the UN's peacekeeping, peacemaking, and peace building activities in Cyprus.

I found Adel Saftys The Cyprus Question: Diplomacy and International Law, to be a concise and authoritative text on Cyprus, starting from its ancient history up to the Greek Cypriot EU accession and the referenda on the Annan Plan. This book is an excellent resource on the Cyprus narrative, which tells the whole story as it is, from all angles. A must for anyone interested in the truth about the islands peoples and the events that shaped its present day condition. Madam Justice Gnl Ernen of the Turkish Cypriot Supreme Court