and Turkish Cypriots, thereby thwarting integrative tendencies and encouraging divisive behavior between the two communities. The agreements provided for complex power sharing arrangements between the two communities (the Greek Cypriot numerical majority community of 82 percent of the population and the Turkish Cypriot numerical minority community of 18 percent of the population) and granted extraordinary veto powers to the Turkish Cypriot community. The three guarantor powers (Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom) were given vaguely defined rights to interfere in Cypriot affairs under certain conditions. In addition, the United Kingdom retained “sovereign base areas” that amount to 2.7 percent of the territory of the island as well as important intelligence gathering facilities, while Greece and Turkey were to station small military contingents (numbering 950 and 650 troops respectively) on the island. The divisive nature of the Constitution and the rigidity of its principal articles made the operation of a democratic government difficult and caused increasing acrimony between Greek and Turkish Cypriots. The Constitution soon proved unworkable. By 1963, a series of deadlocks over state budgets, taxation, municipalities, and other issues led to a constitutional crisis that threatened to paralyse the operation of the Government and the state4. * The President of the Republic of Cyprus felt compelled to propose on 30 November certain constitutional modifications for discussion, which were intended to “remove obstacles to the smooth functioning and development of the state.” The government of Turkey, however, outright rejected the suggested constitutional amendments. The Turkish Cypriot leadership followed suit and subsequently fell in line with Turkey’s long-term policy to partition the island. The Vice-President of the Republic of Cyprus, who was a Turkish Cypriot, declared on 30 December 1963 that the Cypriot constitution was dead and there was no possibility of Greek and Turkish Cypriots living and working together. “Call it partition if you like,” he told the foreign media. The atmosphere on Cyprus became tense and volatile. Relations between the two communitiesdeteriorated as a series of events snowballed into a crisis extending beyond the borders of Cyprus. Isolated minor incidents escalated into intercommunal clashes. Turkish Cypriots from around the island, under pressure from their leadership, started concentrating into certain areas, in line with Turkey’s policy to form Turkish enclaves under its control in order to separate the two communities as a first step toward the partition of Cyprus along ethnic lines. The Turkish Cypriot Ministers withdrew from the Government, the Turkish Cypriot 4 See Stanley Kyriakides, Cyprus: Constitutionalism and Crisis Government (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1968). The Cyprus Question| A brief Introduction 27
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MzU4MTg0