America, Britain and the Cyprus Crisis of 1974: Calculated Conspiracy or Foreign Policy Failure?

America, Britain and the Cyprus Crisis of 1974: Calculated Conspiracy or Foreign Policy Failure?

America, Britain and the Cyprus Crisis of 1974 fills a vital gap in the current literature and hopes to aid our understanding and knowledge of a crisis which thrust a small island in the Eastern Mediterranean into the spotlight of international affairs. 

By examining recently released and declassified government documents, Dr. Andreas Constandinos examines the roles of Britain and the United States during the Cyprus crisis of 1974, focusing on the background to, and circumstances of, the Greek-sponsored coup which overthrew President Makarios and was subsequently used as a pretext for the Turkish invasion of the island. Thirty-five years later, Cyprus remains divided and Nicosia remains the world’s last divided capital city.

The relevance and importance of the ‘Cyprus Problem’ continues to resonate today, as Turkey’s bid to join the European Union is largely dependent upon a solution and settlement being reached on Cyprus; for the purpose of Turkey’s accession, the Cyprus Problem is largely defined by the ill-fated events of 1974. It is suggested that for the two communities on Cyprus to be able to reach an agreement on the future of their island, many questions about the summer of 1974 need to be satisfactorily and, where possible, conclusively answered.

This book sets out to test some of the claims of collusion, vis-à-vis the coup against Makarios and the subsequent Turkish invasion, made against both Whitehall and more frequently Washington. The presence of the two large British Sovereign Base Areas on the island, apparent American dislike of Archbishop Makarios, US tolerance and even support of military rule in Greece and the existence of both British and American plans to partition the island, have fostered the belief that there existed a conspiracy to topple Makarios and partition the island.

To what extent was America and/or Britain involved in the coup against Makarios? How important were the personalities of British Foreign Secretary James Callaghan and US Secretary of State Dr. Henry Kissinger in the development of US and British policy-making during the crisis? Did Kissinger want to overthrow Makarios to neutralize the perceived Communist threat to the island and thereby safeguard Cyprus’ strategic location? To what extent, if any, did America and/or Britain oppose Turkey’s invasion of the island? Or did America and/or Britain collude with Turkey’s military operation in order to safeguard part of the island for NATO access? Essentially, the book hopes to ascertain whether America and/or Britain were responsible for the events of 1974 by virtue of acts of omission or commission.