Cyprus: Managing Ethnic Conflict Through Geographic Partitioning. ACSC Quick-Look 05-05
Abstract
The painful history of Cyprus in the second half of the 20th Century can serve as both a case study in war causation involving ethno-nationalism and as a conflict resolution strategy involving communal division as well as United Nations (UN) intervention. It offers for consideration in the current situation in Iraq a conflict resolution or Phase IV Stability Operations model centered on a partitioning of the target country. The 1974 Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus capped a ten year period of escalating inter-communal violence between the Greek-Cypriot majority and the island's Turkish minority. The past 30 years has witnessed a political and military impasse that allowed the ethno-nationalistic causes of the conflict to remain unaddressed, however, it has limited the violence between the Greek and Turkish communities on the island. The centerpiece of this impasse is the 180-kilometer long United Nations supervised cease-fire Green Line, initially established in 1964, which divided the island's population along ethnic lines. In a region marked by inter-communal violence it is possible to view the long-standing stalemate on Cyprus as a problem under control. This sense of partial resolution rests to a great degree on the fact that Cyprus was spared the problem of refugee populations languishing in the squalor of massive tent cities. Turkish refugees who fled to the north were housed through the sequestration of Greek Cypriot homes. The Greek Cypriot refugees that had been forcibly displaced by the Turkish invasion were rapidly housed through a massive construction program in the south. This effort and the military standoff along the Green Line allowed the international community to view Cyprus during the past 30 years as a low-level political and humanitarian problem.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2005
- Accession Number
- ADA430996
Entities
People
- Michael L. Grumelli
Organizations
- Air Command and Staff College