The international community has a deep aversion to attempts by territories to break away
and form their own countries.
Such efforts are - with a few notable exceptions - usually met with strong opposition.
One of the most important examples of this came in November 1983,
when Northern Cyprus unilaterally declared independence.
In this video, I'm going to look at the events leading up to the Turkish separate declaration of independence
and explore the international reactions to the decision.
As I'll show, 40 years later these continue to have a profound effect on the Turkish Cypriot community
and their interaction with the wider world.
[MUSIC]
Hello. My name is James Ker-Lindsay.
Welcome to 'Independent Thinking'.
A channel dedicated to international relations, statehood, secession and the origins of countries.
If there is one overriding theme of this channel, it's that states really don't like unilateral acts of secession.
Usually, attempts by territories to break away will be met with widespread opposition.
In the most serious cases, it will even lead to formal censure and a decision not to accept the new entity
- a step known as 'collective non-recognition'.
One of the most significant examples of such collective non-recognition occurred in November 1983,
when the Turkish Cypriots announced the creation of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
- often abbreviated to the TRNC, or more simply known as Northern Cyprus.
The international reaction to the move was swift and unequivocal.
In the days and months that followed, the UN Security Council passed two resolutions
condemning the move in no uncertain terms.
To this day, these resolutions remain two of the strongest UN statements against an act of secession
in modern international relations.
Moreover, the effects of these resolutions was so powerful
that they continue to be felt by the Turkish Cypriots.
So, how did the Turkish Cypriots declare independence?
As with most other conflicts, there's a long and highly contested history behind the dispute.
However, for our purposes the story really starts in 1960,
when Cyprus became independent after just over 80 years of British colonial rule.
I showed how this happened in another video.
I put a link to it above and in the description below.
As part of the agreement underpinning independence, a complex power sharing agreement was put in place
between the majority Greek Cypriot community, representing 78% of the population,
and the Turkish Cypriot community, which made up 18% of the island's inhabitants.
However, three years after the Republic of Cyprus was established,
the constitutional arrangements started to break down.
This led to serious fighting in late 1963,
and the subsequent creation of the United Nations peacekeeping force on the island, in March 1964.
Ten years later, in July 1974, conflict erupted again when the military regime in Greece overthrew
the Cypriot government as part of a plan to try to annex the island.
In response, Turkey invaded Cyprus under the terms of an agreement signed at the time of the island's
independence that gave it - along with Greece and Britain -
responsibility for defending the island's independence and sovereignty.
By the middle of August 1974, when the final ceasefire was called,
36 percent of the island lay under Turkish and Turkish Cypriot control.
I won't go into any more detail about these specific events here.
However, I certainly plan to come back to them in another video.
Although the right of intervention was explicitly based on securing a return to the situation established under
the terms of independence, Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots now call for a new political structure for Cyprus
based on a federal model.
Importantly, this new federal model for a settlement was subsequently accepted by the Greek Cypriots.
It was also confirmed by the UN Security Council and by the wider international community.
Although the United Nations continued to hold talks aimed at reunification, little progress was made.
While the Turkish Cypriots had formally accepted the principle of a federal settlement
many felt that their leader Rauf Denktash - widely known for his hardline nationalist positions -
had little interest in reaching a deal on the island's reunification.
Meanwhile, the Cypriot government, which was now exclusively controlled by the Greek Cypriot community,
increased its diplomatic efforts to have the division of the island recognized
as a case of invasion and occupation by Turkey.
This campaign came to fruition when, on 13 May 1983,
the United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 37/253.
While not naming Turkey directly,
the resolution reaffirmed the inadmissibility of occupation and acquisition of territory by force;
deplored the fact that part of the territory of the Republic of Cyprus was still occupied by foreign forces;
and demanded the immediate withdrawal of all occupation forces.
Crucially, it also affirmed the right of the Republic of Cyprus and its people
to full and effective sovereignty and control over the entire territory of Cyprus.
Denktash was livid about the resolution.
In an interview in The Times, a British newspaper,
he announced that he intended to present a declaration to the Turkish Cypriot Assembly
creating an independent Turkish state.
At first, few seemed particularly worried about the threat to formally secede.
The Turkish Cypriot leader had said such things before.
However, by late summer, there was a sense that he was serious.
Not only was talk of secession continuing,
Denktas was becoming increasingly difficult and demanding in the UN reunification talks.
The United States and a number of European countries
now tried to persuade Turkey to stop the Turkish Cypriot leader from seceding.
For example, the United Kingdom in its capacity as a guarantor of Cypriot sovereignty and independence,
emphasized that any declaration of independence would be contrary to the 1960 treaties
establishing the Republic of Cyprus.
However, the Turkish government, while insisting that it too opposed a declaration of independence,
and that it understood the consequences of such a step, nevertheless made it clear that there was little
that they could do to stop the Turkish Cypriots if independence was their goal.
More to the point, it was clear that Turkish political attention was elsewhere.
At the time, the country was in the midst of transitioning back to civilian rule
three years after a military coup had taken place.
Indeed, this provided the Turkish Cypriots with the absolutely ideal moment to take action.
On the morning of 15 November 1983, just days before the formation of a new government in Turkey,
the Turkish Cypriot Assembly passed a resolution establishing the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
Although, the declaration of independence apparently took the outgoing Turkish government by surprise,
it nevertheless recognized the TRNC as an independent state that same day.
However, internationally the decision to unilaterally declare independence was met with widespread anger.
The Turkish Cypriot decision was quickly condemned by the Cypriot government
as well as by Britain and Greece - the other two guarantors of Cypriot independence.
In addition, the United States and various European countries also rejected the Turkish Cypriot move.
So too did many Commonwealth countries.
Interestingly, the diplomatic record showed that the Soviet Union and various Eastern European countries
were a little slower to react - but they soon lined up to condemn the move as well.
Meanwhile, concerted diplomatic efforts began to persuade any countries tempted to recognize
the Turkish Cypriot declaration of independence, not to do so.
The chief area of concern lay with various Muslim countries,
which Denktash was known to believe would be willing to accept a Turkish Cypriot state.
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Libya, Malaysia were identified as potential recognizers.
However, such worries proved to be unfounded.
Within days, most of them had affirmed their support for Cyprus's territorial integrity.
Interestingly, though, there was one exception.
In one of the more curious elements of the whole story, there's evidence to suggest that Bangladesh,
which had become independent a decade earlier following its own unilateral secession,
did in fact recognize the TRNC.
British diplomatic records suggest that it did so in the expectation that Pakistan, and then others,
would follow suit.
When it became clear that they wouldn't, the Bangladesh Government appeared to quietly withdraw the decision.
However, the key focus of efforts to prevent the TRNC from being recognized was at the United Nations.
By now, international opinion had galvanized against the Turkish Cypriots
and the threat of any further recognitions beyond Turkey had been averted.
Within days, the Security Council passed Resolution 541.
This not only called the declaration of independence legally invalid,
it also called on all states not to recognize any Cypriot state other than the Republic of Cyprus.
This was followed, six months later, in May 1984, by another resolution.
Prompted by the failure of the Turkish Cypriots to rescind their declaration of independence
and by the decision of Turkey and the TRNC to exchange ambassadors,
the Security Council now passed Resolution 550.
This not only reiterated calls for states not to recognize the "purported" "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus",
it now went further and called on them "not to facilitate or in any way assist the aforesaid secessionist entity".
These two resolutions would have a profound effect on the Turkish Cypriot community.
In the years that followed, they effectively ensured the political, economic, cultural, educational
and even sporting isolation of the Turkish Cypriots on the international stage.
In private, many Turkish Cypriots, even senior officials,
concede that the 1983 unilateral declaration of independence
was a disaster for the Turkish Cypriot community.
By formally declaring independence, despite repeated warnings not to do so,
it forced the international community to act and pass resolutions
that explicitly outlawed the Turkish Cypriot state and called on the international community not to assist it.
Had things remained as they were, where the Turkish Cypriots effectively existed as a de facto state,
but hadn't formally declared independence, many suspect that the passage of time would have made
cooperation between the Turkish Cypriots and the outside world progressively easier.
Of course, some will point to the fact that there has been a gradual easing of relations
between the Turkish Cypriots and the wider world;
especially since the Turkish Cypriots accepted a UN reunification plan in 2004
- a plan the Greek Cypriots rejected.
This is true; especially with regard to the Muslim world.
Nevertheless, many feel that the scale and scope of such interactions could have been far more extensive
without the UN resolutions in place.
More to the point, the resolutions also mean that no country has been willing to go that extra step
and recognize the TRNC as an independent state.
Again, many felt that this could have been a possibility after the 2004 failed reunification effort
had it not been for these two resolutions.
Looking ahead, there seems to be little chance that the situation will change
and that the resolutions will be rescinded.
Notwithstanding any sympathy that may exist for the Turkish Cypriots, there simply isn't any political value
for any permanent member of the Security Council to try to reverse them
- especially knowing that this would certainly not have the support of the rest of the members and that
any draft resolution to this effect would all but certainly be be vetoed by at least one other permanent member
Of course, we'll never know for sure what would have happened if the Turkish Cypriots
hadn't declared independence.
And, of course, we can't say for certain what will happen in the future.
However, what we can say for sure is that the widespread opposition
to the 1983 unilateral declaration of independence,
a step that violated the UN endorsed principles for the reunification of the island,
and which the Turkish Cypriots were repeatedly warned not to take,
has fundamentally affected the way in which Turkish Cypriots have engaged with the wider world
over the past 40 years.
Needless to say, I plan to do more on Cyprus in future videos
and so don't forget to subscribe and turn on the notifications if you want to see more.
In the meantime, here are some more videos that you might find interesting and useful.
Thanks so much for watching and see you in the next video.