Cyprus

Cyprus is an island divided; the northern third of the island is Turkish in ethnicity and Islamic in [Page 274]religion, while the larger Greek south is dominated by the Church of Cyprus, an autocephalous institution based on Greek Orthodoxy. The two regions are governed separately and generally treated separately by sociologists. Greeks account for 77% of the Mediterranean island's entire population, with Turks constituting 18%, and both groups residing almost entirely in their respective territories. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is 98% Sunnī Muslim, while allegiance to the Church of Cyprus characterizes 95% of the Republic of Cyprus (the only ruling party officially recognized by many foreign nations). While maintaining its relationship with the Greek Orthodox Church, the Church of Cyprus has played a significant role in the history of the island, supplying the first president of the republic and providing a focal point of unification for Greek Cypriots seeking enosis.

With settlements on Cyprus from around 5800 BCE, the island's substantial copper reserves and position as a crossroads of trade between three continents led to its prominence in early history. Home of the cult of Aphrodite and ruled by the Roman statesman Cicero for a time, Cyprus was visited by the Apostle Paul and Barnabas, who were successful in Christianizing much of the island. That visit had profound ramifications for the history of Cyprus as well as the Christian faith; Paul and Barnabas converted the Proconsul of Paphos, the first Christian of noble birth, and the discovery of the Tomb of Barnabas in the fifth century resulted in the autocephalous status of the Church of Cyprus. Cypriots became part of the Byzantine Empire under Constantine and remained thus until Muawiyah, then emir of Syria and later caliph, attacked in the middle of the seventh century, beginning 300 years of turmoil and the destruction of Cyprus's Christian churches. Richard the Lionheart freed the island during the Third Crusade and used it as a strategic base before selling it to the Knights Templar, who in turn sold the island to Guy de Lusignan in 1192. Under Lusignan's brother, the Roman Catholic Church was awarded Cyprian lands, and Pope Alexander IV signed a bull declaring Cyprus to be under the Roman Catholic Church, a fact largely ignored by the island's inhabitants.

Again becoming a strategic base against the Islamic empire and under Venetian control after mismanagement in the 15th century, Cyprus fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1571 and remained a part of that empire until the British claimed it in 1878 out of fears of Russian occupation. The British advocated for the existence of an independent Cypriot nation amid outcries for union with Greece, which had echoed for centuries prior to their arrival. Cyprus was offered to the Greek nation in exchange for their assistance during World War I, but this offer was declined in favor of Greece's continuing neutrality. The constitution during British rule required three Muslims to be installed on the 12-person legislative council, but the Church of Cyprus was able to regain control of the Greekspeaking Cypriots during British reign. Cyprus gained independence as a unified nation in 1960, though daily life was still de facto segregated. In 1974, a military coup in Greece attempted to overthrow the first president of the Republic, Archbishop Makarios III. Turkey responded to the threat to its people with military invasion and, when the junta was overthrown, used their presence on the island to negotiate for control of the part of Cyprus now known as the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. In spite of the island's difficult past, as of the 21st century, their economy has recovered and the societies have stabilized, though the border is still rigorously patrolled on both sides.

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