The conflict has emerged between Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities as a result of the disagreements on governance of the 1960 Republic. Because of the geostrategic importance of the island and the necessity to provide balance of power in the region, the conflict has become an international concern with the involvement of external powers. This study provides an important analysis on the origins of the conflict, the different interests of the involving actors, and the international environment during different periods of the conflict.
The study has been divided into two main parts: firstly a section on the theoretical reasons, followed by an analysis of the political results of the "actors's noncompliance with the 1960 Constitution and Treaties" and the "political disagreements" between actors which emerged from their legal positions. In the first part, neo-realist and realist theories have been used to explain the incompatibility of the acts of disputants and the reasons behind political disagreements between the actors. In the second part, the political result of these incompatibilities are explained: the non-recognition of a unilaterally declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus by the international community. And then, political results of the disagreements between the disputants of the Cyprus conflict are examined categorically: (1) Turkey's non-recognition of the Republic of Cyprus and Turkish military presence, (2) the Republic of Cyprus's eligibility for EU membership, (3) the unification of the island and (4) the Ankara Agreement between Turkey and the EU, to show the results of political difficulties that emerged from the legal positions of the disputants within the conflict and to show how the different objectives of the involving actors blocked the political process and prevented the peaceful settlement of the Cyprus dispute.
Deniz Sonalp is a correspondent in Brussels with the Anatolia Agency.
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