Cyprus, an island in the Mediterranean Sea, saw 2 big waves of Greek population 3500 years ago; these people came in for trade and settled in huge numbers.
But because of its strategic location, Cyprus kept being targeted by invaders, and every few hundred years, the rulers changed; in 1570, Cyprus came under the rule of the Ottoman Empire (Turkish).
This brought a lot of Turkish people to Cyprus, many Greeks were killed but they were still the majority.
Then in 1878, Britain took control of Cyprus and it remained so until 1960 when the island proclaimed its independence.
However, Greek & Turkish populations had different visions for independent Cyprus – the Greek Cypriots wanted to unify Cyprus with Greece, while Turkish Cypriots wanted to divide the island between Greek and Turkey.
And this had been a cause of sour relations and violence both in Cyprus, where Turks were a minority, and in Turkey, where Greeks were a minority.
In 1974, the Greek Cypriot leaders gave up the ‘unification with Greece’ agenda but their government was overthrown by Cypriot National Guard, who wanted unification; violence was back and the Turkish Cypriots were attacked.
Turkey wasn’t happy and, after trying negotiations through the US diplomacy, attacked Cyprus and took occupation of 40% (northern part) of Cyprus.
This divided the island of Cyprus into 2 parts: the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (not recognized globally) & the Republic of Cyprus, and added complexity to the already complex geography of the region.
Now, recently the Republic of Cyprus found huge natural gas reserves in the rich waters of Cyprus; this prompted its partners – Greece, Israel, and Egypt – to work together & profit from this discovery.
Because 40% of Cyprus is occupied by Turkey, it has always argued that Cyprus’ natural resources should be shared; this is one part of the problem.
The other part is that 160+ inhabited islands, spread across the Mediterranean, are a part of Greece and some of these islands are just off Turkey’s shore.
Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, a coastal nation has complete rights over waters and natural resources for up to 370 kms from its shore.
So, while Greece claims sole rights on the waters of these islands, Turkey doesn’t agree to this Convention and argues that a country’s claims should be measured from its mainland.
Early this year, Turkey start drilling to the west of Cyprus and announced that it plans to go further; thus escalating tensions with Greece, Cyprus, Egypt, and a few other European countries.
