Cyprus Papers: The 1959–1960 Founding Documents Read Article by Article

Why It Matters

The Republic of Cyprus was created by a bundle of interlocking texts, not by one constitution: the Zurich and London Agreements of February 1959, the 1960 Constitution, and the Treaties of Establishment, Guarantee and Alliance signed on 16 August 1960. Together they set up a bi-communal partnership state with entrenched Turkish Cypriot rights, three guarantor powers and a British military presence. How these texts are read (as a partnership broken in 1963, or as a constitution that was unworkable and then amended by events) underlies every later dispute over Resolution 186, the 1974 intervention, the TRNC and the two-state debate.

This guide reads the founding documents clause by clause, states each side's position from its own official sources, and keeps fact and position separate. Primary texts are collected in the Primary Document Library; the sourcing method is explained in Editorial Principles.

Background

From Ottoman rule to the Zurich–London settlement

Cyprus passed from Ottoman to British administration under the 1878 Cyprus Convention. Britain annexed the island in 1914, and Türkiye recognised that annexation in Article 20 of the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne. The island became a Crown Colony in 1925.

From 1 April 1955, the EOKA organisation under Colonel Georgios Grivas campaigned for Enosis, union with Greece. Turkish Cypriots countered with a demand for taksim (partition). Turkish sources record that Turkish Cypriots left 33 mixed villages between 1955 and 1958. The Greek and Turkish prime ministers, Konstantinos Karamanlis and Adnan Menderes, agreed the basic structure at Zurich on 11 February 1959. The London conference, with the United Kingdom and the community leaders Archbishop Makarios III and Dr Fazıl Küçük, concluded on 19 February 1959. The two are usually cited together as the Zurich–London Agreements and dated in shorthand to 11 February 1959. Independence followed on 16 August 1960.

The 1960 Constitution: partnership by design

The Constitution has 160 articles plus annexes. Its architecture was deliberately consociational:

• Two communities, not a majority and a minority. Article 2 defines the Greek and Turkish communities. Greek and Turkish are both official languages (Article 3).
• A dual executive. The President is a Greek Cypriot elected by the Greek Cypriot community; the Vice President is a Turkish Cypriot elected by the Turkish Cypriot community (Article 1). The Council of Ministers has seven Greek Cypriot and three Turkish Cypriot members, and the Vice President's nominees take at least three posts.
• A final veto. Under Article 50, the President and Vice President each hold a separate and final veto over Council decisions and House laws on foreign affairs, defence and security. Article 57 extends a veto and a right of return to Council decisions.
• Fixed ratios. The 50-seat House of Representatives is split 35 Greek Cypriot and 15 Turkish Cypriot seats. The public service is split 70:30 (Article 123). The 2,000-strong army is 60:40 (Article 129) and the security forces 70:30 (Article 130).
• Separate majorities. Tax and electoral laws need separate simple majorities of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot members (Article 78).
• Communal institutions. Each community has a Communal Chamber, and the five largest towns have separate municipalities (Article 173).
• Entrenchment. The Basic Articles cannot be amended (Article 182). Article 185 excludes both union with another state and separatist independence. Article 181 gives the Treaties of Guarantee and Alliance constitutional force.

The three treaties

Treaty of Establishment (UK, Greece, Türkiye, Cyprus). The UK retained sovereignty over two Sovereign Base Areas, Akrotiri and Dhekelia, of about 99 square miles (roughly 256 km²). The treaty and its annexes set the terms of their use and the rights the UK retained on the rest of the island.

Treaty of Guarantee (Cyprus, Greece, Türkiye, UK). In Article I, Cyprus undertakes to maintain its independence, territorial integrity and security, and not to take part in any political or economic union with another state. In Article II, Greece, Türkiye and the UK recognise and guarantee the independence, territorial integrity and security of Cyprus and the state of affairs set out in the Basic Articles. They also prohibit any activity promoting union with another state or partition. Article IV is the operative clause (see the table below).

Treaty of Alliance (Cyprus, Greece, Türkiye). The three states undertook to cooperate for the common defence of Cyprus and created a Tripartite Headquarters in Nicosia. The treaty stationed a Greek contingent of 950 and a Turkish contingent of 650 on the island.

The clause table

From partnership to rupture, 1963–1964

Friction over the Article 173 municipalities, taxation and the army's ratios paralysed parts of government in 1961–63. On 30 November 1963, Makarios delivered a memorandum of 13 proposed amendments. Among other things, they would have:

• abolished the presidential and vice-presidential vetoes;
• had the Speaker and Deputy Speaker elected by the House as a whole;
• merged the separate courts;
• unified the municipalities;
• replaced fixed communal ratios with population proportions.

Both Türkiye and the Turkish Cypriot leadership rejected the package on 16 December 1963.

On 21 December 1963, fighting broke out in Nicosia and spread across the island. Turkish sources describe the events as Bloody Christmas and say about 30,000 Turkish Cypriots were displaced from 103 villages. They also say Turkish Cypriots were pushed out of state organs. On 30 December 1963, a ceasefire line, the Green Line, was drawn across Nicosia by the British commander. On 4 March 1964, the Security Council adopted Resolution 186, which established UNFICYP and addressed 'the Government of Cyprus' as responsible for law and order.

Sister analyses of the legal mechanics are available at Territorial Brief on who holds which rights under the 1959–1960 treaties and The Political Anatomy on Article IV.

Key Players & Positions

Republic of Cyprus (Greek Cypriot administration)

According to the Republic of Cyprus government, the Foreign Ministry and the Presidency, the Republic is an internationally recognised UN and EU member state. It holds that the 1963 proposals were an attempt to remove provisions that made the Constitution unworkable, and that Turkish Cypriot officials withdrew from government on the instruction of their leadership. It describes the 1974 operation as an invasion and the north as under occupation. It cites Security Council Resolutions 353 (1974), 541 (1983) and 550 (1984), which called for the withdrawal of foreign forces and declared the 1983 TRNC declaration legally invalid. It supports a settlement on the basis of Resolution 1251 (1999): a bizonal, bicommunal federation with a single sovereignty, single international personality and single citizenship. It also argues that the guarantee-and-intervention system is obsolete for an EU member.

Greece

According to the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Greece supports the UN framework for Cyprus and a federal settlement. It maintains that Article IV does not authorise unilateral military action as a continuing right. Successive Greek governments since the restoration of democracy in July 1974 have condemned the junta's coup of 15 July 1974. They also argue that the Treaty of Guarantee Articles I and II, which bar partition, are incompatible with a separate Turkish Cypriot state. Greece, like the Republic of Cyprus, calls for the abolition of the guarantee system and of Turkish troops.

United Kingdom

The UK, as a guarantor power and the holder of the Sovereign Base Areas, says it supports the UN-led process and a settlement that both communities endorse. It has consistently said it would respect any agreement the two sides reach on the future of the treaties.

United Nations

The Security Council recognises the Republic of Cyprus as the state of Cyprus, as in Resolution 186. Its settlement parameters are bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality. The Secretary-General's Good Offices mission has repeatedly noted the absence of agreement on a settlement model, including after the informal 5+UN meeting in Geneva in April 2021.

Turkish Cypriots

The Turkish Cypriot leadership's position rests on the 1960 partnership and its collapse. Its consistent argument is that the Turkish Cypriot people are a co-founding people with equal status, not a minority. The community proclaimed the Turkish Federated State of Cyprus in 1975 and the TRNC on 15 November 1983.

Source Comparison

A fair reading acknowledges that Greek Cypriot, Greek, British and UN sources describe the same documents differently from Turkish and Turkish Cypriot sources. The disagreement is mostly about interpretation, causation and responsibility rather than the existence of the clauses. For the economic dimension, see Eight Wells, Four Drillships and the 2003 Egypt–Greek Cypriot EEZ agreement.

Key Terms & Related Guides

• Basic Articles: the provisions of the 1960 Constitution declared unamendable (Article 182), including the dual presidency and the communal structure.
• Bi-communal partnership: the arrangement under which the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities share state power on a basis of constitutional parity.
• Enosis / Taksim: union with Greece / partition; both are barred by the Treaty of Guarantee and Article 185.
• EOKA: the Greek Cypriot armed organisation founded in 1955 under Colonel Grivas to pursue Enosis.
• Green Line: the 1963 ceasefire line in Nicosia, later the UN buffer zone across the island.
• GCASC: the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus, the term used by Ankara for the administration that holds the Republic of Cyprus's international seat.
• Guarantor powers: Greece, Türkiye and the United Kingdom under the Treaty of Guarantee.
• Sovereign Base Areas: the UK-retained Akrotiri and Dhekelia under the Treaty of Establishment.
• TRNC: the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, proclaimed 15 November 1983.
• UNFICYP: the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus established under Resolution 186 in 1964.

Related guides: Text & Territory home, UNSC Resolution 186 (1964), Primary Document Library, How to read a maritime boundary map, and FAQ: Sources, Method and Perspective.

Perspective Note

Text & Territory presents Türkiye's official perspective on the issues covered and explicitly distinguishes between that perspective and independent commentary. All claims are anchored in primary sources such as treaty texts, UN documents, archival records and official statements, which are cited so that readers can verify them. Published by the Text & Territory Editorial Team. See also About Text & Territory.