Zürich and London Agreement
Encyclopedia
The Zürich and London Agreement for the constitution of Cyprus started with an agreement on the 19 February 1959 in Lancaster House
in London
, between Turkey
, Greece
, the United Kingdom
and Cypriot
community leaders (Archbishop Makarios III for Greek Cypriots
and Dr. Fazıl Küçük
for Turkish Cypriots
). On that basis, a constitution was drafted and agreed together with two further Treaties of Alliance and Guarantee in Zürich
on 11 February 1960.
Cyprus was accordingly proclaimed an independent state on 16 August 1960.
Following the failure of the Agreement in 1963 and subsequent de facto military partition of Cyprus into Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot regions, the larger Greek-Cypriot Region, controlled by the Cyprus Government, claims that the 1960 Constitution basically remains in force, whereas the Turkish-Cypriot region claims to have seceded by the Declaration of Independence of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
in 1983.
on laws passed by the House of Representatives and on decisions of the Council of Ministers which was composed of ten ministers, three of whom had to be Turkish-Cypriots nominated by the Vice-President.
In the House of Representatives
, the Turkish Cypriots were elected separately by their own community. The House had no power to modify the basic articles of the Constitution in any respect and any other modification required separate majorities of two thirds of both the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot members. Any modification of the Electoral Law and the adoption of any law relating to municipalities or any fiscal laws required separate simple majorities of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot members of the House. It was thus impossible for representatives of one community alone to pass a bill.
The highest judicial organs, the Supreme Constitutional Court and the High Court of Justice, were presided over by neutral presidents - neither Greek-Cypriot nor Turkish-Cypriot - who by virtue of their casting votes were supposed to maintain the balance between the Greek and Turkish members of the Courts. Whereas under the previous regime Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot judges tried all cases irrespective of the origin of the litigants, the constitution provided that disputes among Turkish Cypriots be tried only by Turkish Cypriot judges, disputes among Greek Cypriots by Greek Cypriot judges only, and disputes between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots by mixed courts composed of both Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot judges. Thus, to try the case of a petty offence which involved both Greek and Turkish Cypriots, two judges had to sit. The procedure was expensive and conducive to creating a biased judiciary.
In addition, separate Greek and Turkish Communal Chambers were created with legislative and administrative powers in regard to educational, religious, cultural, sporting and charitable matters, cooperative and credit societies, and questions of personal status. Separate municipalities were envisaged for Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots in the five largest towns of the island. As the population and properties were intermixed, the provisions were difficult and expensive for the small towns of Cyprus.
The Turkish Cypriots held 30 per cent of the posts in the Civil Service and comprised 40 per cent of the Police Force and Army.
Within three years the functioning of the legislature started to fail, and in 1963, when the fiscal laws under Article 78 of the Constitution expired, the House of Representatives split along straight communal lines and failed to renew the income tax upon which the public finances depended.
In November 1963, the (Greek-Cypriot) President of the Republic, Archbishop Makarios III
, suggested amendments to the Constitution "to resolve constitutional deadlocks". The Turkish-Cypriot leadership, following the mainland Turkish government, said they were unacceptable. The Vice-President publicly declared that the Republic of Cyprus had ceased to exist, and along with the three Turkish-Cypriot Ministers, the Turkish-Cypriot members of the House withdrew, as did Turkish-Cypriot civil servants. President Makarios refused all suggestions which would have resulted in the partition of Cyprus, and negotiations over the problem have never yet succeeded.
De facto, Cyprus has remained partitioned for over forty years.
.
The Treaty of Guarantee was designed to preserve the territorial independence
of the Republic of Cyprus. Cyprus and the guarantor powers (the United Kingdom
, Turkey
, and Greece
) promised to prohibit the promotion of "either the union of the Republic of Cyprus with any other State, or the partition of the Island".
Article Three of the Treaty of Guarantee provides, "In so far as common or concerted action may prove impossible, each of the three guaranteeing Powers reserves the right to take action with the sole aim of re-establishing the state of affairs established by the present Treaty."
In July 1974, there was briefly a Greek-backed coup d'état in Cyprus. Turkey claimed under the Treaty of Guarantee to intervene militarily
. The legality of the invasion depends on whether common or concerted action between the United Kingdom, Greece and Turkey had proved impossible and whether the outcome of the invasion safeguarded the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Cyprus.
In 1983, Turkish Cypriots issued the Declaration of Independence of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
. This has been recognized by Turkey only. The United Nations
declared the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus legally invalid and asked for its withdrawal. The UN Security Council
has issued multiple resolutions that all states should refrain from recognizing the protectorate of Turkey in Cyprus.
Lancaster House
Lancaster House is a mansion in the St. James's district in the West End of London. It is close to St. James's Palace and much of the site was once part of the palace complex...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, between Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Cypriot
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
community leaders (Archbishop Makarios III for Greek Cypriots
Greek Cypriots
Greek Cypriots are the ethnic Greek population of Cyprus, forming the island's largest ethnolinguistic community at 77% of the population. Greek Cypriots are mostly members of the Church of Cyprus, an autocephalous Greek Orthodox Church within the wider communion of Orthodox Christianity...
and Dr. Fazıl Küçük
Fazil Küçük
Fazıl Küçük was the first Vice President of the Republic of Cyprus.Fazıl Küçük, the son of a farmer, was born in Nicosia in 1906. After graduating from the Turkish High School in Nicosia, Küçük went on to study medicine at the Universities of Istanbul, Lausanne and Paris...
for Turkish Cypriots
Turkish Cypriots
Turkish Cypriots are the ethnic Turks and members of the Turkish-speaking ethnolinguistic community of the Eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus. The term is used to refer explicitly to the indigenous Turkish Cypriots, whose Ottoman Turkish forbears colonised the island in 1571...
). On that basis, a constitution was drafted and agreed together with two further Treaties of Alliance and Guarantee in Zürich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
on 11 February 1960.
Cyprus was accordingly proclaimed an independent state on 16 August 1960.
Following the failure of the Agreement in 1963 and subsequent de facto military partition of Cyprus into Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot regions, the larger Greek-Cypriot Region, controlled by the Cyprus Government, claims that the 1960 Constitution basically remains in force, whereas the Turkish-Cypriot region claims to have seceded by the Declaration of Independence of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
Declaration of Independence of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
Eight years after the Turkish Federative State of North Cyprus was proclaimed , the UDI of North Cyprus was presented to the Northern Cypriot Parliament in North Nicosia by Turkish Cypriot Leader/Northern Cypriot State President Rauf Denktaş on November 15, 1983...
in 1983.
Constitutional provisions
The Constitution provided for under the Agreements divided the Cypriot people into two communities on the basis of ethnic origin. The President had to be a Greek-Cypriot elected by the Greek-Cypriots, and the Vice-President a Turkish-Cypriot elected by the Turkish-Cypriots. The Vice-President was granted the right of a final vetoVeto
A veto, Latin for "I forbid", is the power of an officer of the state to unilaterally stop an official action, especially enactment of a piece of legislation...
on laws passed by the House of Representatives and on decisions of the Council of Ministers which was composed of ten ministers, three of whom had to be Turkish-Cypriots nominated by the Vice-President.
In the House of Representatives
House of Representatives of Cyprus
The House of Representatives is the parliament of Cyprus. It has 59 members elected for a five year term, 56 members by proportional representation and 3 observer members representing the Maronite, Latin and Armenian minorities...
, the Turkish Cypriots were elected separately by their own community. The House had no power to modify the basic articles of the Constitution in any respect and any other modification required separate majorities of two thirds of both the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot members. Any modification of the Electoral Law and the adoption of any law relating to municipalities or any fiscal laws required separate simple majorities of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot members of the House. It was thus impossible for representatives of one community alone to pass a bill.
The highest judicial organs, the Supreme Constitutional Court and the High Court of Justice, were presided over by neutral presidents - neither Greek-Cypriot nor Turkish-Cypriot - who by virtue of their casting votes were supposed to maintain the balance between the Greek and Turkish members of the Courts. Whereas under the previous regime Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot judges tried all cases irrespective of the origin of the litigants, the constitution provided that disputes among Turkish Cypriots be tried only by Turkish Cypriot judges, disputes among Greek Cypriots by Greek Cypriot judges only, and disputes between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots by mixed courts composed of both Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot judges. Thus, to try the case of a petty offence which involved both Greek and Turkish Cypriots, two judges had to sit. The procedure was expensive and conducive to creating a biased judiciary.
In addition, separate Greek and Turkish Communal Chambers were created with legislative and administrative powers in regard to educational, religious, cultural, sporting and charitable matters, cooperative and credit societies, and questions of personal status. Separate municipalities were envisaged for Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots in the five largest towns of the island. As the population and properties were intermixed, the provisions were difficult and expensive for the small towns of Cyprus.
The Turkish Cypriots held 30 per cent of the posts in the Civil Service and comprised 40 per cent of the Police Force and Army.
Outcome
The United Nations Mediator on Cyprus, Dr. Galo Plaza, described the 1960 Constitution created by the Zürich and London Agreements as "a constitutional oddity", and that difficulties in implementing the treaties signed on the basis of those Agreements had begun almost immediately after independence.Within three years the functioning of the legislature started to fail, and in 1963, when the fiscal laws under Article 78 of the Constitution expired, the House of Representatives split along straight communal lines and failed to renew the income tax upon which the public finances depended.
In November 1963, the (Greek-Cypriot) President of the Republic, Archbishop Makarios III
Makarios III
Makarios III , born Andreas Christodolou Mouskos , was the archbishop and primate of the autocephalous Cypriot Orthodox Church and the first President of the Republic of Cyprus ....
, suggested amendments to the Constitution "to resolve constitutional deadlocks". The Turkish-Cypriot leadership, following the mainland Turkish government, said they were unacceptable. The Vice-President publicly declared that the Republic of Cyprus had ceased to exist, and along with the three Turkish-Cypriot Ministers, the Turkish-Cypriot members of the House withdrew, as did Turkish-Cypriot civil servants. President Makarios refused all suggestions which would have resulted in the partition of Cyprus, and negotiations over the problem have never yet succeeded.
De facto, Cyprus has remained partitioned for over forty years.
Treaty of Guarantee
Together with the Zürich and London Agreements, two other treaties were also agreed upon in ZurichZürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
.
The Treaty of Guarantee was designed to preserve the territorial independence
Independence
Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state in which its residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory....
of the Republic of Cyprus. Cyprus and the guarantor powers (the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, and Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
) promised to prohibit the promotion of "either the union of the Republic of Cyprus with any other State, or the partition of the Island".
Article Three of the Treaty of Guarantee provides, "In so far as common or concerted action may prove impossible, each of the three guaranteeing Powers reserves the right to take action with the sole aim of re-establishing the state of affairs established by the present Treaty."
In July 1974, there was briefly a Greek-backed coup d'état in Cyprus. Turkey claimed under the Treaty of Guarantee to intervene militarily
Turkish invasion of Cyprus
The Turkish invasion of Cyprus, launched on 20 July 1974, was a Turkish military invasion in response to a Greek military junta backed coup in Cyprus...
. The legality of the invasion depends on whether common or concerted action between the United Kingdom, Greece and Turkey had proved impossible and whether the outcome of the invasion safeguarded the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Cyprus.
In 1983, Turkish Cypriots issued the Declaration of Independence of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
Declaration of Independence of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
Eight years after the Turkish Federative State of North Cyprus was proclaimed , the UDI of North Cyprus was presented to the Northern Cypriot Parliament in North Nicosia by Turkish Cypriot Leader/Northern Cypriot State President Rauf Denktaş on November 15, 1983...
. This has been recognized by Turkey only. The United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
declared the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus legally invalid and asked for its withdrawal. The UN Security Council
United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council is one of the principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of...
has issued multiple resolutions that all states should refrain from recognizing the protectorate of Turkey in Cyprus.