The influence of Greek and Turkish Cypriots on the Cyprus problem

Seminar paper from the year 2018 in the subject Politics - Topic: Peace and Conflict, Security, grade: 8, , language: English, abstract: There are people who argue that the Cyprus Problem is the result of an identity conflict between Greek and Turkish Cypriots. This paper aims at evaluating the role of that conflict within a post-colonial context with the help of a literature review. More specifically, the political life and the clashes that took place during the EOKA liberation struggle will be examined.

The data that will be presented in this paper indicates that the Cyprus problem is indeed a result of the conflicts between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots. Nationalism that captured both the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot communities was the main factor in provoking ethnic violence on the island. Britain's colonial power has also contributed to maintaining the division between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, to serve its own sovereign interests, a division that exists up to date. The rejection of the different identities of the two communities led to political insecurity and discrimination.