People make history. How about a gallop through Cypriot
history? We'll slow down to a trot as we come to the
interesting characters. Maybe we'll arrive at now with a
deeper understanding of the rivalries and rumors that
affect human response. 3000 years ago, the Mediterranean
was the center of the known world. The inhabitants shared
a common experience: food, wine, climate. Their
occupations were mining, agriculture, metal-smithing,
herding of livestock and fishing, though not much in
Cyprus.
Swirling around the island are the stories of extraordinary
conquerors and visitors: the Achaens, the Phoenicians, the
British, the Persians, the Egyptians, Macedonians, Arabs,
Turks, Venetians and the Genovese. Location or religion
might mark their differences, but they spoke each others
languages, traded with each other and visited neighboring
holy places, consulted oracles, made sacrifices and sailed
the Mediterranean together. The history of Cyprus
illuminates human behavior at its most noble &
passionate, most nationalistic & barbaric.
.
The people on whom to focus are the Cypriots, their
conquerors and neighbors, philosophers and clerics and
small boys: Andreas Vassiliou is the most recent Cypriot
hero.
CYPRUS-Boy's plight mends rift.
The plight of a 6-year-old boy whose life depends on finding
a bone marrow donor has brought together the rival Greek
and Turkish Cypriot communities of war-divided Cyprus.
Scores of Turkish Cypriots crossed yesterday into the UN-
controlled buffer zone splitting the island, for blood tests to
see if they could provide a transplant to save Andreas
Vassiliou, a Greek Cypriot boy suffering from Leukemia.
"This is a very good development that will help build trust
between the two sides, " said Mehemt Ali Talat of the
opposition Republican Turkish Party.
Cyprus has been divided into a Greek Cypriot controlled
south and a Turkish occupied north since a 1974 Turkish
invasion. The Turkish Cypriot State prevents free movement
between the two areas except in rare cases.
More than 50,000 Greek Cypriots have already come
forward since the boy's father made a plea for donations
nine days ago. Doctors say the chances of finding a suitable
donor are 30,000 to one.
"We are trying to help a little, we hope he gets better," said
Serdar Denktash, son of Rauf Denktash, president of the
Turkish Cypriot state. "This is a humanitarian action, nothing
to do with politics."
March 28th, 2000 AZ Daily Star
The propaganda war of the last 50 years has left the truth
beaten and raped. Both sides have interpreted,
misinterpreted & reinterpreted massacres, slaughters,
rapes and mass graves.
My father told me of a Turkish Cypriot man who traveled to
the south of the island at extreme personal danger to
himself, to find my father and pay him 350 pounds for my
parents' car. It had been left at the mine when they were
evacuated. My father had no doubt as to the honor of all
Cypriots.
CYPRUS: HISTORICAL TIME LINE:
Achaean/Greeks/Hellenes established city kingdoms on Mycenaean model________________________2,000 BC
Cyprus added to EGYPT________________________________________________________________1,500 AD
Phoenician influence____________________________________________________________________800 BC
Cypriot Kings fought the Egyptians_________________________________________________________68.BC
Persians conquered Cyprus____________________________________________________________500 - 406 BC
Persians defeated at Salamis_______________________________________________________________406 BC
Alexander succeeded Philip of Macedonia____________________________________________________323 BC
Roman Empire___________________________________________________________________52 BC- 295 AD
Byzantine Empire___________________________________________________________________395 -1191 AD
Richard the Lionhearted gave it to Guy de Lusignan___________________________________________1192 AD
Lusignan Dynasty 1192-1489 AD
Venetian Rule_____________________________________________________________________1489-1571 AD
Ottoman Empire___________________________________________________________________1571-1878 AD
Cyprus leased to the British_______________________________________________________________1878 AD
Cyprus became a crown colony____________________________________________________________1925 AD
Cyprus became a republic________________________________________________________________1960 AD
Cyprus partitioned into North and South ___________________________1974 AD
At the end of the ice age, the Mediterranean basin filled with the floes of melted ice and Cyprus pulled away from Turkey and Africa becoming an island. "There are traces of Neolithic sites, circular huts from about 8,000 years ago with flint and stone tools. At the Stone Age site at Kirokitia fifty huts have been comprehensively excavated, little circular homes where the living existed happily with their dead ancestors buried beneath the floor." (Derek and Julia Parker CYPRUS.Travel Guides)
The excavation at Khirokitia began in 1936 under the
direction of Porphyrios Dikaios. They found up to 26
skeletons in one dwelling.
The next group of remains dates from 5000 and 4000 BC.
There is a site specifically pertaining to this period at Ayia
Napa.
There is evidence of copper weapons in 3000 BC. By
2000 BC metalworking was advanced enough to produce
bronze. Cyprus was rich in copper and trade throughout
the Mediterranean was taking off, helmed by the Greek City
of Knossos in Crete. In 1500 BC Thutmosis added Cyprus
to the Egyptian empire. After the destruction of Knossos,
the Dorians invaded Greece around 1200 BC. Merchants
and traders from the Phoenician cities of Tyre and Sidon
conducted commerce with Cyprus. The Phoenicians built
trading centers at Citium, Amathus and Lapithos.
After the Dorian invasion of Greece, many Achaeans fled to
Cyprus. The island of Achaea was an area of ancient
Greece in the Northern Peloponnesus. The Achaeans
brought the Hellenic culture and language to Cyprus. The
"Cypro-Minoan" system of writing appeared in Cyprus in
1,500 BC.
The Greeks who came to Cyprus had not come to conquer but to make a life. They brought their art and culture. Salamis was the main city, founded after the fall of Troy by Teucer, King of the island of Salamis, an island near Athens. The Cypriot city was named for what had been left behind. So begins the love affair with Greece. City states were divided into nationalities. Marion, Salamis and Soli were "Ionian" Curium was "Dorian" & Palea Paphos and Kouklia and Kitium were "Mycenian" (Thanks to the historian who compiled the history section for windows on Cyprus.website) Salamis sent corn, wine salt and oil to Phoenicia and Egypt. In 525 BC, to throw off the Egyptian yoke, the Cypriot kings allied themselves with the Persian empire and as part of the 5th. satrapies, Cyprus, Lebanon, Syria and Israel helped the Persians beat the Egyptians. Victory had a bitter taste.
When war broke out between the Greeks and the Persians, the Cypriot cities took the side of the Greeks, led by Onesilos of Salamis, who had usurped the throne of his pro-Persian brother Gorgos. In 499 BC a huge Persian army sailed for Cyprus. The allies defeated the Persian fleet; but on land the battle went the other way. The Cypriot army was scattered but King Evagoras emerged as a Cypriot hero. He ruled Salamis at its most splendid. It became the premier city of Cyprus.
There was another uprising to expel the Persians in 350 BC. Constant bickering amongst the Cypriot princes doomed the attempt. Then Philip of Macedon assembled a huge army to take on the Persians and was assassinated before he was able to fulfill his ambition. His son, Alexander succeeded him. He was to expand Philip's dreams of conquest.
Alexander the Great &
The Byzantine Empire
In 336 BC at the age of 23, Alexander succeeded his father
Philip of Macedon. He was born in 356 BC in Greece to.
Philip and Olympias, who was a snake dancer at the
temple. Aristotle taught Alexander for a time; the boy was
infatuated with the heroic age. In PlutarchÌs biography,
Alexander feared his mother and with some justification.
Olympia's reputation from snake dancer to Queen was
littered with bodies. Her desire to control the lives of her
children manifested itself in perverted ways. One of her
sons was a drug addict. She administered the drugs with
her own hand. She was a suspect in the deaths of her
husband, Philip and her son, Alexander.
.
Alexander earned his title of "the Great" with his defeat of
Darius III, Emperor of Persia in 333 BC. He invaded Asia
Minor and Syria and Egypt. At the oasis of Amon he was
acknowledged as the son of Amon Ra endorsing his belief
that he was a God. In 330 a conspiracy against Alexander
caused him to act with violent cruelty killing a son and
father: one guilty, the other innocent.
Alexander's soldiers resented him assuming Persian dress
and his directive that they marry Bactrian women.
(Alexander married Statira, Darius' daughter. There was a
huge wedding and Alexander paid the army's debts. Each
guest at the wedding was given a golden goblet to
commemorate the occasion; all 9,000 of them.)
Plutarch tells how Alexander was so considerate of his
friends, he took the time to write them letters advising on
their health to the moral ethic of keeping slaves.
While Alexander was defeating Persia and installing
himself in Darius' court, the Macedonians had no intention
of calling their absent King "God". He began to behave in a
godlike fashion. He executed Aristotle's nephew,
Callisthenes. This did not sit well with the chaps in Athens
or Thebes. After the death of Hephaestion, his Grand Vizier
and love, he mourned deeply. In 323, He planned a sea
voyage around Arabia. Before he left, he caught a fever
and died at 33 years old without nominating a successor.
Strife & civil war followed the death of Alexander. There was civil war
between city-states and strife between his wives. Roxanne, his wife back
in Macedonia was jealous of Alexander's Persian wife, Statira. When
Alexander died, she forged a letter from Alexander asking Statira to
come to him. Once Roxanne had them in her power she killed Statira
and her sister & had their bodies thrown down a well.
The rivalry in Cyprus was between 3 men: Antigonus,
governor of Phrygia, Seleucas and Ptolemy governor of
Egypt. The Egyptian court at Alexandria was
predominantly a Greek court & in 318 BC, Ptolemy set out
to conquer Cyprus and subdue the 4 cities which favored
Antigonus. After much slaughter and the banishing of
kings, King Nicocrean of Salamis was made overall ruler
under the guidance of PtolemyÌs brother, Menelaus.
In 306 BC, Antigonus attempted to win back the lost
territories but was not successful. Egypt valued the lumber
supplies in the Troodos Mountains to build their fleets.
Their rule lasted for 300 years.
ZENO & The Hellenistic Age
The Hellenistic Age is the name given to the period
between Alexander's death in 323 BC and the beginning of
the Roman Empire 30 BC
At about this time, ZENO, the founder of Stoicism
established his school in Athens. Zeno was born in Kitium
in 336 BC. He was the son of a Phoenician merchant and
followed his father into that trade, transporting purple dye
around ports in the Mediterranean. He was shipwrecked
off Pyraeus, the port of Athens. While wandering around
Athens, he was smitten by particular manuscripts in a
bookstore. Upon inquiry as to their source he was directed
to a certain area. As a result, he met Crates, the cynic and
became his student. In 294 BC at the age of 42 he began
his own school in the Stoa Poikite ( the painted porch) The
mall was adorned with pictures of the Trojan Wars and the
Amazons. Zeno's disciple Cleanthes wrote a hymn to
Jupiter about the unity of god, his omnipotence and moral
government. Chrysippius from Soli continued the Stoic
teachings and wrote volumes expanding the Stoic beliefs.
Quoted with thanks - http://www.windowoncyprus.com
"To Zeno belongs the establishment of the logical criterion,
the adaptation of Heraclitean physics and the introduction of
all the leading ethical tenet. He was a very humble man and
took as his students rich and poor alike. He disliked mixing
with kings or the authorities. At one point when he was
unable to pay the resident alien's tax, the Athenians sold him
into slavery, but he was bought by a friend and freed. Later
the Athenians honored him with a golden crown and a large
tomb built at public expense. The Athenians held him in such
high esteem that they awarded him the keys of the city and
a golden wreath. They also put up a copper statue to honor
him." (Who was it that said your condemnation is as
meaningful as your adulation- or something like that)
"Zenon died as simply as he had lived, he just hanged
himself when he thought his time had come. His ideas and
the resultant stoic philosophy had a great impact on many of
the important men of his day and the history of our
civilization."
Zeno certainly seems to have inherited the Cynics'
preference for gruff speech and shocking behavior. He was
continually making fun of the fops in Athens, commenting on
a youth who was taking pains to avoid stepping in some
mud, that it was only because he couldn't see his reflection
in it. Of another who was given to displays of rhetoric, he
said, "Your ears have slid down and merged into your
tongue." He attempted to avoid attracting too many followers
by associating with (according to Timon) "a crowd of ignorant
serfs, who surpassed all men in beggary" and was also in
the habit of asking passers-by for small change. Despite this
he was held in high esteem by the citizens of Athens and
was even given the keys to the city. He was also invited to
act as an advisor to King Anigonus of Macedon, but he
turned this down and sent his pupil Persaeus, instead.
Scholars find interesting details:
"Not much is known of Zeno's personal life. He appears to
have continued his interest in trade, though by all accounts
his life was fairly frugal, his main enjoyment being to sit in
the sun eating figs and drinking wine. In fact, contrary to the
popular image of stoicism, Zeno seems to have liked his
drink, commenting (presumably while staggering drunkenly)
that it was better to slip with the feet than with the tongue.
He was not fond of being waited on (possibly due to the
Stoics' aversion to slavery) though it was said that he
occasionally had a maidservant at parties "in order not to
appear a misogynist." He probably died in 261 BC striking
the ground with his fist and quoting the line from Niobe, "I
come, I come, why do you call me?"(Robin Turner Zeno of
Citium http://www.neptune.spaceports.com/~words/zeno)
Stoicism is put into practice in Cyprus with an oft repeated
phrase: "Siga, Siga." The Stoic doctrine embraces the
following principles: strive for even temper, accept the
blows of fortune and limit ones wants and practice
contentment. Slowly, slowly.
In 190 BC the sons of Ptolemy were squabbling and
wanted Rome to do something about it. Finally Rome sent
Cato and he spent two years "Romanizing" affairs in
Cyprus
Roman Empire
Cyprus was acquired in 52 BC. and became part of the
Roman province of Cilicia. Cato the Younger was sent to
make order, against his personal wishes according to
Plutarch. Marcus Portius Cato was the first Roman
governor in 58 BC. He was a good and honest
administrator. He supported the senate and when Casaer
became a dictator, he took his own life, dismayed at
republicanism no longer being the model of government.
The island made an instant contribution to the Roman
coffers to the tune of 2.5 million pounds at today's rates.
Cyprus was given as a gift to Cleopatra. After Caesar's
assassination in 44 BC, Augustus Caesar took Cyprus
back at the naval battle of Actium in 33 BC. Five years
later, the island was separated from Cilicia and became an
imperial province under a military governor. Cyprus was
encouraged by the tax reforms of Augustus Caesar. He
built harbors, roads, bridges and public buildings. Water
was brought in by aqueduct and the great temple at
Paphos was rebuilt. The Romans had successfully
suppressed piracy and there was a market in Rome for all
the Cypriot crops: wine, oil, wheat, and a demand for their
metal too: iron, copper and silver.
This period was known as the "Pax Romana" in Roman
history. The Roman Empire was under the rule of
Imperator Caesar Augustus. He rebuilt the city of Rome
and became a patron of the Arts. During his reign the
Roman Empire was at its heights. A postal service and the
construction of roads helped unify the Empire. Augustus
reformed the senate, made taxation more equitable and
revived the census. He died in 14 AD and was succeeded
by his stepson Tiberius. Tiberius was a frugal monarch
and his reign was peaceful and prosperous.
The prosperity of the Roman Empire declined after the
death of Marcus Aurelius. In 324 AD there was a great
famine that decimated the Cypriot population. Emperor
Constantine's mother, Helena succeeded in nursing the
Cypriots through a rough patch. My mom's name was
Helen and Eleni is Helen in Greek. One day at the sea side
they were talking about names and aunt Eleni said, "We
are lucky, we are named- (name days are celebrated in
Cyprus) after such a great saint."
"There is no Saint Helen, is there?" my Mom asked Eleni.
"Oh yes, there is a Saint Helena and she is from right here
in Cyprus. The Cypriots were starving, first there was a
drought, then a famine and Helena told her son, no you
will not collect taxes. She was his mother; it was the right
thing to do. So he was a good boy and didn't collect taxes
and she built the Stavrovouni monastery for the Greek
Orthodox Monks and for the villagers to take refuge in
times of attack."
I loved it when she told the stories of Cyprus; she made
them come alive in my head. I could see Helena, her heart
touched with compassion, loving the island's people during
a time of famine.
I said, "Can we go there?" We went to Stavrovouni. There
was a chapel there that had the most incredible golden
altar with icons and candles, long tapers the color of
parchment.
CHRISTIANITY AND THE
ORTHODOX CHURCH.
Cyprus was the first country to become Christian after
Palestine. "After Jesus was crucified, his disciples spread
the new religion among the peoples of Egypt, Syria, Anatolia,
Greece and Italy. Saint Paul laid the foundations of Christian
theology and transformed Christianity from a Jewish sect to
a world religion. The original Christians being Jews observed
the dietary and ritualistic laws of the Torah and required
non-Jewish converts to do the same. Paul and others favored
eliminating obligation, thus making Christianity more
attractive to gentiles." Barnes & Noble New American
Encyclopedia.
Evangelist Mark, Apostles Paul and Andreas as well as
Saint Barnabas and Lazarus were active on Cyprus.
Saints Paul and Barnabas were the first to convert a
Roman official to Christianity. Saulus the Roman pro-consul
was converted to Christianity in Paphos. Ten years later
Barnabas was martyred in Salamis at the hands of the
Jews. St. Mark supposedly hid his body until 477AD. The
body miraculously appeared when needed by the Cypriot
bishops to ensure they appointed their own clergy and had
the right to collect tithes.
Many Christians were martyred at the hands of the
Romans.
"The most savage of these was the one under Emperor
Decius 249-251 AD. Many Christians welcomed martyrdom
as an opportunity to share in the sufferings of Christ.
Christianity continued to grow despite all attempts to
suppress it. Following the recognition of Christianity by
Emperor Constantine I in the early 4th. Century, a
philosophical controversy was debated about the person of
Christ, the problem was to defend Christian monotheism
against the charge that the church also worshipped Christ as
Lord and the holy spirit of god." " (Barnes and Noble new
American Encyclopaedia Christianity)
They came up with all kinds of rationales: Monarchianism,
Modalism, Arianism. They are different ways of explaining
how one person is actually three and who you worship.
The condemnation of Monophysitism alienated the
churches of Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia and Armenia
creating dissension in the Eastern Roman Empire and
lessening its ability to withstand the Islamic invasions in
the 7th century.
Cyprus became a battlefield for the forces of East and
West. The island was invaded by Arabs in 647 AD but
stubbornly resisted the attack. In 654 AD the Arabs
triumphed. For 300 years Cyprus was raided by Muslim
fleets from Syria and Egypt, unprotected by the ineffective
Byzantine navy. Thousands of Christians were massacred
or taken as slaves. The situation for a small island of
mixed religions was critical they needed a protector, who
wouldn't tax them to death, ensure their freedoms and let
them live in peace. But who? That has been the question
for 3000 years!
The Crusades
During the Middle Ages, a religious war broke out between
Moslems and Christians. From 637, the Moslems had held
Jerusalem. Pilgrims had been welcomed and treated fairly.
Charlemagne had been feted by Caliph Harun al Rashid
when he visited Jerusalem. But in 1071, Jerusalem was
captured by the Seljuk Turks
.
"In 1054 there was an open breach between the Eastern and
western churches-friction between the Popes of Rome and
the Archbishops of Constantinople. The Orthodox Church
founded by the apostles refused to contemplate the
amendments of the Creed formulated by the council of
Nicaea, and rejected Roman doctrinal legislation. As
disagreement reached its height, Christendom was treated to
the spectacle of the Patriarch of Constantinople issuing an
encyclical letter rebuking the errors of Rome, and the pope
replying by excommunicating him. A thousand years have
not sufficed to heal the breach between the two churches."
(Derek and Julia Parker)
.
Pope Urban II and the Holy Roman Emperor mounted the First Crusade. It resulted in the capture of Antioch and a 40- day siege of Jerusalem. Kneeling in the blood of 70,000 Moslems at the tomb of Christ, the Christians justified this slaughter.
In 1187, one year after Guy de Lusignan became King of Jerusalem, Saladdin, the supreme ruler of Islam mounted a war to recapture Jerusalem. His jihad was the rescue and return of Jerusalem to the protection of Islam. The king of Jerusalem was a French adventurer, Guy de Lusignan. He married Sybilla and was envied for his inheritance of the monarchy of Jerusalem. The Christian kings of Europe were appalled and readied for the Third Crusade. In Cyprus, an evil ruler was in power called Isaac Commenus.
Richard the Lionheart
The British, French and Germans, the big 3 Christian
powers in Europe set aside their differences for a moment
and gathered the resources together for a Third Crusade.
In 1189, Guy began the siege of Acre. Guy was captured by
Saladdin but released on his word, which he promptly
broke and returned to the attack.
In 1191, the army of the Holy Roman Empire marched to
free Acre which had been under siege for 2 years. Richard
the Lionheart and Philip II of France went by sea to Sicily
and then across the Mediterranean to Acre. A storm
scattered Richard's ships. 3 ships sank close to Limassol.
The crew was taken prisoner by Isaac Commenus. Another
ship reached the harbor. This ship carried Johanna the
dowager, Queen of Sicily, sister to Richard and Richard's
fiancee, Berengaria of Navarre. Richard arrived in the nick
of time and saved the ladies. He was so disgusted with the
behavior Commenus showed towards his shipwrecked men
and his fiancee and sister that he landed the English
troops and cut Commenus' army to shreds. Three days
later, Guy de Lusignan came to pay homage and swear
fealty to Richard the Lionheart.
On May 12th 1191, King Richard of England and Princess
Berengaria were married at Amathus. Berengaria was
crowned Queen of England by Bishop John of Evreux.
Richard garrisoned the island before he left on the
crusade.The Cypriots were glad to be rid of the tyrant Isaac
Comnenus, but they were not content to replace one tyrant
with another. Richard set sail for Acre with Guy de
Lusignan, the Prince of Antioch and the count of Tripoli
and Isaac's treasure. Richard placed garrisons in the
castles and towns.He left Richard de Camville and Robert
of Tornham in charge. The Cypriots were alerted to the
danger surrounding their freedom and they found a monk,
a relative of Commenus and staged an uprising. Robert of
Tornham knew about the plan and nipped it in the bud.
Richard was not amused; Cyprus was a liability and he
could not spare forces to hold the island.
He sold it to the Knights Templar. They were a
controversial group whose gig it was to escort pilgrims
safely to Jerusalem. The Knights Templar had a
dispensation from the church in Rome so they were
authorized to collect tithes and they were exempt from any
authority save the pope's. The Cypriots and priests
planned an insurrection. The Knights went out before
dawn and slaughtered Cypriot men, women and children.
It was so intense the feisty Cypriots backed down. Richard
presented the booby-trapped jewel of the Mediterranean to
the EX-King of Jerusalem: Guy de Lusignan.
Lusignan Dynasty
Guy de Lusignan established a French monarchy in the
chaos left after Isaac Comnenus and the Knights Templar.
The Lusignan dynasty ruled until 1489 and during that
time life was organized on the basis of western feudal
models. Guy de Lusignan promised to restore Cypriot
lands to their owners if they returned from abroad by a
certain date.
"There were 300 nobles and knights and 200 squires. Below
them the bourgeoisie with the Parici at the bottom, they were
practically slaves. Then there were the Perpiriarii who were
granted their freedom on condition they made annual
donations to their lord. The Lefteri who had purchased their
freedom outright, the Albanians who had intermarried with
the Cypriots and the Venetians who had settled on the
island." (Parkers)
Guy de Lusignan assumed the title Lord of Cyprus in
1186. He defended a constitution modeled on that of
Jerusalem. Guy's brother succeeded and was crowned
King of Cyprus. Cyprus regained its prosperity. The
Council of Famagusta, in 1222 forced the Orthodox
Church to surrender income to Rome and lose their right
to appoint church officers.
"Orthodox monks were imprisoned for allegedly speaking
disrespectfully of Roman rites and when they declined to
submit were tied by the feet to mules and dragged out to
be burned at the stake. When the Orthodox Patriarch
appealed to the Pope he was told that the sufferings of his
church were entirely due to its separation from the true
Church of Rome." Parkers.
The reign of Hugues IV was the peak of the Lusignan
dynasty; the richest merchants of Genoa, Pisa, Marseilles
and Barcelona were to be found at Famagusta. The
merchants were wealthy beyond belief; dowries of jewels,
land and livestock were not uncommon. One merchant's
daughter's dowry boasted more jewels that a respectable
royal treasury. The merchants of Genoa and Venice would
have been blind not to notice the wealth of Cyprus. They
were vying with each other for trade.
In 1365 Pierre, the son of Hugues captured Alexandria
though he lost the city after 3 days due to the cowardice of
the Knights of Europe. Pierre had tried to restore his
family's monarchy in Jerusalem. He returned home and
found his wife, Eleanor of Aragon had cuckolded him. She
turned against him and he was assassinated.
Pierre II, his son was crowned in Famagusta in 1372.
Fighting broke out between the Genoese and Venetian
representatives at the coronation. The Genoese navy set
sail from Italy. Queen Eleanor took refuge in the castle at
Kyrenia with Prince Jacques of Antioch. The King was
restored to the throne but Jacques was taken to Venice as
a hostage. Famagusta was ceded to the Genoese. In 1382
Pierre II died and Jacques was released to succeed him.
In the next 50 years the Egyptian fleet sacked Larnaca and
Limassol & the Mamelukes captured the king, slew the
army and left Nicosia in ruins killing most of the
inhabitants. In 1432 King Jean II married Helena
Palaeologus. She was determined to restore the Orthodox
Church in Cyprus; and, when a Roman-appointed
archbishop died, she named a successor without
consulting Rome.
Rome intervened through the Knights Hospitaller. A
marriage was arranged between his daughter, Charlotte
and John, Duke of Coimbra. Tired of his wife's intrigues,
Jean II appointed his (illegitimate) son, Jacques,
Archbishop of Nicosia. . Charlotte's husband John was
poisoned thereafter. The Pope refused the appointment of
Jacques as the island's new Archbishop. Jacques killed the
assassin of John of Coimbra. He fled to Rhodes, but
returned with an army, killed someone else and received a
full pardon from his father. He remained the Archbishop of
Cyprus for the rest of his life. Charlotte succeeded her
father Jean II.
Jacques went to Egypt, raised a Muslim army and landed
at Larnaca. He was given a hero's welcome because his
mother was Greek. Charlotte and her new husband the
count of Savoy fled and Jacques' claim to the throne was
confirmed. A marriage was arranged with a rich Venetian
merchant's daughter, Caterina Cornaro. Jacques died the
following year. Caterina was sent back to Venice.
Venetian Rule 1489-1571
In Northern Italy, Genoa and Venice enjoyed the prosperity
of the renaissance. The art that adorns Italy, is a result of
the trading genius of the Italian merchants after the Middle
Ages and the prosperity that trade created. Renaissance
artists focused on religion to fund their creativity. The
Roman church was a great patron to the arts. The church
was into advertising. There were other patrons: commercial
institutions such as banks and the government; villas for
wealthy merchants were an occasional bonus.
Venice had succeeded in acquiring Cyprus.
The Venetians' first move was to restore the land of
deposed nobles. They confirmed the status of the nobility
and clergy. The Pope acknowledged the Orthodox Church
would not be persecuted. They restricted taxation and
allowed serfs to buy their freedom if they could afford it.
They modernized the fortifications of Cyprus to repel the
Turks (who they feared as rivals for their trade routes)
They installed cannon; they fortified the castles of Kyrenia
and Famagusta and built a wall around Nicosia. They did
this in 80 years and it was taken from them in 1570.
Lala Mustapha laid siege to Nicosia for 6 weeks. When they
took the city, they wreaked a tragic revenge killing 20,000
people including the governor and the bishop. They
pillaged and looted and took all able-bodied young men as
slaves. Everyone surrendered except for Famagusta
defended by Marcantonius Bragadino. When Bragadino
capitulated, his companions were killed and he was
tortured for 2 weeks. Lala Mustapha made him kiss the
ground under his feet, then had him flayed alive and his
body was exhibited in the main square of Famagusta.
Ottoman Empire
Europe was not interested in rescuing Cyprus. The
adrenaline of 4 crusades was exhausted. During the
Ottoman rule in Cyprus the Christian population was
represented by the Orthodox Church.
"Following the Turkish conquest, many Greek Cypriot and
Latins, in order to escape heavy taxation converted to
Islam. Greek Cypriots who had been converted to Islam
remained actually Christians in secret. They were normally
called "linobambaki"" meaning a cloth woven with linen and
cotton which had two different sides as with their faith."
Archbishop Timotheus presented a request to Philip II of
Spain which stated:
"There have recently been repeated cases of abuse on the
part of the conqueror; in a greedy manner they attempt to
confiscate and seize the property of the inhabitants;
Christian houses are broken into and domiciles violated, and
all sorts of dishonest acts against wives and daughters are
committed. Twice until now churches and monasteries have
been plundered, multiple and heavy taxes have been
imposed whose collection is pursued by systematic
persecution, threats and tortures, which lead, many persons
to the ranks of Islam, while at the same time, the male
children of Cypriot families are seized in order to form the
brigades of the Jannissaries. This most hard practice is the
worst of the sufferings to which the people of Cyprus is
subjected by the Turkish administration."
.
Between 1572 and 1668, the Cypriots staged 28 "bloody"
uprisings to protest the taxes. That's an average of one
bloody uprising every 3 and a half years. In 1660, the
Sultan recognized the Archbishop and the Bishops as "the
protectors of people" and the representatives of the Sultan.
In 1670, Cyprus came under the jurisdiction of the admiral
of the Ottoman fleet. The admiral sent an officer to govern
in his place. In 1703, Cyprus came under the jurisdiction
of the grand vizier who sent a military and civil
administrator. This office accompanied the highest bid for
the tax rights to Cyprus.
The Cypriots were being cruelly exploited to repay the note
on the bid. By 1760, the situation on the island was
critical. An epidemic of plague, bad crops and earthquakes
caused many Cypriots to emigrate. The final straw came
when in 1764, the newly appointed Pasha doubled the
taxes. Chil Osman (the local tax collector and Turk from
HQ) and 18 of his friends were torn to pieces by Greek and
Turkish Cypriots. The group had to pay a huge sum to the
Sultan and the families of the victims. It was assessed that
each Christian family had to pay 14 piastres and each
Turk 7. The Turkish Cypriots led by Khalil Agha attacked
the Turkish government authorities. The uprising was
suppressed and Kahlil Aga beheaded.
The consequences of the Greek rebellion spilled onto
Cyprus. The Sultan consented to the execution of 486
Christians on July 9th. 1821 accusing them of conspiring
with the rebellious Greeks. The casualties included 4
bishops, many clerics and village officials and prominent
citizens. They were beheaded in the central square of
Nicosia while Archbishop Kyprioanos was hanged. The
property of the church was plundered and the Christians
forced to pull the upper stories off their houses. Maybe to
make sure there were no tall buildings on which to station
a lookout. In 1878, 307 years after they took control
Turkey relinquished the rule of Cyprus to Britain.
BRITAIN
At the Congress of Berlin, Britain and Turkey signed the
Cyprus Convention. Turkey handed Cyprus over to the
British in exchange for the British supporting them in a
war against Russia. Three years after they took control, the
British conducted a tax census. The composition of the
Cypriot population was Greek Orthodox 74% and Muslim
Turkish 24.5%. The British imposed heavy taxes on the
Cypriots to cover the compensation they were paying to the
Sultan for having ceded Cyprus to them. The Cypriots were
paying to solve Britain's problem with the "sick old man of
Europe": Turkey. In 1914 when Turkey entered the First
World War on the side of the Germans, Britain annexed
Cyprus. The treaty of Lausanne (July 24th. 1923)
formalized the arrangement between Britain and Turkey
concerning the status of Cyprus.
In 1929, "The National Radical Union of Cyprus" was
established. It aimed at the liberation of Cyprus from the
British and ENOSIS with Greece. ENOSIS means the
reunification of Cyprus to Greece. In 1931 the NRUC issued
a proclamation of protest against the British, which was
followed by an uprising of the Greek community. The
uprising was suppressed with the help of the Egyptians.
Britain was no longer willing to negotiate for the
independence and self-determination of Cyprus.
The British government appointed Sir Richard Palmer as
governor and he shook things up a little. From October
1931-October 1940 was a very difficult period for the
Cypriots. Palmer limited the functioning of Greek schools
and prohibited trade unions or associations of any kind.
This period of suppression and persecution was known as
"Palmerokratia". It was a failed attempt at limiting public
interest in politics. After World War II, the Cypriot
delegation submitted a demand for ENOSIS to London. It
was rejected but London came up with a counter proposal:
a more liberal constitution and a 10 year program for
social and economic development.
For the Turkish Cypriot minority, Islam was a way of life.
Attaturk's secular reforms in Turkey had some influence
on them, especially on the educated urban class. Overall,
the two communities lived peacefully side by side until the
British inserted a wedge between them by hiring more of
the Turkish Cypriot minority in civil service and policing
areas. British influence was obvious in the legal system
and public offices.
Lawrence Durrell writes in Bitter Lemons (published in
1957)
"Enosis and only Enosis" as he comes home he is hissed at
from a door way and warned that his neighbor is drunk.
Manoli was standing in the rosy glow from the tavern door,
swaying a bit and twirling his mustache.
"Ah," he says as he caught sight of me, "Here is the
foreigner." I catch hold of his arm and whisper in his ear;
"Never say that Greece and England drew the sword upon
each other." He suddenly seemed to come to himself.
"Never," he repeated indistinctly. "Never, my friend, Never." I
slip past him into my own front door. Though they have
written Enosis on every wall in the village, so far nobody has
touched the walls of the house, three of which are on a
public highway. I point this out to Andreas, "Of course he
says that would not be neighborly. And another thing you
know we love the English. There is nothing anti-English in
Enosis."
In the June, 1956 National Geographic, Franc Shor writes,
in Cyprus, Geography's Stepchild:
"Recent agitation among more than 400,000 Greek Cypriots
for Enosis, or union with Greece, has changed the island's
whole pattern of life and caused loud reverberations in the
capitals of Britain, Greece and Turkey, all members of NATO.
For months Cyprus has been an armed camp with more than
20,000 British soldiers struggling to keep order. Trucks and
land rovers roar over roads accustomed to bicycles and
donkeys. Sentries patrol behind barbed wire as violence
stalks the island."
The Greek Cypriot majority was nurtured by the Greek
Orthodox Church. They upheld the spirit of the people and
kept the nationalist movement alive. The leader of the
push for freedom was Archbishop Makarios III. Michael
Mouskos was born in 1913. In 1948, he became Bishop of
Kition & in 1950 Archbishop of Cyprus. In 1955 EOKA (the
organization of Cypriot Fighters) began a guerrilla
campaign under the leadership of George Grivas Digenis.
Its aims were the right to self-determination and/or union
with Greece. From Mid 1956 onwards there were constant
discussions about the status of Cyprus amongst the
members of NATO. Harold Macmillan submitted a proposal
for partition of the island but Makarios rejected it.
Makarios declared that he would only accept a proposal
which guaranteed independence excluding both partition
and ENOSIS. On February 11th 1959, Makarios agreed to
the proposal from the London Conference fearing that if he
didn't and the British left the negotiating table, the Turks
would use the British withdrawal from the talks as an
excuse to invade.
In 1959, the Zurich-London agreements made Cyprus
independent. Cyprus sovereignty was compromised by the
conditions placed on the new government by NATO's
strategic interests in the East Mediterranean. In 1960,
Makarios was elected President of Cyprus and then again
in 1968 & 1973. The Bow Educational briefings pick up
the story here:
"Makarios himself fled, and eventually reached the United
Nations where, on 19th., July 1974 he declared in the
Security Council that the coup was an invasion in violation of
the independence of the Republic and that it was the work of
Greek officers directed by the military government in Athens.
The coup took place not because Makarios had abandoned
ENOSIS but because he was no friend of the Greek military
Government and was not proceeding towards ENOSIS fast
enough for their liking."
The Republic of CYPRUS
The constitution divided and shared power between the
Greek and Turkish Cypriots in a 70/30 ratio. The
president would be Greek and the vice president Turkish.
The 70/30 rule applied to the House of Representatives
and the civil service and the police force. The army of
2,000 men was to be 60% Greek and 40% Turkish.
Treaties were signed to guarantee all these rights. It took 3
years for things to break apart.
The Cypriot government failed to meet the military quota.
The government introduced conscription - but only for Greek Cypriots. The Turkish Cypriots should have been delighted not to have to be drafted. (Here in the United States, the European concept of the entire population being war-ready is not accepted ). For the Turkish Cypriot politicians, however, this was another opportunity to demonstrate the unfair status of Turkish Cypriot citizens.
On April 25th. 1963, the court ruled that article 173 had not
been complied with. On May 21st, the neutral judge of the
3 who formed the court tribunal, a West German citizen,
resigned. The Turkish Cypriot representatives were
excluded from fulfilling their office unless they agreed to
changes in the articles of the constitution. The Turkish
consensus was that there was a motive for changing the
articles of the constitution that they were a deterrent to
achieving ENOSIS, union with Greece.
From December 1963, there were serious incidents of
violence against Turkish Cypriots. Daily Express, (London
newspaper) Dec. 28th:
"We went tonight into the sealed-off Turkish Quarter of
Nicosia in which 200 to 300 people had been slaughtered in
the last five days. We were the first Western reporters there
and we have seen sights too frightful to be described in print.
Horror so extreme that the people seemed stunned beyond
tears."
On 14th. January 1964 the Daily Telegraph reported that
the Turkish-Cypriot inhabitants of Ayios Vassilios had
been massacred on 26th, Dec. 1963, and their exhumation
from a mass grave had been witnessed by members of the
International Red Cross. However it happened; people died
either as a result of a hate crime or due to political
machination. Those corpses belonged to living, breathing
friends and relatives: civilian slaughter is a coward's
weapon.
In April 1966, the Greek Paper PATRIS published a "top-
secret document" called the Akritas plan. It is unknown
whether it was real or forged. The English text is a
marketing plan to get Cyprus reunited with Greece, I think!
It's so wordy and mealy-mouthed, it's hardly worth
classifying as a top secret document and on close
inspection has turns of phrase that don't ring true. They
hint, they don't state, it's odd. The text may be found at
http://www.cypnet.com/.ncyprus/cyproblem/akritas.html.
Derek and Julia Parker pick up the story here;
"In 1964, Turkish Representatives withdrew from the Cypriot
Government, claiming that they were being forcibly prevented
from participation in decision-making. And asserting their
walk-out made the whole system of government
unconstitutional. The Greeks however argued that the
Turkish withdrawal was voluntary-they could participate in
government if they wished-and continued to rule alone."
From 1970-1973, differences arose within the Greek
Cypriot community, which was divided, into pro and anti-
Makarios factions. The Greek military junta came to power
in Athens in 1967. They played a divisive and destabilizing
role in Cyprus. Greek led Cypriot rebels attempted to
overthrow the Cypriot government to bring about union
with Greece
Bow educational briefing # 5 :"In 1967 there were serious
episodes of violence against Turkish Cypriots and in 1971
the EOKA leader General Grivas returned to Cyprus and
established the EOKA-B organization committed as was
EOKA in the 50s to union with Greece. According to a letter
dated July 2nd. 1974 from Makarios to the Greek
government, the Greek-Cypriot National Guard was from the
outset the main supplier of men and materials to EOKA-B.
Turkey did not respond to this violence except for sporadic
air attacks."
The Parkers "The principal Greek opponents of President
Makarios doubted his enthusiasm for ENOSIS and attempted
to assassinate him in October 1973, murdering 2 of his
supporters in January 1974. Makarios found it impossible to
act against his attackers because of their strong links to
Greece and the colonels."
After the death of General Grivas in 1974, Makarios
pardoned his followers but protested the National Guard's
Greek officers' attempts to intervene in government. He
insisted on the dismissal of 650 of them. The National
Guard staged a coup, on July 15th. 1974 and Makarios
was forced to flee the country. From July 22nd. - 16th.
August there were murders of Turkish civilians, reprisals
taken by the National Guard:
"Particularly in the villages of Aloa (Times, Guardian 21st.
August) Zyyi. Sandallaris, Mari, Maratha and Tokhni and
again despite the presence in Cyprus of UN troops. In
Tohkni, on 14th. August 1974 all the Turkish-Cypriot men
between the ages of 13 and 74, except for 18 who managed
to escape, were taken away and shot."
The problem with the figures is we don't know how many
there were to start with and whether they opened fire on
the National Guard. What is the truth?
"In Zyyi on the same day all the Turkish-Cypriot men aged
between 19 and 28 were taken away by Greek-Cypriots and
were never seen again. On the same day Greek-Cypriots
opened fire in the Turkish Cypriot neighborhood of Paphos
killing men, women and children indiscriminately. On 23 rd.
July 1974, the Washington Post reported " In a Greek raid on
a small Turkish village near Limassol 36 people out of a
population of 200 were killed. The Greeks said that they had
been given orders to kill the inhabitants of the Turkish
villages before the Turkish forces arrived." (see also Times,
Guardian 23rd. July)"
Bow Educational continues:
"July 24th. 1974 France Soir reported "The Greeks burned
down Turkish Mosques and set fire to Turkish homes in the
villages around Famagusta. Defenseless Turkish villagers,
who have no weapons, live in an atmosphere of terror and
they evacuate their homes and go and live in tents in the
forests. The Greeks' actions are a shame to humanity."
The National Guard appointed Nikos Sampson president.
He called on the exiled Konstantinos Karamanlis to form a
government. In August the Turkish army advanced to
occupy one third of the island. Cyprus was now in chaos;
prisoners of war were exchanged, but as the winter
approached one third of the island's population was living
in tents and the economy was in ruins. The country faced
a deficit of 350 million pounds and the Turks now
occupied land which had previously produced 70% of the
country's wealth.
President Makarios returned to the island and was faced
with the enormous task of reconstruction. Both sides
argue energetically as to how their rights were violated. In
the Universal Declaration of Human rights, there are 30
articles. I found 7 articles that have been violated with
respect to the citizens of Cyprus:
By August it was obvious the Turks weren't leaving.
Cyprus could have used an ally that summer. The British
were busy trying to decide how they were going to take
over Europe, the Americans were humiliated by Watergate
and really disgusted with the Vietnam war. At least, this
bizarre Greek attempt at a coup in Cyprus helped unseat
the military regime in Athens. They had been in power
since 1967. The invasion of Cyprus helped the Greeks get
rid of the junta. But at what cost? Was the sacrificial lamb
asked if it wanted to participate? Cyprus was partitioned
in 1975. The Greek sector led by President George
Vassiliou is the Republic of Cyprus, he was elected in
1988. The Turkish zone under the leadership of Rauf
Denktash, declared itself the Turkish republic of northern
Cyprus in 1983 but is recognized only by Turkey.
Cypriots have paid a high price for civilization, if you could
call it that. Onerous taxation, religious persecution and a
procession of rulers, lined up to take advantage of the
strategic value of Cyprus that's a pretty heavy burden to
bear.
City life requires facilities that a resident does not have to
provide. It's inconvenient marching though your local
suburb with a couple of tins of water balanced on your
head. Thus came the introduction of city services; "Hey, if
you'll pay taxes we'll lay you a pipe You won't have to walk
or send the servant half a mile to the well, save you time,
that servant can just get busy and scrub something!"
If you live in a place where the services don't function; you
apportion blame. Are they competent or not? When some
warlord or invader offers to do the administration the
population is being handed a large cudgel with which to
smite that invader every time the fool drops his guard. Why
don't the trains run on time used to be my father's favorite
anecdote about collaborators discovered in Europe after
the Second World War?
"When the Fuherer was in power the trains ran on time."
Or as one of the old Cypriot ladies remarked to my mother;
"Aggh, in Roman times they knew how to build roads."
The effervescent, stoic Cypriot personality is evident in the
economic strides made in the southern half of the island
since 1974. The continuing promotion and agitation for the
reunification of the island by wonderful websites from
Turkish and Greek Cypriot communities, musical tours to
promote awareness, the City of Famagusta exhibit, lecture
& document presentations: all these endeavors are an
amazing commitment of individuals' time and effort to
bring about a peaceful conclusion. In CYPRUS 2000, I will
address the extraordinary strides taken by the Cypriot
government since 1974 and the plans they have put into
effect.
Some conquerors were welcomed. Some were guests;
others broke the house rules, outstayed their welcome. If a
conqueror demanded too much, the Cypriots made
preparations for his departure. If negotiation failed, they
would figure out a scheme and a good fight would ensue
until the scales were balanced and the Cypriots felt they
had righted the wrong or remedied an injustice. This is not
isolated human behavior, it is how we protect the hearth.
CHECK OUT THESE LINKS TO LEARN MORE ABOUT CYPRUS
http://www.windowoncyprus.com
http://www.cypnet.com/.ncyprus/cyproblem/akritas.html