Abstract

The Cyprus question has started to take place offİcially in the Tuıkish agenda in 1954. Untii then Turkey followed a moderate polıcy against Greece which accepted the annexation of the island as her official policy. The reason for this moderate policy is the fact that Cyprus beîonged to Britain. However, in 1954 when Greece delivered the Cyprus problem to the United Nations, Turkey took her official position against the Greek claims. Following 1954 Turkish policies regaıding the Cyprus issue have passed through three stages. In the first phase, Turkey defended the an- nexation thesis which meant that Cyprus must have been given back to Turkey since England önce taken the island from Turkey. Nevertheless, soon it was realized that this policy was very far from achieving the goal. In the second phase, Turkey accepted the thesis of division of the island into two in 1957, convinced basically by the political and economic difficulties of the 1950s and the pres sure exeıled by the British över Turkey. However, this policy could not reach its aims due mainly to the un- accommodating policies of Greece. In the third and the last stage, Turkey accepted the British solution for the establishment of a federal republic of Cyprus which Britain imposed and forced both sides to accept. As a result of this solution the London and Zürich Treatİes were signed between Britain, Greece and Turkey in 1959, and the Federal Republic of Cyprus was established under the guarantor- ship of three parties mentioned.