In this second edition of this book another Part was added, Part XII, dealing with the evolution of the Cyprus intercommunal talks.

To the already existing Appendices nine more were added, setting-out the various proposals made for the solution of the Cyprus problem and certain statements and observations in connection therewith.

The intercommunal talks which were recessed in June 1979 was not found possible to be reactivated until the time when these lines are being written in spite of the resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations in this respect and the persistent efforts of the Secretary-General Dr. Waldheim in this direction.

lt is hoped that wiser thoughts will prevail and that the intercommunal talks will be resumed in an effort to give a fair and viable solution to the Cyprus problem and relieve its most suffering people from all its afflictions.

Nicosia, 2nd of April, 1980.

Cyprus, the third largest island, after Sicily and Sardinia, in the Mediterranean, lies at its eastern basin between lat. 300. 34' and 350. 42'N. and long. 32o.16' and 34o.6E. at the cross-road of routes from east to west and from north to south. Its greatest length from the coast of Paphos in the west to the Cape St. Andreas in the east is about 150 miles, its greatest breadth from Cape Kormakitis in the north to Cape Gata in the south is 60 miles and its whole area is 3,572 square miles (9,251 square kilometres) and is similar in size to that of Lebanon or of Norfolk and Suffolk combined in the United Kingdom or of Puerto Rico.

Its shape has been described as oblong and parallel to the equator, like that of Crete, being the opposite of Rhodes, which is almost upright and vertical to the equatorz whilst another description represents Cyprus as having the shape of a wheel-barrow being pushed along, seen from the side. Its handles are represented by the long Karpass poninsula and the wheels by the Akrotiri peninsula3.

The shape of Cyprus is determined by two parallel mountain ranges stretching from the west to the east. The northern range, the Kyrenia or Pendadaktylos range, with its very impressive jagged outline runs at a distance of a few miles from the coast for about sixty miles from above Vassilia-Lapithos on the west to Kantara castle on the east wherefrom it falls away along the Karpass peninsula, its highest peak being about 3,357 ft. at Kyparissovouno. The other range is that of Troodos to the south, the massif of which consists of very old rock its highest point, Chionistra, having a height of 6,403 ft.4 These mountains are mostly covered with forest trees mainly of the Aleppo pine and blackpine and a variety of bushes. ln the spring wild flowers of a variety of colours render the scenery more beautiful.

From a geological point of view Cyprus is comparatively young dating back to about 150 million years. The oldest rocks are attributed to the Cretaceous of early Eocene period. They probably underlie the whole island. The Troodos mountain-range consists of igneous rocks (mainly plutonic, dyke and volcanic rocks) on top of which there is series of sedimentary rocks ranging from the Upper Cretaceous to the Pleistocene period. Regarding the Kyrenia range on the other hand its core consists mainly of highly tectonised metamorphosed limestones and dolomite forming blocks on top of the other⁵ .

It is considered that the structures found in the northern Cypriot range are typical of the Alpine orogenic movements. The conclusion, therefore, of Professor Alagoz that "1'île de Chypre, est physiquement dependante de la Turquie"⁶ owing to the similarity of the structure of the Taurus mountain in Asia Minor with the northern range of mountains in Cyprus does not seem to be well founded as it appears that such range is the most external part of the external zones of the Hellenic Alps which extend from New Yugoslavia, western Albania, western Greece, Peloponnesos Crete, Rhodes, Taurus and Amanus ⁷ .

lt appear that geologically the island of Cyprus has been formed by the joining together of two small islands that of Troodos massif which appeared about 100 million years ago with that of Kyrenia which emerged later about 11 million years ago. These two islands became joined as the uplift continued thus forming the Messaoria plain⁸ .

Cyprus is mainly an agricultural country and its wine and citrus fruit are exported to various countries. Its wine has been famous since ancient times and according to one version it was one of the reasons which contributed to rhe Turkish occupation of the island by Sultan Selim Il in 1571⁹ . Among the other goods exported from Cyprus are other agricultural products, such as fresh grapes, potatoes, carrots and other fresh vegetables, carobs (including kibbled carobs) and various minerals and of late various industrial products.

The history of Cyprus begins with the Neolithic times going back to the 6th millenium ¹⁰ .

There is no concrete evidence about the first settlers of the Neolithic period. One view is in favour of a distinct group not related to any neighbouring region whilst another view suggests that the early settlers came from the Balkans, especially from Thessalia and Macedonia with another group from Cilicia ¹¹ .

It is not also clear to what extent Cyprus was connected commercially or otherwise with the culture of other neighbouring countries during this period and it may be simply argued that the Neolithic culture which lasted 3,500 years was developed locally with little influence from abroad ¹² .

With the discovery of copper in Cyprus early in the third millenium B.e. the history of Cyprus enters into a new period the Bronze period 2500-1500 B.C.

The extent of the Mycenaean influence llas been shown by the archaeological findings since the last century-tombs, vases and other remains as well as the recent excavation of a complete Mycenaean city in eastern Cyprus ¹³ .

Before the end of the second millenium more Greek colonists arrived to live in Cyprus while others settled on the east and west of Asia Minor. Homer speaks of Cinyras, the King of Paphos, who gave Agamemnon, the Commader-in-Chief of the Greek forces against Troy, a decorated suit of armour and king Cinyras is praised by the Greek poet Tyrtaeous (seventh century s.c.) and Pindar (fifth ceniury s.c.). Legends existed for the foundation of cities in Cyprus by the Greek heroes of the Trojan war such as Salamis by Teucer, brother of Ajax, Paphos by Agapenor from Arcadia, Idalium by Chalcanor, Lapithos by Praxandros of Laconia, Chytri (the present day Kythrea) by Chytrus, Aepeia, near Soli by Demophon and others ¹⁴ .

The Greek colonisation was very extensive and this is supported by Herodotus who says that the inhabitants of Cyprus had come from Athens, Argos, Arcadia, Salamis, etc. Even Kition, traditionally a Phoenician city, became Mycenaean. Besides the Greeks Phoenicians from Syria also came to Cyprus not earlier than 1000 s.c. and settled in the coasts particularly in Kition and Lapithos¹⁵ .

On the model of the Greek city-state and following the Mycenaean system of government many kingdoms have been established and maintained in Cyprus since the first millenium having replaced the previous system of one king reigning over the whole island. Diodoros Siceliotis, the historian, refers to nine such kingdoms in the middle of the fourth century B.C.

Gradually the institution of the assembly of thc people, the ecclesia, was developed to which the king was referring matters of administration for consideration¹⁶ .

The Kings of Cyprus retained their internal autonomy during the Assyrian conquest of Cyprus about the eighth century B.C. and under the Egyptians and the Persians from the sixth century to the end of the fourth B.C. even after the heroic but unsuccessful revolt under king Onesilus in the fifth century s.c. who tried to unite thc Cypriots against the Persian domination.

Next important king who united the cities of Cyprus under the leadership of Salamis was its king Evagoras the First. Evagoras carried a ten years war against the Persian yoke and during this struggle he was greatly assisted by the Athenians who made him a citizen of Athens. But when after the Treaty of Antalkidas in 368 s.c. had to carry on alone, in spite of some temporary successes such as the capture of Tyre in Phoenicia in 382 s.c., was forced to yield and acknowledged by a treaty which he signed as king to king the Great King of Persia as overlord. Evagoras is the most important statesman in the history of Cyprus who not only maintained and spread the Greek culture throughout Cyprus but transmitted it to the neighbouring countries ¹⁷ .

The introduction of Christianity to Cyprus was the most important event during the early period of the Roman rule. On his first missionary journey it 45 A.D. Paul accompanied by Barnabas, a Cypriot, and Mark landed at Salamis and preached there the new religion to the Jewish synagogue. After this they crossed Cyprus preaching the new religion and reached Paphos, the capital, where the most sensational event occurred, the conversion to Christianity of the proconsul Sergius Paulus, whereupon Saul was renamed Paul. For the first time a Roman noble occupying an important public position accepted the new religion ¹⁸ . The spreading of Christianity, however, was not an easy task as the Greek pagans and the Jews, who had been settled since the time of Ptolemy I, were attached to their old religion. The conversion to Christianity was completed by the beginning of thc fifth century through the great ecclesiastical figures of the time, St. Barnabas, Heracledius, Mnason, Lazarus, Spyridon of Tremithus, Trifillios of Ledra, Philon of Karpasia, Tychon of Amathus and Epiphanios of Constantia¹⁹ .

On the laying of the foundations of the Byzantine empire in 330 A.D. Cyprus became a province of the Orient under the Comes Orientis, whose seat was at Antioch. Cyprus received. special attention and protection from the emperors of Byzantium and the mother of Constantine the Great, St. Helena, visited Cyprus and established christian churches including the monastery of Stavrovouni where according to tradition she left pieces of the cross upon which Christ was crucified²⁰ .

When Cyprus was politically attached to Antioch an attempt was made by its Patriarch to put the Church of Cyprus under his control but this was successfully resisted by the Cypriot bishops at the Third Oecumenical Synod at Ephesus in 431 A.D.²¹ . New claims were raised later by the Church of Antioch but when Archbishop Anthemios presented Emperor Zeno (498 A.D.) with a copy of St. Matthew's Gospel, which was found in the tomb of St. Barnabas and was believed to have been placed there by St. Mark, the Emperor, recognized the autocephaly of the Church of Cyprus and conferred on its Archbishop the imperial privileges: to hold a sceptre instead of a pastoral staff, to wear a purple mantle and to sign in red ink ²² . A final resolution settling the question of the autocephaly of the Greek -Orthodox Church of Cyprus was taken by the Quini-Sext or Trullan Oecumenical Synod at Constantinople in 692 A.D. ²³ .

But the Arabs never made an organised attempt to occupy Cyprus and their acti.vities were limited to looting and taking prisoners ²⁴ .

The last episode in the history of Cyprus as a province of the Byzantine empire occurred at the time of Isaac Comnenos, who usurped by deceit the oflice of ruler of Cyprus (1184 A.D.). The king of England Richard Coeur de Lion was on his way to the Holy Land as one of the leaders of the Third Crusade, but his fleet was scattered by a storm and the ship carrying his fiance Berengaria and his sister Joanna, Queen of Sicily, was forced to take refuge in the bay of Limassol. Isaac tried to entice the two women to land in order to hold them for ransom but Richard arrived in time and eventually expelleJ Isaac Comnenos from his office ²⁵ .

The legislation during the Lusignan period was the one contained in the Assizes of Cyprus, written in the then spoken Cypriot language, which was based on the Assizes of Jerusalem and contained the feudal law though the influence of Byzantine and Greek law is manifest²⁶ .

During the Frankish period the Greek Orthodox Church was in a state of persecution as the Latin Church was trying to subjugate it²⁷ .

The last Queen of the Lusignan dynasty²⁸ Catherine Cornaro ceded Cyprus to Venice in 1489, when the Lusignan domination of Cyprus ended.

The Venetian occupation of Cyprus (1489-1570) had a purely military, purpose that of defending the Venetian interests from any dangers that might come from Egypt and the Turks. All authority was now vested in the Council of Venice, who every two years were sending a Proveditor to govern the island. In governing Cyprus Venice was looking after her own interests and the well being of the inhabitants was utterly neglected ²⁹ .

Hil1 in his History of Cyprus after referring to the capture of Nicosia, at which the massacre and looting went on for three days, writes that " the reader may be spared description of horrors which were such as usually occurred at the capture of any Christian city by the Turks " ³⁰ and after the fall of Famagusta observes that " the history of Cyprus is rich in episodes of horror, and this was an age inferior to no other in barbarity : but as an example of cold-blooded ferocity, in which the childishness of the savage combines with the refinements of the sadist, the martyrdom of the hero of Famagusta by Mustafa Pasha yietds the palm to none. It was inspired not by momentary fury, but by deliberate bloodlust. Some details may have been exaggerated by anti-Moslem sentiment, but the main facts are not open to doubt " ³¹

The Turkish conquest brought many radical changes to Cyprus In spite of atrocities the Turks supported the Greek-Orthodox Church, which replaced the Roman Catholic as the official Church of the island ³² .

The Archbishop of Cyprus was given similar privileges as those conferred on the Patriarch at Constantinople ³³ .

In Cyprus the Archbishop, to whom a Berat was issued on his election outlining his secular powers, ³⁴ was considered as the Head of the " Rayas and their representative"³⁵ and as such was responsible for imposing and collecting the taxes³⁶ .

During the Turkish occupation a system of wide local government was existing and operating³⁷.

By an additional Article signed at Constantinople on tho l4th August 1878, it was agreed between the High Contracting Parties that for the term of the occupation and no longer, full powers were granted to the Great Britain for making Laws and Conventions for the Government of the Island and for the regulating of its Commercial and consular relations and affairs ³⁸ .

During all the years of foreign occupation many conquerors passed through Cyprus and she came across many civilisations. Though they left their traces, which may be witnessed by the various silent monuments, nevertheless Cyprus never has lost its own character. As the modern Greek poet says : " You have changed many despots but you have never changed your heart " ³⁹ .

Stanley Casson rightly observes that " there is alsways perceptible an undercurrent of influence which, for good or bad, remains Cypriot. Nothing that Cyprus adopted remained unaffected. Instead it will be incorrect to say that Cyprus " has absorbed anything, she rather absorbed and then transformed " ⁴⁰ .

A view was expressed that Great Britain acnuired a de facto though not a de jure sovereignty over Cyprus under the Convention⁴¹ .

The concept of sovereignty, as supreme authority which is independent of another authority, coincides with that of the political power and has difl'erent aspects. In so far as it excludes dependence upon any other form of authority of another state, sovereignty is independence. It is external independence with regard to the liberty of action outside the borders of a state in its intercourse with other states and internal independence with regard to the liberty of action inside the borders. As regards the power of the state to exercise supreme authority over all persons and things within its territory, sovereignty is territoria! supremacy (dominion, territorial sovereignty). As regards the power of the state to exercise supreme authority over all its citizens at home and abroad, sovereignty is personal supremacy (imperium, political sovereignty) ⁴² .

A third theory inspired by Radnitsky and accepted by the Austrian school (Kelsen, Verdross) maintains that the territory should be free of any post juridic, naturalistic or geographical element and should be approached from the angle of the exercise of the competence of the state ratione loci. Under this theory the relations of the colonial territories to the metropolitan territory could be better explained ⁴³ .

The supreme authority which a state exercises over its territory would seem to suggest that on one and the same territory there can exist one full sovereign state only and that two or more sovereign states on one and the same territory are an impossibility. But the controversy over the non-divisibility of snvereignty, prevalent in the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was dying out in the nineteenth century especially with the appearance of federalism and colonialism ⁴⁴ .

Among the examples of the divisibility of sovereignty is the case where one state actually exercises sovereignty which in law is vested elsewhere, as where a piece of territory is administered by a foreign Power with the consent of the state to which the territory belongs. ln this respect reference is made to the position of Cyprus from 1878 to 1914 under British administration and that of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1878 to 1908 under the administration of Austria-Hungary⁴⁵ where a cession of territory has for all practical purposes talcen place although in law the territory belongecf to the former owner state.

This is borne out by the provisions of the Convention itself under which Turkey " assigns " the administration of the Island of Cyprus to Great Britain, an expression which denotes transfer of title, whilst at the same time provision is made in the Annex for the eventual return of Cyprus on the fulfilment of certain conditions⁴⁶ .

That sovereignty remained in Turkey was never disputed by Great Britain on taking up the administration of the island⁴⁷ and for this reason she was estopped from claiming a prescriptive right to the territory⁴⁸ .

Hall maintained that so long as Cyprus was under double or ambiguous sovereignty it was possible at the same time to posse.ss a belligerent and a neutral character ⁴⁹ whilst in the opinion of some other writer the true situation in Cyprus seems to have been one of divided sovereignty with the reversion and some of the incidents of the sovereignty in the Sultan⁵⁰ .

In an opinion of the Lord Chancellor delivered to the British Government on the question whether Turkish sovereignty over Cyprus was nominal only, the view was taken that Great Britain had become invested with such rights as Turkey had enjoyed " the Porte retaining the reversion ". The British Foreign Secretary was also of the opinion that the transfer of the island to Great 8ritain " had all the incidents of cession for so long as the British occupation lasted "⁵¹ .

An analysis of the nature of the British administration under the Convention was made in the decision of the Anglo-Turkish Mixed Arbitral Tribunal in the case of Parounak & Bedros Parounakian v. The Turkish Governmenl (Annual Digest 1929-1930 Case No. 1 I). The Tribunal held in that case that the occupation of Cyprus lacked "juristic precision " but it was analogous to protectorate in the sense that it fell within the designation of a country " under protection " of Great Britain within the meaning of Article 64 of the Treaty of Lausanne. Great Britain " exercised all the regular prerogatives of government in such manner that the island must in fact be regarded as having been governed by Great Britain " ⁵² .

The change in the administration of the island, however, was not so simple as it seemed. It presented a peculiar problem regarding the existing relations between Turkey and the third Powers especially with regard to the regime of Capitulations under which foreign nationals were subjected to the jurisdiction of their own consular courts⁵³ .

The claim of the foreign consuls was not accepted by Britain whose case was that the further application of the Treaties between the Port and Foreign Powers to the island of Cyprus was ineompatible with the assumption of the Government of the island by Great Britain and the objects of the occupation. When the first Ordinance for the establishment of a High Court of Justice for Cyprus, which was of a temporary nature, was enacted, the Capitulations were abolished⁵⁴ .

Great Britain communicated its decision for the abolition of the Capitulations to the Powers concerned and asked them to acquiesce thereto. The Powers concerned in their reply had not accepted the abolition of the Capitulations but only their suspension⁵⁵ .

Special protection has been afforded to foreign subjects, however, by clause 30 of the Cyprus Courts of Justice Order in Council 1882⁵⁶ whereby all actions in which the defendant or any of the defendants was not an Ottoman subject was triable by the President of the District Court, who was not a Cypriot, sitting alone.

With regard to the constitutional arrangements by an Order in Council of the l4th September I878⁵⁷ a Legislative Council was established consisting of the High Commissioner and not less than four and not more than eight other members, one half being official and the other unofficial members nominated by Her Majesty or provisionally appointed by the High Commissioner subject to Her pleasure. The High Commissioner with the advice of the Council might make Ordinances for the peace, order and good government of the island subject to instructions from Her Majesty.

In this Constitution the Legislative Council was reconstructed to consist of six official members and twelve elected or unofFlcial members out of whom the nine would be non-Mahometan and the three Mahometan elected by the non-Ottoman and the Ottoman electors respectively. The Council would be presided by the High Commissioner or the senior official member who was to have a casting vote. Power was reserved to Her Majesty to legislate by Order in Council⁵⁸ .

It is, however, odd that the Turks were not pleased with that Constitution and by a petition to the Colonial Ofhce claimed inter alia that they should be equally represented in the Council with the Greeks. It is to be noted that the nutnber of elected members was fixed on the proportion of the G1-eek and Turkish inhabitants shown in the census of 188I ⁵⁹ .

Further provision for the exercise of the power and jurisdiction vested by the Convention in Her Majesty was made by the Order in Council of the 6th day of July 1907 " providing for the Government of the island of Cyprus "⁶⁰ .

Great Britain immediately after the outbreak of war with Turkey in 1914, annexed Cyprus by Order in Council⁶¹ of the 5th November 1914 and as from that date Cyprus formed part of Her Majesty's dominions.

By another Order in Council of the 27th November 1917⁶² the nationality of the Cypriots who were Ottoman subjects and were in Cyprus on the date of the annexation was regulated.

Cyprus, when annexed, had been under British administration since 1878. Such annexation in time of peace without the consent of the state which in law owns the territory is unlawful and it is of doubtful legality in war⁶³ . In any event the annexation was recognized by Turkey by article 20 of the Treaty of Lausanne 1923. Turkey, furthermore, by Article 16 of the same Treaty renounced a11 rights and titles whatsoever over or respecting inter alia " the islands other than those over which the sovereignty is recognised by the present Treaty" (and therefore, over Cyprus as well) and by Article 27 Turkey was precluded from exercising any jurisdiction in any political, legislative or administrative matter, outside the territory of Turkey, on any national of a territory put under the sovereignty of the other signatory Powers (as in the case of Ottoman subjects in Cyprus).

By Letters Patent of 10 March 1925⁶⁴ from that date the Island of Cyprus became a Crown Colony and the ofhce of the High Commissioner was substituted by that of the Governor.

The Executive Council in accordance with the Royal Instructions of the lOth March 1925⁶⁵ shall consist of ofhcial members ,not exceeding four, and of additional or unofficial members not exceeding three as the Governor may appoint.

The legislation was to be made by a Legislative Council provided by clause VIII of the Letters Patent 1925 but power of legislation by Order in Council was reserved to the Crown. The composition of the Legislative Council was provided by the Cyprus (Legislative Council) 1925⁶⁶ . The Legislative Council would consist of six nominated members (out of whom the three virtute officio that is to say, the Colonial Secretary, the Attorney-General and the Treasurer and other three officials appointed by the Governor) and fifteen elected members (out of whom three Mohammedans elected by the Mohammedan electors and twelve non Mohammedan elected by the non-Mohammedan electors).

The reaction of the Greek members was manifested in the motion by the then Bishop of Kitium to insert an expressicn of disappointment, in the Address, that the reasonable claim to be granted more and actual political rights have been overlooked and a prayer that the representatives might participate with responsibility and in an efl'ective way in the exercise of authority both legislative and executive.⁶⁷

The demands for the amendment of the Constitution and the grant of more political rights continued and the discontent was spreading. It culminated in the serious disturbances of 1931 when as a result the Legislative Council was abolished⁶⁸ and never reconstituted.

There would be also an Executive Council consisting of the four officiaL members of the Legislative Council and of such other persons, being elected members of the Legislature or other officials, as Her Majesty may from time to timc direct but the Governor would not be bound to aecept its advice⁶⁹ .

The Consultative Assembly was, therefore, dissolved by an announcement of the Governor on the l2th August, 1948⁷⁰ .

In the meantime the British. Government announced that she intended to introduce a constitution as a first step towards selfgovernment, an announcement which was met by the immediate reaction of the Greek Cypriots. For overcoming such reaction and winning their co-operation the British Government thought that the best way was to carry with her some goodwill from Greece and Turkey, and for this purpose she decided to invite Greece and Turkey to send representativcs to a conference to be held in London and work for an agreement there. The theme of the conference was not to be restricted to the constitutional question of Cyprus, but was to cover all the common interests of the three Powers on the Eastern Mediterranean ⁷¹ .

The proposed conference had met without the approval of Archbishop Makarios. He publicly declared that the convening of such conference constitutes a trap and a means of delay for the purpose of undermining Greece's appeal to the United Nations. The Cyprus question does not constitute a political issue between Greece and Turkey but is purely a question of self determination and concerns the British Government and the Cyprus people only ⁷² .

" ltis an undoubted anomaly-and it is in our view wrongthat while so many other parts of the world have made steady progress in the art and practice of self-government there has been no compatible advance in Cyprus. We intend to put this right. Internal self-government must be the first aim "⁷³ .

The Greek Foreign Minister Stephanopoulos supported the application of self determination to Cyprus⁷⁴ whilst the late Zorlu, the Turkish Foreign Minister, maintained that it was not right to consider the Cyprus question from the angle of the present day composition of its people and the guiding principle should not be the consideration of majorities and minorities " but rather the granting of full equality to the two groups ". Furthermore he maintained that the status quo should be maintained in Cyprus.

"If this were to be upset then the island should revert to Turkey"⁷⁵

No detailed constitutional proposals were laid before the Conference but apart from the vague assertion " that the proposals are intended to set Cyprus upon the normal path to democratic dcvelopment and to this end it is proposed to introduce a new and liberal constitution leading to the full measure of self government compatible with the strategic requirements of the present international situation," it was described in broad lines that the constitution would provide for an Assembly with an elected majority, a proportionate quota being left to the Turkish community and for the progressive transfer of the departments to Cypriot Ministers responsible to the Assembly with the exception of foreign affairs, defence and security which will be left for the Governor. A proportion of ministerial posts would be reserved for the Turkish community. There would be a Chief Minister, heading the new administration chosen by the Assembly with the approval of the Governor⁷⁶ .

There was no agreement regarding the future international status of Cyprus and confronted with this deadlock the Conference had to be suspended ⁷⁷ .

The Archbishop observed inter alia that the proposals did not clarify that all powers, legislative, executive (except those reserved for the Governor) and judicial emanate from the people and are exercised exclusively by them through their elected representatives and their other constitutional organs, that the representation in the Assembly will be proportionate to the composition of the population and that the Governor's approval as regards the person of the Prime Minister will be entirely formal ⁸⁰ .

In a statement made by the Secretary of State, who came to Cyprus, to the Archbishop Makarios dated 28th February 1956 he says that it is proposed to send to Cyprus a Constitutional Commissioner who would draw up a liberal and democratic Constitution in consultation "with all sections of opinion in the island ". In that statement it does not appear that a clarification is given to the questions raised by the Archbishop, especially those relating to the constitutional matters⁸¹ .

Eventually no agreement could be reached, not only on the constitutional question but also on other matters such as the proposed amnesty and five months talks had abruptly come to an end ⁸² .

As a result the Archbishop, together with the Bishop of Kyrenia, Papastavros of Phaneromeni Church and the late Polykarpos loannides were deported to the Seychelles⁸³ . The armed struggle, however, continued unabated.

Lord Radcliffe emphasizes that his terms of reference were to submit constitutional proposals for a territory under the sovereignty of the Queen, and, therefore, he was not dealing with the future international status of Cyprus in as much as there is no power in the Legislature of a self governing dependency to change the status of the territory by union under a different sovereign⁸⁵ .

The Radcliffe proposed constitution had not been accepted either by Archbishop Makarios or by the Greek Government and a new recourse was made to the United Nations⁸⁶ .

It was the new Governor's ideas that mainly inspired the Macmillan Plan which was announced on the l9th of June 1958 ⁸⁷ .

" It may be summarised in three sentences. First we want to give the best possible deal to all the people of the island. Second we want to bring the three Governments of Great Britain, Greece and Turkey together in a joint effort to make sure they get it. Third, we believe that this can only be achieved by Great Britain given a definite and determined lead to break the vicious circle from Cyprus which she has suffered so long "⁸⁸ .

For these reasons on the 20th June 1958 Archbtshop Makarios declared that the Macmillan Plan was unacceptable⁹⁰ .

So though the constitutional arrangements were intended to give a palliative remedy so as to afford time to the high spirits to cool down the intended purpose had not been achieved as the armed struggle continued with increased force and extended to armed conflict between the two communities culminating to acts of collective massacre ⁹¹ .

The turmoil, terror, killing and burning were increasing day by day, culminating in almost a civil war betwcen the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots⁹² .

Early in 1959 negotiations were held in Zurich between the Greek and the Turkish Governments for the purpose of finding a solution acceptable to the British⁹³ .

At a conference held in London in February 1959 attended by the Prime Ministers of Great Britain and Greece, the Prime Minister of Turkey being unable to attend owing to an air accident and represented by the 'Turkish Foreign Minister, the Foreign Ministers of Great Britain Greece and Turkey and the Representatives of the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot communities, the aforesaid document.s with other documents annexed to the Memorandum setting out the agreed foundations of the tinal settlement of the problem of Cyprus signed by the Prime Ministers of Great Britain, Greece and Turkey were initialled and adopted on the l9th February 1959⁹⁴ .

The joint constitutional commission prepared the Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus and completed its work on the 6th April 1960 when its draft was signed at Nicosia⁹⁵ by the head of the delegations to the Commission. The London joint committees prepared the draft treaties giving effect to the conclusions of the London conference. Agreement was reached on all points on the 1st July 1960⁹⁶ .

The Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus was signed at Nicosia on the 16th August 1960 by the then Governor on behalf of the British Government, by representatives of the Governments of Greece and Turkey, by Archbishop Makarios, on behalf of the Greek Cypriot community, and by Dr. Fazil Kutchuk on behalf of the Turkish Cypriot community and was put into force on that date ⁹⁷ .

Cyprus was declared as an independent sovereign republic on the l6th August 1960, when its Constitution came into force⁹⁸ .

On the 21 st September 1960 Cyprus became a member of the United Nations and on the 24th May 1961 a member of the Council of Europe. lt was, however, the retention of its links with the Commonwealth which encountered the more difficulties. At a meeting of thc leaders of the two Communities on the 20th January 1960 wich the then British Foreign Secretary it was arranged ihat the matter should be left to be decided by the Cypriot House of Representatives after independence⁹⁹.

The President and the Vice-President of the Republic, simply "ensure" the exercise of the executive power by the Council Ministers¹⁰⁰ or the individual Ministers.