Timeline Cyprus
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8200BC Archaeologists in 2007
found tools in the seabed off Cyprus at two sites indicating they
were used by seafaring foragers who frequented the island well over
10,000 years ago, before the first permanent settlers arrived around
8,200 BC.
(AP, 7/19/07)
7500BC A research team in 2004 uncovered a
carefully buried cat on Cyprus, placed just inches from a human
burial that also contained polished stones, shells, tools and
jewelry. The graves were estimated to be 9,500 years old.
(AP, 4/9/04)
2800BC In Cyprus the town of Palaepaphos, 11 miles
inland from modern Paphos, was founded about this time. It later
became the site of a temple of Aphrodite, the ancient goddess of
beauty who, according to mythology, was born in the sea off Paphos.
(AP, 3/21/06)
565BC-545BCE Cyprus was under Egyptian control.
(AM, May/Jun 97 p.20)
400BC-300BCE Tamassos was the capital of one of 11
kingdoms on Cyprus that were abolished at the end of the 4th century
and replaced by a unified administrative system.
(AM, May/Jun 97 p.20)
285BCE Ptolemy II (b.c309, Philadelphus) of
Macedonia began his rule of Egypt. During his reign (285-247) he
founded the Cyprian port of Famagusta.
(WUD, 1994, p.1162)(NG, 8/04, Geographica)
c30 Lazarus lived in Cyprus as
a Bishop after the miracle by Christ.
(NH, 4/97, p.62)
45CE The Apostle Paul is said
to have preached the gospel in Cyprus at this time and converted the
island's Roman governor Sergius Paulus, the first Roman official to
undergo conversion.
(AP, 9/30/11)
632-661 The Rashidun Caliphate, also known as the
Rightly Guided Caliphate, comprising the first four caliphs in
Islam's history, was founded after Muhammad's death. At its height,
the Caliphate extended from the Arabian Peninsula, to the Levant,
Caucasus and North Africa in the west, to the Iranian highlands and
Central Asia in the east. It was the one of the largest empires in
history up until that time.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashidun_Caliphate)
1191 May 12, Richard the
Lionheart married (Bernegaria) Berengaria of Navarre in Limassol,
Cyprus.
(NH, 4/97, p.62)(EofA, p.161)
1200-1300 Byzantine murals were painted on church
walls. Many were later stripped following the Turkish invasion of
1974.
(SFEC, 8/28/98, p.C5)
1570 Jul 3, The Turks began
their attack on Nicosia, Cyprus, after Venice refused to surrender
the island.
(http://historicbiography.blogspot.com/2008/01/marcantonio-bragadin.html)
1570 Sep 23, The Turks began
their attack on Famagusta, Cyprus, which was fortified by Venetian
commander Marcantonio Bragadino (1523-1571).
(http://historicbiography.blogspot.com/2008/01/marcantonio-bragadin.html)(WSJ,
7/21/08, p.A11)
1571 Sep 1, Famagusta, Cyprus,
surrendered to Mustafa Pasha commander of the Turkish forces after
nearly a one year siege. The terms of surrender appeared agreeable
to Venetian Gov. Marcantonio Bragadino (b.1523), but Mustafa Pasha
turned on Bragadino and had him violently tortured and finally
flayed alive.
(http://historicbiography.blogspot.com/2008/01/marcantonio-bragadin.html)
1571 Turks sacked the St.
Sophia Cathedral in Old Nicosia, Cyprus, and turned it into the
Selimiye Mosque.
(CNT, 3/04, p.153)
1865-1876 Gen. Luigi Palma di Cesnola (1832-1904)
served as the American Consul in Lanarca, Cyprus. He collected
antiquities and later sold them to the NY Metropolitan Museum of
Art. In 1879 he became the director of the museum.
(WSJ, 4/10/00, p.A44)(AM, 7/00, p.60)
1871 Some 5,000 Cypriot
artifacts were lost in a shipwreck.
(AM, 7/00, p.63)
1872 Luigi Palma di Cesnola
made his first sale of Cypriot artifacts to the NY Metropolitan
Museum of Art.
(AM, 7/00, p.62)
1878 Jun 4, The Ottoman Empire
turned over control of Cyprus to the British. The Congress of Berlin
leased Cyprus to Britain.
(AP, 6/4/08)(Econ, 10/23/10, SR p.10)
1878 Luigi Palma di Cesnola
published “Cyprus: Its Ancient Cities, Tombs, and Temples.”
(AM, 7/00, p.62)
1898 Mar 23, Georgios Grivas,
Greek General, opposition leader on Cyprus, was born.
(SS, 3/23/02)
1913 Aug 13, Makarios III,
[Michail Moeskos], archbishop, president Cyprus, was born.
(MC, 8/13/02)
1925 May 1, Cyprus became a
British Crown Colony.
(MC, 5/1/02)
1946 Aug 13, Britain
transferred illegal immigrants bound for Palestine to Cyprus.
(MC, 8/13/02)
1955 Mar 21, Archbishop
Makarios of Cyprus desired Cyprus joining Greece.
(MC, 3/21/02)
1955 Apr 1, EOKA-bomb attacks
took place against British government buildings in Cyprus.
(MC, 4/1/02)
1955 Nov 26, An emergency
crisis was proclaimed in Cyprus.
(MC, 11/26/01)
1956 Mar 9, British authorities
arrested and deported Archbishop Makarios from Cyprus to the
Seychelles. He was accused of supporting terrorists.
(EWH, 1968, p.1250)(HN, 3/9/98)
1956 Mar 10, A general strike
in Cyprus protested the exile of archbishop Makarios.
(MC, 3/10/02)
1956 Aug 29, French government
sent troops to Cyprus near Suez crisis.
(MC, 8/29/01)
1957 Mar 20, Britain accepted a
NATO offer to mediate in Cyprus, but Greece rejected it.
(MC, 3/20/02)
1957 Sep 12, Archbishop
Makarios of Cyprus visited the US.
(MC, 9/12/01)
1958 Jun 15, Greece severed
military ties to Turkey because of the Cypress issue.
(HN, 6/15/98)
1959 Feb 19, An agreement was
signed by Britain, Turkey and Greece granting Cyprus its
independence.
(AP, 2/19/98)
1959 Mar 1, Archbishop Makarios
returned to Cyprus after 3 years.
(SC, 3/1/02)
1959 Dec, Archbishop Makarios
was elected president of Cyprus.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makarios)
1960 Aug 16, Britain granted
independence to the crown colony of Cyprus. Archbishop Makarios
began serving as the 1st post independence president. He chose
Spyros Kyprianou (28) as foreign minister.
(AP, 8/16/97)(SFC, 3/13/02, p.A26)
1961 Cyprus was accepted into
the Council of Europe.
(Econ, 11/18/06, p.21)
1963 Dec 21, The Turk minority
rioted in Cyprus to protest anti-Turkish revisions in the
constitution.
(HN, 12/21/98)
1963 Dec 24, Greeks and Turks
rioted in Cyprus.
(MC, 12/24/01)
1964 Aug 7, Turkey began an air
attack on Greek-Cypriots.
(MC, 8/7/02)
1964 In Cyprus Turkish Cypriots
withdrew into enclaves and barbed wire went up in Nicosia, dividing
the capital with Greek Cypriots.
(Econ, 12/12/09, p.57)
1967 Dec 29, A Turkish-Cypriot
government formed in Cyprus.
(MC, 12/29/01)
1974 Jul 15, Greek troops and
the Greek Cypriot National Guard staged a military coup on Cyprus
and archbishop-president Makarios fled. Nikos Giorgiades Sampson
(d.2001 at 66) served as president for 8 days following the military
coup that overthrew Archbishop Makarios. PM Bulent Ecevit ordered
Turkish troops to invade Cyprus following the Greek Cypriot coup.
(www.cyprus-conflict.net/Greek%20v%20Turk%20narr%20-%201974.htm)
1974 Jul 20, Turkey invaded
Cyprus.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_invasion_of_Cyprus)
1974 Jul 23, Greece's military
rulers announced they would turn the nation back to civilian rule.
Constantine Karamanlis returned from 11 years of self-imposed exile
and was sworn in as premier. Karamanlis later won a landslide
election and served as prime minister until 1980. The Ioannides
regime collapsed after plotting an aborted military takeover of
Cyprus.
(AP, 7/23/97)(SFC, 4/23/98, p.B4)(SFC, 6/28/99,
p.A19)
1974 Jul 30, The prime
ministers of Greece and Turkey and the British Foreign Secretary
signed a peace agreement to settle the Cyprus crisis.
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/low/dates/stories/july/30/newsid_2492000/2492515.stm)
1974 Aug 14, The Turkish army
mounted a second full-scale offensive in Cyprus, despite the fact
that talks were still being held in Geneva and just as agreement was
about to be reached. 37% of the area of Cyprus came under Turkish
military occupation.
(www.cyprus-conflict.net/Greek%20v%20Turk%20narr%20-%201974.htm)
1974 Aug 14, Greek Cypriots
began a 2-day massacre that killed 83 Turkish Cypriot men in
Taskent.
(www.cyprus-conflict.net/www.cyprus-conflict.net/birgin%20-%2074%20narratives.html)
1974 Aug 19, US Ambassador
Rodger P. Davies was fatally wounded by a bullet that penetrated the
American embassy in Nicosia, Cyprus, during a protest by Greek
Cypriots.
(AP, 8/19/04)
1974 Nov 1, The UN General
Assembly unanimously passed the first of countless resolutions
calling all states to respect the sovereignty, independence,
territorial integrity and non-alignment of the Republic of Cyprus.
(www.cyprus-conflict.net/Greek%20v%20Turk%20narr%20-%201974.htm)
1974 Cyprus was divided into
Greek and Turkish sectors with a UN no-man’s land in between.
Turkish troops had invaded the island after an Athens-based coup by
Greek Cypriots. 1,619 Greek Cypriots were said to be missing
following the July, 1974, Turkish invasion.
(SFC, 6/4/96, p.A11)(Econ, 3/13/10, p.64)
1974 Dr. Anastassios Simonidis
(d.2000 at 75) was made the honorary consul general of Cyprus.
(SFC, 6/27/00, p.A23)
1974 Antiquities smugglers
looted 13th century frescoes from the Ayios Themomianos church in
northern Cyprus following the Turkish invasion that split the island
into a Turkish-speaking north and a Greek-speaking south. Menil
Collection founder Dominique de Menil obtained the frescoes in 1983,
and struck an agreement with the Cyprus church to keep and exhibit
them in a purpose-built chapel in Houston. The Cyprus church granted
the museum a loan extension until Feb. 2012 in recognition of its
efforts to reassemble and restore the fragmented frescoes.
(AP, 9/30/11)
1976 Spyros Kyprianou became
president of the Cyprus House of Representatives.
(SFC, 3/13/02, p.A26)
1977 Aug 3, Archbishop Makarios
(b.1913), president of Cyprus, died.
(SFC, 3/13/02,
p.A26)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makarios)
1977 Sep 3, In Cyprus Spyros
Kyprianou (1932-2002) was elected president with no opposition in
order to serve the remaining term of Archbishop Makarios.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spyros_Kyprianou)
1977 Tassos Papadopoulos
(1934-2008), former leader of the Greek Cypriot guerrilla group
EOKA, submitted a proposal for a federated Cyprus tying together two
distinct zones. The proposal became the basis for all subsequent
settlement initiatives.
(AP, 12/12/08)
1978 Feb 28, Spyros Kyprianou
was elected president of Cyprus with no opposition.
(SFC, 3/13/02, p.A26)(http://tinyurl.com/dedcx)
1983 Feb 13, Spyros Kyprianou
was re-elected president of Cyprus.
(SFC, 3/13/02, p.A26)(http://tinyurl.com/dedcx)
1983 Nov 15, Turkish Cypriots
declared the northern third Cyprus a separate republic, the Turkish
Republic of Northern Cyprus. It was only recognized by Turkey.
(SFC, 3/13/02,
p.A26)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_Republic_of_Northern_Cyprus)
1988 Apr 10, The hijackers of a
Kuwait Airways jetliner vowed to carry out a "slow, quiet massacre"
of their hostages, one day after one captive was killed aboard the
plane parked in Larnaca, Cyprus.
(AP, 4/10/98)
1988 Apr 11, Hijackers of a
Kuwait Airways jetliner killed a second hostage, dumping his body
onto the ground in Larnaca, Cyprus.
(AP, 4/11/98)
1988 Apr 13, A commandeered
Kuwaiti jetliner took off from Cyprus for Algeria, after the
pro-Iranian Shiite Muslim hijackers on board freed 12 hostages.
(AP, 4/13/98)
1991 In Cyprus the Democratic
Rally won 20 seats in the 56 seat parliament.
(SFC, 5/28/96, p.A8)
1993 Asil Nadir (52), a Turkish
Cypriot, went to northern Cyprus after being charged with 66 counts
of theft involving 34 million pounds. He ran Polly Peck, one of
Britain's biggest companies with interests in sectors from textiles
to electronics, before its collapse. In 2010 Nadir's lawyers
indicated he would be willing to come back and face trial if he was
granted bail.
(AFP, 7/30/10)
1994 Sep 13, In Cyprus 3
British soldiers abducted tour guide Louise Jensen (23). Her body
was found 2 days later. In 1996 they were sentenced to life
imprisonment after being convicted of abducting, conspiring to rape,
and killing Louise Jensen. In 2006 the former soldiers were released
and deported to Britain after serving only 12 years.
(www.hri.org/news/cyprus/cmnews/1998/98-06-17.cmnews.html)(AP,
8/22/06)
1996 May 26, In Nicosia the
center-right coalition of Pres. Glafcos Clerides, the Democratic
Rally, lost support but maintained a slim majority in the Greek
Cypriot parliamentary elections. Spyros Kyprianou was elected
President of the House of Representatives.
(SFC, 5/28/96, p.A8)(http://tinyurl.com/dedcx)
1996 Jun 3, Turkish soldiers
shot and killed a Greek Cypriot soldier in the no-man’s zone.
(SFC, 6/4/96, p.A11)
1996 Aug 12, It was reported
that a Greek Cypriot man was killed and 41 injured in a border
clash, after Greek Cypriot motorcyclists defied orders to halt a
rode across the line to protest Turkey’s 1974 invasion.
(WSJ, 8/12/96, p.A1)
1996 Aug 14, In Cyprus another
man was killed in demonstrations when Turkish troops opened fire on
Greek Cypriot demonstrators.
(SFC, 8/15/96, p.C2)
1997 Jul 9, Cypriot Pres.
Glafcos Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash were
scheduled to meet in a 4-day session in New York to resolve their
disputes.
(SFC, 6/12/97, p.A14)
1997 Aug, UN talks between
Turkish and Greek Cypriot officials broke down when the EU
reaffirmed that it would begin membership talks with the Greek-led
Cypriot government. Lower level talks continued.
(SFEC,12/28/97, p.A22)
1997 Oct 14, Aydin Dikmen (60),
Turkish art dealer, was arrested in Germany for selling antiquities
plundered from Cyprus since 1974.
(http://turkeyhumanrights.fw.bz/religion/TurkThief.htm)(AM, 11/04,
p.13)
1997 Dec 27, Lower level talks
between Turkish and Greek Cypriot officials were suspended by the
Turkish Cypriots to protest the inclusion of the Greek side in EU
membership.
(SFEC,12/28/97, p.A22)
1998 Feb, Pres. Glafcos
Clerides won Cyprus elections with a 50.8% margin.
(SFC, 2/16/98, p.A11)
1998 May 27, It was reported
that the planned delivery of a Russian missile system to Cyprus
would contain a “Tombstone” radar system, to be operated by 70
Russian experts. This was a threat to the existing West’s exclusive
monitoring.
(SFC, 5/27/98, p.A10)
1998 Aug, Russia planned to
deliver the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system to the Greek Cypriot
government for about $200 million. Later Pres. Glafcos Clerides said
the missiles would be deployed in Nov. if Turkey did not accept a
proposal for demilitarization.
(SFC, 4/29/98, p.A11)(SFC, 8/28/98, p.D4)
1998 Oct 26, Cyprus announced
that it had begun building a naval base, apparently destined for use
by Greek warships.
(WSJ, 10/27/98, p.A1)
1999 Apr 7, Spyros Kyprianou,
the acting president of Cyprus, planned to fly to Belgrade to
negotiate the release of the 3 American soldiers held by Serbia.
(SFC, 4/8/99, p.A1)
1999 Helios Airways was founded
as Cyprus' first private airline. By 2005 it operated a fleet of
Boeing 737 jets to cities including London; Athens; Sofia, Bulgaria;
Dublin, Ireland; and Strasbourg, France.
(AP, 8/14/05)
2001 May 28, The AKEL, a
communist party, won parliamentary elections in the Greek Cypriot
portion of the island.
(SFC, 5/29/01, p.A12)
2001 Sep 2, Dr. Christiaan
Barnard (78), South African cardiologist, died in Paphos, Cyprus. He
performed the world’s 1st human heart transplant in 1967, authored a
distinguished text on cardiology, a scandalous autobiography and 4
minor novels.
(SFC, 9/3/01, p.A15)(AP, 9/2/02)
2002 Jan 16, Rival Cyprus
leaders, Glafcos Clerides and Rauf Denktash, met on the border in
Nicosia in the 1st formal negotiation in 4 years.
(SFC, 1/17/02, p.A8)
2002 Mar 12, Spyros Kyprianou
(b.1932), former Cyprus president (1977-1988), died of pelvic
cancer.
(SFC, 3/13/02,
p.A26)(http://cyprus.sa.utoronto.ca/main.htm)
2002 Jul 10, In Cyprus a
military helicopter crashed during a nighttime training exercise,
killing the commander of the east Mediterranean island's military
and the air force chief. Two crew members and a navy officer on
board were also killed.
(AP, 7/10/02)
2002 Oct 9, The European
Union's executive Commission declared Bulgaria, the Czech Republic,
Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania,
Slovenia, and Slovakia nearly ready for EU membership and
recommended they be invited to join in 2004. Romania and Bulgaria
likely will be delayed until 2007 because of weak economies, the
Commission said, adding Turkey was the weakest link among
candidates.
(AP, 10/9/02)
2002 Nov 11, UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan presented Greek and Turkish Cypriots
with a plan to unite their divided island into a single country
modeled on Switzerland, with two equal states.
(AP, 11/11/02)
2002 Nov 18, The Greek Cypriot
government said it accepted "as a basis for negotiations" a U.N.
plan for the reunification of the divided eastern Mediterranean
island.
(AP, 11/18/02)
2002 Dec 13, The EU reached
agreement to accept 10 new countries in 2004. These included Czech
Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta,
Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
(SFC, 12/14/02, p.A3)
2003 Feb 16, In Cyprus
Tassos Papadopoulos was elected the country’s 5th president over
Glafcos Clerides. He opposed current reunification plans.
(AP, 2/17/03)(WSJ, 2/18/03, p.A1)
2003 Feb 28, Tassos
Papadopoulos took office as the fifth Greek Cypriot president,
pledging to strive for reunification.
(AP, 2/28/03)
2003 Mar 11, Talks to
unify the divided Mediterranean island of Cyprus collapsed after
rival Greek and Turkish leaders failed to agree on a UN
power-sharing agreement.
(AP, 3/11/03)
2003 Apr 16, Greek Cypriots
signed a treaty to join the European Union.
(SSFC, 4/27/03, A6)
2003 Apr 23, In Cyprus Turkish
Cypriot leaders lifted travel restrictions across the 1974 buffer
zone separating the Greek and Turk sides.
(SSFC, 4/27/03, A6)
2003 Jul 14, The Cyprus
parliament voted unanimously to approve the accession of the
Mediterranean island to the European Union.
(AP, 7/14/03)
2003 Dec 14, Elections in
northern Cyprus ended in a deadlock with the pro-EU opposition and
pro-government parties splitting the 50 parliamentary seats. EU
members have said that Turkey must help reunite the island before it
can realize its own membership aspirations.
(AP, 12/15/03)(WSJ, 12/15/03, p.A13)
2004 Feb 13, Greek and Turkish
Cypriot leaders agreed to resume full negotiations next week to end
the 30-year division of Cyprus before it joins the European Union on
May 1.
(AP, 2/13/04)
2004 Apr 8, U.N.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed disappointment after Cypriot
leaders on both sides rejected his reunification plan.
(AP, 4/8/04)
2004 Apr 15, The United States
pledged $400 million to support a U.N. plan for reunifying Cyprus,
but stressed no money would come unless voters on the divided island
approve the settlement in a referendum next week.
(AP, 4/15/04)
2004 Apr 22, Tens of thousands
of Cypriots turned out in a final show of support for a U.N. plan to
end the 30-year division of their island.
(AP, 4/23/04)
2004 Apr 24, Greek Cypriots
overwhelmingly rejected a UN plan, the Annan Plan, to reunite
Cyprus. The European Union pledged to start searching for ways to
extend a hand of friendship to the island's long-ostracized Turkish
side. It meant that only the Greek side of Cyprus would join the
European Union on May 1.
(AP, 4/25/04)(WSJ, 4/26/04, p.A13)(Econ, 5/1/04,
p.49)
2004 Apr 27, Russian Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov and EU officials signed an accord extending
the EU-Russia partnership accord to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania,
Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Cyprus and
Malta, which join May 1.
(AP, 4/27/04)
2004 May 1, Revelers across
ex-communist eastern Europe celebrated their historic entry to the
European Union. 10 new members (Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia,
Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia)
joined. Malta joined with 70 exemptions to EU rules. Poland had 43
exemptions. Latvia had 32. The Turkish occupied area of Cyprus was
suspended from entry.
(AP, 5/1/04)(Econ, 2/28/04, p.50)(Econ, 4/16/05,
p.16)
2004 Dec 17, European Union
leaders and Turkey agreed on a compromise formula to overcome
differences over Turkish recognition of Cyprus' government as a
condition for opening EU membership talks.
(AP, 12/17/04)
2005 Feb 20, Nearly 150,000
Turkish Cypriots and illegal mainland settlers voted in a
parliamentary election for a government only recognized by Turkey
but which is seen as a barometer of prospects for reunification of
the war-divided island. The pro-reunification governing party of
Mehmet Ali Talat won.
(AP, 2/21/05)
2005 Apr 17, Mehmet Ali Talat
(53) captured 56% of the vote for the presidency of the breakaway
Turkish Cypriot state, replacing its 81-year-old founder, Rauf
Denktash. Talat pledged to work to reunite this divided
Mediterranean island and restart peace talks with Greek Cypriots
following a resounding win he labeled "a silent revolution."
(AP, 4/18/05)
2005 Apr 23, The government of
the Turkish Cypriot state in northern Cyprus resigned, making way
for PM Mehmet Ali Talat to take over as president following his
election win.
(AP, 4/23/05)
2005 May 8, The new Turkish
Cypriot government of Premier Ferdi Sabit Soyer won a vote of
confidence in the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state.
(AP, 5/8/05)
2005 Jul 29, Turkey signed an
accord extending its customs union with the EU to Cyprus and other
new EU members, a key step toward opening membership talks with the
bloc.
(AP, 7/29/05)
2005 Aug 14, A Cypriot
airliner, Helios Air 737, crashed into a hill north of Athens,
killing all 121 people on board. An inquiry in 2006 ruled pilots
erred in setting pressurization controls. On April 20, 2012, three
executives of a defunct Cypriot airline and a British engineer were
each sentenced in absentia to 10 years in prison for their role in
Greece's worst air crash. The ruling came four months after a
Cypriot court acquitted the three executives during a separate
hearing over the accident.
(AP, 8/14/05)(WSJ, 10/11/06, p.A1)(Reuters,
4/21/12)
2005 Dec 22, The European Court
of Human Rights (ECHR) ordered Turkey to put in place within three
months an effective reparations mechanism for Greek Cypriots who
were stripped of their possessions in the 1970s.
(AP, 12/22/05)
2006 May 21, Greek Cypriots
voted to elect a new parliament on this divided island, their first
vote since rejecting a UN reunification plan. Voters put their
weight behind parties in President Tassos Papadopoulos' governing
coalition, a result likely to be seen as an endorsement of his
rejection of a UN plan to reunify this war-divided island.
(AP, 5/21/06)
2006 Jun 12, EU foreign
ministers reached agreement with Cyprus on a formula to enable
Turkey to take its first step in detailed accession talks with the
25-nation bloc.
(AP, 6/12/06)
2006 Jul 16, Hundreds of
exhausted evacuees flew into Cyprus as Western countries moved their
citizens from the Middle East amid continued Israeli bombardment of
Lebanon.
(AP, 7/16/06)
2006 Sep 4, In Cyprus 3 British
holidaymakers were charged with willful manslaughter over the death
of a Cypriot teenager in a hit-and-run accident in the coastal
resort of Protaras last month. A rented Opel "repeatedly rammed" the
moped in what police described as a revenge attack following a fight
outside a Protaras disco in which a friend of the accused was beaten
up.
(AFP, 9/4/06)
2006 Sep 7, Cyprus impounded a
Panama-flagged vessel on arms smuggling suspicion. It carried 18
North Korean mobile radar units and 3 command vehicles due for
delivery to Syria.
(WSJ, 9/8/06, p.A1)(Reuters, 9/11/06)
2006 Oct 12, Scientists said a
mouse living in the Troodos Mountains of western Cyprus, that
predates the arrival of man, represents a new species, Mus
cypriacus.
(SFC, 10/13/06, p.A13)
2006 Dec 5, The EU presidency
backed a proposal to partially suspend EU membership talks with
Turkey because of Ankara's refusal to open up to trade with Cyprus.
(AP, 12/5/06)
2006 Dec 7, Turkey offered to
open a major seaport and an airport to longtime foe Cyprus to try to
keep its EU entry talks on track. The EU called the step positive
but insufficient.
(AP, 12/7/06)
2006 Dec 11, European Union
foreign ministers decided to suspend 8 out of 35 parts of
entry talks with Turkey over Ankara's refusal to open its ports to
trade with EU member Cyprus.
(AP, 12/11/06)(Econ, 12/16/06, p.53)
2007 Mar 9, Greek Cypriots
demolished a wall along the boundary that for decades has split
Europe's last divided capital, a dramatic gesture that officials
hope will kick-start reconciliation on the Mediterranean island.
Plastic and metal screens replaced the wall.
(AP, 3/9/07)(SFC, 3/10/07, p.A3)
2007 Jul 2, Thomas Mooney (45),
a senior American diplomat who disappeared four days ago with his
car, was found dead on Cyprus in a rural area outside the capital.
(AP, 7/2/07)
2007 Jul 10, Cyprus and Malta
received approval from EU finance ministers to join the euro.
(Econ, 7/14/07, p.57)
2007 Aug 18, Two men hijacked a
Turkish passenger plane from Cyprus bound for Istanbul, holding
several people hostage for more than four hours before surrendering.
(AP, 8/18/07)
2007 Aug 30, A cargo ship,
anchored about 2 miles from Israel's coast near the port city of
Haifa, when it was hit by the Salamis Glory, a Cypriot passenger
ship. 11 crew escaped from the sinking cargo ship. The first mate
and engineer, both residents of Slovakia, were missing.
(AP, 8/31/07)
2007 Dec 20, Conservationists
said illegal trappers on Cyprus killed more than half a million
protected birds this fall for sale at local restaurants.
(AP, 12/20/07)
2008 Jan 1, EU newcomers Cyprus
and Malta adopted the euro, bringing to fifteen the number of
countries using the currency with increasing clout over the slumping
US dollar.
(AP, 1/1/08)
2008 Feb 17, Communist party
leader Demetris Christofias (61) led in exit polls in Cyprus
elections. Pres. Tassos Papadopoulos was eliminated in the first
round and Christofias will face former Foreign Minister Ioannis
Kasoulides (59) in a run-off on Feb 24.
(AP, 2/17/08)(SFC, 2/18/08, p.A6)
2008 Feb 24, Greek Cypriots
elected Dimitris Christofias, leader of the Communist Akel Party, as
its new president with just over 53 percent of the vote, ahead of
conservative former Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides with 46.6
percent. Christofias had campaigned on a pledge to act quickly to
restart long-stalled talks to reunify the island.
(AP, 2/25/08)(Econ, 3/1/08, p.53)
2008 Mar 21, The Greek and
Turkish Cypriot leaders agreed to restart peace talks on reunifying
their ethnically split island, and to open a crossing in the heart
of the divided capital.
(AP, 3/21/08)
2008 Apr 3, Ledra Street, a
main shopping street in Cyprus' divided capital that had come to
symbolize the island's ethnic partition, reopened for the first time
in 44 years, boosting hopes for a renewed drive to reunify Cyprus.
Authorities were forced to close it for nearly two hours following a
dispute over how to police the street.
(AP, 4/3/08)
2008 Apr 11, In Cyprus Turkish
Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat crossed over to the Greek Cypriot
part of the island's ethnically divided capital, the first head of
the Turkish Cypriot north to do so in more than three decades.
(AP, 4/11/08)
2008 Apr, In Cyprus human bones
from mass graves of some 100 individuals dating back 30-40 years
were laid out for relatives to collect for reburial. Almost 1500
Greek-Cypriots and some 500 Turkish-Cypriots had long been listed as
missing persons.
(Econ, 4/19/08, p.71)
2008 Jun 13, An int’l. bird
conservation group reported that over 1 million birds had been
illegally trapped and killed in Cyprus over the past year to be
served as local delicacies.
(www.earthweek.com/2008/ew080613/ew080613c.html)
2008 Jul 3, The Cypriot
parliament approved the European Union treaty, making Cyprus the
20th EU member to ratify the document aimed at streamlining
decision-making in the bloc.
(AP, 7/4/08)
2008 Sep 3, Cyprus' rival Greek
and Turkish leaders, Demetris Christofias and Mehmet Ali Talat,
started new peace talks and said they hoped for a deal soon aimed at
reuniting an island divided by war 34 years ago.
(AP, 9/3/08)(Econ, 9/6/08, p.68)
2008 Sep 10, Turkish Cypriot
leader Mehmet Ali Talat said he accepts a reduction of Turkey's
military contingent but that his side will still need security
guarantees from Ankara as part of a deal to unite the divided
island.
(AP, 9/10/08)
2008 Oct 30, Scientists
reported that 1 in 17 men living on the coasts of North Africa and
southern europe may have a Phoenician direct male line ancestor.
Evidence was based on Y-chromosomes collected in Cyprus, Malta,
Morocco, the West Bank, Syria and Tunisia.
(SFC, 10/31/08, p.A14)
2008 Dec 12, Tassos
Papadopoulos (b.1934), Cyprus' hardline former president
(2003-2008), died of lung cancer in Nicosia. He had ushered the
divided island into the European Union (2004) after rallying Greek
Cypriots to reject a UN peace deal.
(AP, 12/12/08)
2009 Jan 29, The ship
Monchegorsk arrived in Cyprus. It was examined twice after it
arrived under suspicion of ferrying weapons from Iran to Hamas
fighters in Gaza, and detained. The US military had stopped the ship
last month in the Red Sea, and said it found artillery shells and
other arms on board. But it could not legally detain the ship, which
continued to Port Said, Egypt, and then to Cyprus.
(AP, 2/10/09)
2009 Apr 19, Turkish Cypriot
nationalists won a parliamentary election that could stifle a
promising effort to reunite Cyprus, an ethnically divided island.
The right-wing National Unity Party (UBP), led by Dervish Eroglu,
garnered 44% of the vote. The ruling leftist Republican Turkish
Party (CTP), of Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, won 29%.
(AP, 4/19/09)(Econ, 4/25/09, p.56)
2009 Apr 28, An EU court ruled
that judges in Cyprus can compel the return of land seized after the
1974 Turkish invasion.
(WSJ, 4/28/09, p.A1)
2009 Sep 22, A sharply divided
EU failed to protect the threatened bluefin tuna, as the bloc's
Mediterranean nations refused to back even a temporary a ban on
catching the fish prized by sushi aficionados. Greece, Cyprus,
Malta, Spain, France and Italy, with strong fishermen's lobbies at
home, insisted on continuing the hunt despite the precarious state
of the species. Conservation groups had earlier criticized the EU
for not pushing to list the bluefin tuna under the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species.
(AP, 9/22/09)
2009 Nov 11, Cypriots gave a
guarded response to Britain's offer to hand back half its remaining
three percent of Cyprus's landmass if rival sides on the ethnically
split island reach a peace deal.
(Reuters, 11/11/09)
2009 Dec 11, Cyprus police said
grave robbers over night had stolen the corpse of former Cyprus
President Tassos Papadopoulos after digging up his coffin on the eve
of the first anniversary of the statesmen's death. Police discovered
the missing body of former President Papadopoulos in another grave
on March 8.
(AP, 12/11/09)(AP, 3/9/10)
2010 Jan 11, In Cyprus Andy
Hadjicostis (41), the director of the Dias publishing group, was
fatally shot outside his home in central Nicosia, in an attack that
bore the hallmarks of a contract killing. The gunman fled on a
motorcycle driven by an accomplice. 3 men were soon arrested and
held pending formal charges. On Feb 5 Cyprus police formally pressed
murder charges against TV host Elena Skordelli, her brother
Anastasios Krasopoullis and Andreas Grigoriou in the suspected Jan
11 contract killing of Andy Hadjicostis (41), the island's most
powerful publisher.
(AP, 1/12/10)(AP, 1/15/10)(AP, 2/5/10)
2010 Jan 25, Cyprus police said
they have busted a smuggling ring in Cyprus and recovered dozens of
ancient artifacts it planned to sell for euro11 million (15.5
million), including a miniature gold coffin, silver coins and
terra-cotta urns. Ten Cypriots were arrested during the raids over
the weekend, and authorities were searching for another five
suspects, including a Syrian man.
(AP, 1/25/10)
2010 Mar 21, Cyprus police said
grave robbers stole the remains of 3 Cyprus Archbishops who led the
island's Greek Orthodox church in the late 19th and early 20th
centuries. Sofronios III and Kyrillos II led the Cypriot church
between 1865 and 1916 during Ottoman and British colonial rule.
Police arrested a Romanian man suspected of vandalizing the tombs.
(AP, 3/21/10)
2010 Apr 18, Turkish Cypriots
voted for a new leader, aware that their choice could lead to a
deadlock in peace talks and possibly jeopardize Turkey's bid for EU
membership. Nationalist Dervis Eroglu narrowly defeated leftist
incumbent Mehmet Ali Talat in the election with 50.38 percent of the
vote, promising to continue reunification talks with rival Greek
Cypriots. Talat drew 42.85 percent. With a clear mandate, there is
little incentive for Eroglu to abandon his support for two separate
states on the island.
(AP, 4/18/10)(AP, 4/19/10)
2010 Jun 4, Pope Benedict XVI
began a pilgrimage to Cyprus bringing a message of peace to the
region as Greek Cypriot leaders made a blistering attack on Turkey
for its occupation of northern Cyprus.
(AP, 6/4/10)
2010 Jun 29, In Cyprus the
alleged paymaster of a Russian spy ring was arrested on an Interpol
warrant while trying to board a flight to Budapest, Hungary, two
days after his 10 alleged co-conspirators were arrested in the
United States. His companion, a beautiful younger woman, was allowed
to fly out. The suspect, who called himself Christopher Metsos,
vanished after handing over a Canadian passport that claimed he was
54 and got released on bail.
(AP, 7/11/10)
2010 Aug 26, Asil Nadir (69), a
Turkish Cypriot businessman, returned to London to face charges of
fraud. He had fled Britain almost two decades ago following the
spectacular collapse of his business empire. Nadir fled the country
in May of 1993, four months before he was scheduled to face trial.
(AP, 8/26/10)
2010 Sep 26, A boat carrying
Jewish activists from Israel, Europe and the US set sail from Cyprus
bound for Gaza, in a bid to run Israel's blockade of the Palestinian
territory.
(AFP, 9/27/10)
2010 Oct 14, Rival Cypriot
leaders opened a new crossing point linking the ethnically split
island's Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities, offering a boost to
plodding reunification talks.
(AP, 10/14/10)
2011 Apr 4, A Cyprus court
found a jailed murderer, his brother and another man guilty of
unlawfully exhuming the body of Tassos Papadopoulos, the island's
former president (2003-2008). Papadopoulos’s body was snatched from
a Nicosia cemetery in 2009 and was reburied three months later after
police arrested the suspects and found the body.
(AP, 4/4/11)
2011 Jul 11, In Cyprus a
massive explosion ripped through a naval base after a brush fire
detonated gunpowder stored in containers, killing 13 people,
wounding 62. The Vasilikos power station was destroyed taking out
half the country’s electricity supply. Defense Minister Costas
Papacostas and the country's top military official, National Guard
chief Brig. Gen. Petros Tsalikides, resigned over the incident.
(AP, 7/11/11)(AP, 7/15/11)(Econ, 8/6/11, p.63)
2011 Jul 28, Cyprus Pres.
Demetris Christofias dismissed his cabinet.
(Econ, 8/6/11, p.63)
2011 Aug 3, In Cyprus the
junior party in the ruling coalition left the government.
(Econ, 8/6/11, p.63)
2011 Sep 19, Turkey escalated a
dispute with Cyprus over oil and gas drilling in the eastern
Mediterranean, saying that it would send warships to protect its
claims to resources off the coast of the divided island. US energy
firm, Nobel Energy, had just exploratory drilling for oil and gas
off the coast of Cyprus despite strong warnings from Turkey not to
do so.
(AP, 9/19/11)
2011 Sep 21, Turkey’s Pres.
Erdogan signed a deal with Turkish-controlled north Cyprus to begin
drilling for oil and gas.
(Econ, 9/24/11, p.63)
2012 Jan 13, Turkish Cypriot
leader Rauf Denktash (87) died. He was the driving force behind the
Turkish Cypriot declaration of independence in 1983.
(AP, 1/14/12)(Econ, 1/21/12, p.106)
2012 Jan 27, Fitch ratings
downgraded the debt of Belgium, Cyprus, Italy, Slovenia and Spain
even as European finance chiefs gathering in Davos sought to
reassure global business leaders that Europe is on track to solve
its debt crises.
(SFC, 1/27/12, p.A4)
2012 Feb 16, Israeli PM
Benjamin Netanyahu paid a historic visit to Cyprus, declaring the
two countries' warming ties a "natural relationship" in a reflection
of the rapidly shifting alliances in this turbulent part of the
world.
(AP, 2/16/12)
2012 Mar 4, Israel and Cyprus
signed an accord to lay an underwater electricity cable between the
Mediterranean nations, the first stage in a bid to transfer power
between the Jewish state and mainland Europe. Additional underwater
cables are to connect Cyprus and mainland Europe via Greece, which
was also part of the agreement signed in Jerusalem. The deal is
still subject to final approval by Israel, Cyprus and Greece, that
is expected to follow the completion of a feasibility study within a
year.
(AFP, 3/4/12)
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Subject = Cyprus
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