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)
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 Bragadin (b.1523).
(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 Bragadin (b.1523), but Mustafa Pasha turned
on Bragadin 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.
(AP, 6/4/08)
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)
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.
(SFC, 6/4/96, p.A11)
1974 Dr. Anastassios Simonidis
(d.2000 at 75) was made the honorary consul general of Cyprus.
(SFC, 6/27/00, p.A23)
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)
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 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.
(AP, 8/14/05)(WSJ, 10/11/06, p.A1)
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)
Go to http://www.timelinesdb.com
Subject = Cyprus
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