A Deeper Dive Into North Cyprus
Discussing the history of the TRNC and its implications on contemporary energy policy
Author: Ege Acaroglu
A Brief History of the TRNC
Up to the 16th century, Cyprus was almost entirely Greek in population, having been conquered by the Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, and the Venetians, respectively. In 1571, the island was conquered by the Ottoman Sultan Selim II and became part of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans slowly relocated Ottoman citizens from modern day Turkey to Cyprus until the 19th century — by 1878, approximately 95000 Turkish Cypriots had moved to the island, laying the roots for the current demographic split of 70% Greek to 30% Turkish.
Towards the end of the 19th century, the Ottoman Empire was in political and economic decline, which allowed the British to annex the island in 1878 as part of a diplomatic concession. The British inherited amajor political divide. The Greek population on the island had a desire to unite with Greece (enosis), while the Turkish population had a reactionary desire to partition the island (taksim). In 1931, tensions around enosis boiled over and led to nationwide riots, which were quickly crushed by the British.
Calls for enosis were renewed after WWII. A plebiscite organized in 1950 by Greek leader Archbishop Makarios III showed that 96% of Greek Cypriots supported union with Greece. For the couple of years afterwards, however, the struggle between enosis and taksim took a back seat, as the armed struggle against British rule began in April 1955. In this struggle, the main Greek faction of EOKA (National Organization of Cypriot Fighters) and the main Turkish faction of TMT (Turkish Cypriot Resistance Movement) fought side by side, achieving victory against the British with the signing of the Treaty of Zurich in 1959. The Treaty of Zurich established the Republic of Cyprus as an independent country, and provided guarantor powers of intervention to Britain, Greece, and Turkey.
The administration of the Republic of Cyprus was split between Greek and Turkish Cypriots. The first president was a Greek Cypriot, Archbishop Makarios, and the first vice-president was Turkish Cypriot, Dr. Fazıl Küçük. The government and civil service were also split among demographic lines, 70:30 in favor of Greek Cypriots.
By 1963 relations between the two communities had deteriorated significantly. An attempt by Archbishop Makarios to change 13 articles in the constitution of the Republic in favor of Greek Cypriots led to the beginning of armed conflict between the two sides, turning the once allies of EOKA and TMT against each other. In an attempt to resolve the conflict, the UN developed The Acheson Plan, which would have ceded Cyprus to Greece and given the Greek island of Kastellorizon to Turkey. The plan also created autonomous zones for Turkish Cypriots. It was accepted by Greece and Turkey, but vetoed by President Makarios. His amended plan, which removed the autonomous zones, was rejected by Turkey, and nearly a decade of intermittent civil war followed.
By 1974, patience with the ongoing civil war was thin, and during the presidential elections in that year, Makarios clearly renounced the case of enosis. He was re-elected with 95% of the cast votes. He then ordered the withdrawal of mainland Greek officers from the island, which led to an attempted coup by the National Guard. Makarios managed to escape, but this attempted coup persuaded Turkey to intervene, using their guarantor power. Turkey’s military intervention began on July 20th, and a cease-fire was reached on July 23rd. While Turkey, Greece, and Brittain met to discuss peace options on July 25th, Turkish forces did not refrain from extending their positions, taking control of 38% of the island. Many Cypriots — Greek and Turkish — were uprooted from their homes and encouraged to settle within the two “autonomous administrations” that were now beginning to take shape on the island. On July 30th the present-day borders between the Turkish and Greek sides of the island were officially drawn and partitioned. The Turkish part of the island remained a part of Turkey until November 15th, 1983, when the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was officially formed.
Since then, not much has changed on the island, in terms of diplomacy between the two sides. UN-led talks on the status of Cyprus resumed in December 1999, and the Annan Plan, a proposal for reunification, was placed before both communities in 2004. Greek Cypriots rejected the plan, while Turkish Cypriots accepted it, and thus reunification was not achieved.
The Turkey — TRNC Relationship
Pro-Unification (Cyprus)
Mustafa Akinci was also a supporter (2015–2020)
Pro-Independence
Pro-Unification (Turkey)
The attitudes of TRNC politicians towards the Cyprus problem can be summarized under three groups. One group was those who supported unification with the Republic of Cyprus, such as Mehmet Ali Talat and Mustafa Akinci, who came to power after the failure of the Annan Plan, but tried unsuccessfully nonetheless to plead the case for unification. Another, more hard-lining group was those who supported a fully independent TRNC, such as the first president of the country, Rauf Denktaş, who radically nationalized many industries in the country, and eventually lost power due to his lack of support for the Annan Plan. And a newer political line seems to be politicians who are more friendly towards Turkey. While Ersin Tatar, the current president of the country, nominally falls into the “pro independence” group, he has been more friendly to Turkey in the way of economic/diplomatic concessions than previous presidents, and thus could be considered a part of the “pro-Turkey” group as well.
What is interesting is that the exact same chart could be drawn for Turkish politicians’ views on the TRNC as well:
Pro-Unification (Cyprus)
Pro-Independence
Pro-Unification (Turkey)
Bülent Ecevit, the Turkish president in 1974, authorized the intervention in Cyprus and greatly supported an independent TRNC. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was pro-unification with Cyprus in the early days of his regime, when Turkish inclusion in the EU was more of a prospect (and closely tied to the Cyprus problem), but has since taken a harder line with the TRNC, expanding Turkish influence, economically and politically.
Implications for energy
A lot of our previous discussions about the state of electrical and energy infrastructure in Cyprus have pointed at a distinct lack of viable infrastructure that can support sustainable energy generation and transmission on the northern part of the island. However, investments in electrical and energy infrastructure of these sorts are long-term, high-cost projects, which come with a very large amount of risk. This risk gets amplified even more when political differences between successive leaders may completely alter the nature of an infrastructure investment (e.g. if an investor invests in a Turkey-Cyprus joint venture, but the next political leader is a hard-liner who pushes for TRNC independence, then their investments may flounder). Thus, the lack of a robust political solution to the diplomatic situation is a barrier that, if overcome, would greatly facilitate the development of a cohesive sustainability plan for the TRNC.
TRNC relies heavily on Turkey for many resources. In 2003–06, Turkey provided $550 million to TRNC to aid in agricultural exports and in the development of the service sector like tourism. As an example of Turkey’s heavy handed support, the Northern Cyprus Water Supply Project brings fresh water from Turkey to Geçitköy dam in Northern Cyprus through a pipe that crosses the Mediterranean Sea. Furthermore, a Turkish company, Turkcell, built a solar power plant on the island to support their energy economy, but the project falls dramatically short of meeting demands. The TRNC’s electric infrastructure is connected to the Republic of Cyprus, which has proved to increase renewable energy utilizations in both regions. There are further discussions of the Turkey-Cyprus Island Energy Interconnector Project.
It is unclear how the geopolitical relationship between Turkey and TRNC is impacting the perspective of TRNC by Greek Cypriots. To mitigate the financial disparity between the two regions and to ultimately support a unification, the European Union has had half a billion euros worth in multiple aid programs between 2006–2018 to help Turkish-Cypriots increase their socio-economic situation. Nearly 200 euros are directed towards infrastructure and environmental protection. These projects might increase the viability of other industries to invest in TRNC.
Discussion Questions
- How is Turkey’s involvement with TRNC impacting the perspective of unification in the perspective of Turkish-Cypriots and Greek-Cypriots?
- How is the electric interconnector between Republic of Cyprus and TRNC impacting the Turkey-Cyprus Island Interconnector Project plans?
- Can TRNC invest in renewable energy while improving its socio-economic status?
