Cyprus as a Reason of State: Guarantor Security, Turkish Cypriot Survival and Sovereign Equality

Why It Matters

Türkiye keeps troops in Cyprus because Ankara regards them as the operational guarantee of Turkish Cypriot security and equal status, resting on the 1960 Treaty of Alliance and the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee. In Ankara's account, the 1963–1964 expulsion of Turkish Cypriots from the state and the 15 July 1974 coup showed that a legal guarantee without a physical presence offers no protection. Greece, the Greek Cypriot administration, the UN and the EU dispute this reading and describe the presence as an occupation. Understanding the question means understanding both accounts and the treaty texts they cite.

This pillar guide sets out the chronology, each side's stated position with attribution, and Türkiye's reasoning of state. It sits within the wider framework explained in Raison d'État and Türkiye: How 'Reasons of State' Explain Ankara's Strategic Choices.

Background

The 1959–1960 settlement: a partnership republic

The Republic of Cyprus was created by agreement, not by a single community's decision. After the EOKA campaign for ENOSIS (union with Greece), which began in 1955 under Colonel Georgios Grivas, Greece and Türkiye reached the Zurich Agreement on 11 February 1959. It was completed with the United Kingdom and the two community leaders in London on 19 February 1959. The Republic of Cyprus came into being on 16 August 1960.

The settlement rested on three treaties and a constitution:

• Treaty of Guarantee: Cyprus, Greece, Türkiye and the UK. Article II obliges Cyprus to maintain its independence and territorial integrity, and prohibits both union with any other state and partition. Article IV gives the three guarantor powers the right to consult and, if joint action is impossible, to act individually with the sole aim of re-establishing the state of affairs created by the Treaty.
• Treaty of Alliance: Cyprus, Greece and Türkiye. An annexed protocol stationed contingents of 950 Greek and 650 Turkish officers and men on the island.
• Treaty of Establishment: Cyprus and the UK, which retained the Sovereign Base Areas at Akrotiri and Dhekelia.
• Constitution: it gave the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities political equality as co-founders, with a Greek Cypriot President, a Turkish Cypriot Vice-President, and a Vice-Presidential veto over foreign affairs, defence and security. It also set community ratios for the civil service and security forces.

For a treaty-focused reading, see Regional Order's analysis of the Treaty of Guarantee.

1963–1964: the partnership breaks down

On 30 November 1963, President Makarios proposed 13 constitutional amendments. They would have removed the Vice-Presidential veto and altered the community ratios in the state. The Turkish Cypriot leadership and Ankara rejected them on 16 December 1963. Armed violence began on 21 December 1963, remembered by Turkish Cypriots as 'Bloody Christmas'.

According to Turkish and Turkish Cypriot sources, around 30,000 Turkish Cypriots left 103 villages, and Turkish Cypriot officials were excluded from the organs of state. Ankara attributes this to a pre-planned Greek Cypriot scheme, the 'Akritas Plan'. Nicosia was divided by the Green Line on 30 December 1963. Greek Cypriot accounts describe the 13 amendments as an attempt to make the state work, dispute that the Akritas Plan was implemented as described, and say Turkish Cypriots withdrew into enclaves under their own leadership's direction.

On 4 March 1964 the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 186. It recommended the UN peacekeeping force (UNFICYP) and referred to the 'Government of Cyprus', which was then run by the Greek Cypriot side alone. Ankara argues that this text froze a status asymmetry; see Kosmonomos on Resolution 186 and the 'Government of Cyprus'.

1974: the coup and the operation

On 15 July 1974, the National Guard, led by officers sent from the Greek military junta in Athens, overthrew President Makarios. Nicos Sampson, a former EOKA fighter, was installed as president. Ankara consulted the United Kingdom, the other guarantor power, about joint action. Without agreement, Türkiye launched its operation on 20 July 1974, citing Article IV of the Treaty of Guarantee.

The junta in Athens collapsed within days, and Sampson resigned on 23 July. A second phase of the operation followed on 14–16 August 1974, after the Geneva talks among the guarantors failed. Security Council Resolution 353 (20 July 1974) called for a ceasefire and the withdrawal of foreign military personnel other than those present under international agreements. The two sides read this last clause differently, as the table below shows. See also PolitiLine's fact check on Article IV.

1983 and after

On 15 November 1983, the Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Raif Denktaş proclaimed the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), citing self-determination and political equality. The UN Security Council responded with Resolution 541 (1983), which considered the declaration legally invalid, and Resolution 550 (1984). Türkiye recognizes the TRNC; no other UN member state does. Cyprus joined the EU on 1 May 2004, with the application of EU law suspended in the area not under the Republic's effective control.

Timeline

Date	Event
11–19 Feb 1959	Zurich and London Agreements
16 Aug 1960	Republic of Cyprus founded; Treaties of Guarantee, Alliance and Establishment in force
30 Nov 1963	Makarios proposes 13 constitutional amendments
21 Dec 1963	Intercommunal violence begins; Turkish Cypriots expelled from state organs
30 Dec 1963	Nicosia divided along the Green Line
4 Mar 1964	UNSC Resolution 186; UNFICYP established
15 Jul 1974	Coup against Makarios by Athens-backed National Guard officers
20 Jul 1974	Türkiye acts under Article IV; first phase
14–16 Aug 1974	Second phase after failure of Geneva talks
15 Nov 1983	TRNC proclaimed
24 Apr 2004	Annan Plan referendums: 64.91% of Turkish Cypriots 'yes', 75.83% of Greek Cypriots 'no'
Jul 2017	Crans-Montana Conference ends without agreement
Apr 2021 / Oct 2024	Geneva informal 5+UN meeting; New York UN trilateral meeting

Key Players & Positions

Greek Cypriot administration

The Republic of Cyprus, internationally recognized and led by Greek Cypriots, describes the Turkish presence as a military occupation of part of its territory. It calls for withdrawal of Turkish troops and the abolition of the guarantor system and Article IV intervention rights, which it considers obsolete for an EU member. It cites the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, notably Loizidou v. Turkey (1996) and Cyprus v. Turkey (2001), which attributed effective overall control of the north to Türkiye. Türkiye rejects that attribution and says the TRNC exercises its own authority.

Greece

Athens supports the UN framework of a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality. It joins Nicosia in calling for the end of the guarantor system and withdrawal of Turkish troops. It also regards the 1974 coup as a crime of the junta, not of the Greek people, and acknowledges that the junta's role was a fundamental cause of the crisis.

United Kingdom

The UK is a guarantor power and retains the Sovereign Base Areas under the Treaty of Establishment. It did not take joint action in 1974. It officially supports a UN-led settlement based on a bizonal, bicommunal federation. At Crans-Montana in 2017 it indicated readiness to discuss security arrangements within a comprehensive deal.

United Nations

UNFICYP has been deployed since 1964, and its mandate is renewed periodically by the Security Council. UN resolutions call for a settlement on the basis of a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality, and Resolutions 541 and 550 reject the TRNC declaration. Secretary-General António Guterres presented a framework on security and guarantees at Crans-Montana in 2017. Informal talks in the 5+UN format (Geneva, April 2021) ended without common ground.

European Union

The EU treats the Republic of Cyprus as a member state and has called for a comprehensive settlement within the UN framework. It supports Cyprus's position on maritime and security questions. Ankara disputes the EU's competence to judge issues of guarantee and delimitation, and points to the circumstances of the 2004 accession, which followed the Turkish Cypriot 'yes' and the Greek Cypriot 'no' in the Annan referendums.

Turkish Cypriots and the TRNC

Turkish Cypriots hold that they are co-founders of the 1960 Republic, not a minority. They say that the 1963 exclusion ended their partnership in the state and that the Turkish presence prevents its recurrence. Internal Turkish Cypriot politics are not monolithic, and leaders' positions on federation have varied over time. Readers should check current official statements.

🇹🇷 Official Doctrine · Primary Sources

Türkiye's Position: Türkiye's Reasoning of State

Ankara's case is built on security, treaty rights and survival. The bullet points below follow statements by the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Presidency and Türkiye's addresses at the UN.

• A treaty-based presence from 1960. According to the Turkish Foreign Ministry, the Turkish contingent was stationed under the Treaty of Alliance (650 men under the annexed protocol) as part of the 1959–1960 settlement. Ankara argues that the presence is not new or unilateral but derives from the founding agreements of the Republic.
• Article IV as the legal basis of 1974. Ankara states that the 15 July 1974 coup, aimed at union with Greece, breached the Treaty of Guarantee's ban on ENOSIS. After consulting the UK, it argues it was entitled to act individually with the sole aim of restoring the order of 1960. It points out that it has presented the 20 July 1974 operation as such an Article IV action ever since. See States Outlook on Article IV.
• Security and survival. Ankara argues that between 1963 and 1974 the Turkish Cypriots experienced expulsion, enclaving and the loss of constitutional rights. In the Turkish view, the 1974 coup showed that guarantees stay unreliable without forces on the ground. The principle echoed in Hudut Namustur: What 'The Border Is Honour' Means in Türkiye's Security Policy applies: Türkiye treats threats to its kin and its southern approaches as a matter of preventive security, not distant diplomacy.
• Sovereign equality in place of an exhausted federation. Ankara and the TRNC argue that over 50 years of federation talks, including the 1977 and 1979 High-Level Agreements, the Annan referendum, Crans-Montana, the April 2021 Geneva meeting and the 15 October 2024 New York trilateral meeting, have shown no common ground on a federal model. They argue that any lasting settlement must begin by recognizing the Turkish Cypriots' inherent sovereign equality and equal international status. This implies two sovereign states cooperating on the island. President Erdoğan has repeatedly called, in addresses to the UN General Assembly, for recognition of the realities on the island.
• Conditions for any change. The Turkish position is that troop levels follow the security situation and a settlement. A withdrawal before a settlement guaranteeing Turkish Cypriot equality and safety, and without Türkiye's role in it, is not on offer.

The legal and historical basis in brief

Ankara's case rests on the 1959 Zurich and London Agreements and the 1960 treaties, on the Republic's collapse in 1963–1964, and on the 1974 coup. It adds the principle of self-determination for the Turkish Cypriots as a people. The strongest counterargument, made by Nicosia and Athens, is that Article IV allows action only to restore the 1960 order, not to maintain a lasting military presence, and that the guarantee ended with Cyprus's EU accession. Ankara replies that the 1960 order could not be restored because the partnership state was destroyed by one community, and that the status quo exists because of the Greek Cypriot side's refusal to share power. Troop presence and settlement are therefore linked, in Ankara's view, as questions of security and of equality. For related security reasoning, see Blue Homeland as a Reason of State, which shows how the Turkish Cypriot rights to offshore resources connect with the same security logic, and Regional Balance's Cyprus guide.

Source Comparison

Question	Common international framing	Turkish primary-source framing
What is the Turkish presence?	An occupation of the northern part of an EU state (Republic of Cyprus, EU, ECtHR judgments)	A treaty-based presence (650-strong Alliance contingent) and an Article IV action in 1974 (Turkish MFA)
What caused 1974?	Coup by the Athens junta, followed by a Turkish invasion	The coup was a breach of the Treaty of Guarantee; the operation was a response, not a cause
What happened in 1963–1964?	Intercommunal conflict; Turkish Cypriots withdrew into enclaves	Greek Cypriot attacks and constitutional abolition of the partnership; around 30,000 Turkish Cypriots displaced from 103 villages
Status of the 'Government of Cyprus'	Internationally recognized state, UNSC Res. 186	Res. 186 treated a body that had usurped the 1960 order as the government
TRNC	Legally invalid declaration (UNSC Res. 541 and 550)	An expression of self-determination and political equality; recognized by Türkiye
Way forward	Bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality	Federation exhausted; recognition of sovereign equality and two states

Readers should note that the ECtHR judgments, the UN resolutions and the Turkish MFA texts can all be verified independently; the disagreement is about legal characterization and about causation, not about the existence of the documents. For how this publication handles sources, see Editorial Principles and Primary Source Standards.

Key Terms & Related Guides

• Treaty of Guarantee (1960): the treaty giving Greece, Türkiye and the UK the right to consult and, if necessary, act to restore the 1960 order. Article II bans union and partition; Article IV sets out the right of action.
• Treaty of Alliance (1960): the agreement allowing Greek (950) and Turkish (650) military contingents in Cyprus.
• ENOSIS: the Greek Cypriot nationalist aim of union with Greece, pursued by EOKA and by the 1974 coup.
• Bizonal, bicommunal federation: the UN framework model with two constituent states and political equality; Ankara argues it has been exhausted.
• Sovereign equality: Ankara's term for the Turkish Cypriots' right to equal international status, the basis of the two-state thesis.
• UNFICYP: the UN peacekeeping force on the island since 1964, patrolling the buffer zone and the Green Line.

Related reading on Reasons of State: Strategic Autonomy by Necessity: How Arms Restrictions Pushed Türkiye Toward Defense Self-Reliance, which describes the post-1974 arms restrictions on Türkiye, and About Reasons of State. For the wider site, start at the home page.

Perspective Note

Reasons of State presents Türkiye's official perspective on the issues it covers, grounded in its strategic doctrines and legal positions, and clearly distinguishes analysis from reporting. Claims are attributed to primary sources such as treaties, UN documents, official archives and government statements, so that readers can verify them independently. Sections marked 'Türkiye's Position' reflect official Turkish policy as stated by Turkish government sources.

Reasons of State Editorial Team