Independence Postponed: Cyprus 1959-1960

Abstract

From the settlement of the Cyprus dispute at a conference in London in February 1959 until the declaration of independence on August 16^th 1960, a final agreement on all outstanding issues concerning the putative Republic had to be reached. By July 1960, the political and constitutional order of the new state was finalised. Cyprus was ready for independence. But on some of the controversial issues only temporary arrangements had been made by the two communities which would soon be disputed or not adhered to. Moreover, the constitutional order created during the Transitional Period on the basis of the agreements of Zurich and London was not to last for longer than three years. The article will focus on some of the most controversial issues that were negotiated during these eighteen months and assess the extent to which the breakdown of the constitutional order in 1963 might have had its roots in the Transitional Period.