Why Cyprus is divided, and into four parts

Transcript

Cyprus. Formerly a single country, part of the European Union, but for more than 50 years it has effectively been split in two. And if you look closer, it's actually divided into four. So what exactly is going on here? You see, for thousands of years Cyprus was part of the Greek world, and then for a long time it was under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. That's how Cyprus became home to two main communities, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots. But then the British showed up, of course, and turned the island into a colony. Decades later, as the British Empire was breaking up, Britain gave Cyprus independence, but kept two sovereign military territories, covering about 3% of the island, and the rest became the Republic of Cyprus. But that didn't last long, because conflict soon broke out between the two communities. Many Greek Cypriots supported unification with Greece, a process known as Canosis. While Turkish Cypriots opposed it, and eventually pushed for partition, in an idea known as Taxim. In 1974, the military junta ruling Greece backed a coup in Cyprus, and in response, Turkey sent troops into the north of the island, under the pretext of protecting Turkish Cypriots. As a result of the war, Turkey occupied about 36% of the island, where the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was declared, a state which, by the way, only Turkey recognizes. To stop the bloodshed, the UN sent in troops and created a buffer zone, known as the Green Line, which covers about 4% of the island. And that's how Cyprus ended up divided between 4 different powers.

Transcribed automatically from the video, so small errors are possible.