Rental Cars Cyprus - History of Cyprus

For such a small island, Cyprus has a remarkable history of being conquered and occupied. Its important position in the Mediterranean, at a cross-road of trade between Asia and Europe, has ensured a long list of suitors, including Mycenaeans, Phoenicians, Egyptians, Assyrians and Persians. Alexander the Great staked a claim, so too did Ptolemy, before Roman expansion brought seven centuries of peace and civilization. When it found itself at the centre of Byzantine and Islamic empirical bikering over territory, Richard the Lionheart and his Crusaders arrived to set the record straight but passed the island onto the Knights Templar who in turn sold the hot potato to Guy de Lusignan. For three centuries the locals suffered under the oppressive reign of this family but the economic benefits were healthy.

In 1489 the Venetians took control of the island and held onto it for most of the 16th century before the expanding Ottoman Empire arrived in 1571 to impose 300 years of influence on the hapless little island.

It seems, by now, every empirical master had tried to lay hands on Cyprus except the greatest of them all – The British. Sure enough they too stepped in after WWI to create a crown colony but their days were numbered. The locals had had enough and agitated for self-control.

Independence however was a messy affair, which has never quite been solved on account of the uncompromising Greeks and Turks who populate the island. Despite the fact that 96% of Cypriots at the time supported a union with Greece, a small band of guerrillas, known as the National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters, scuppered plans. In August 1960, Britain granted Cyprus its independence, the country lurched forward and abandoned union plans when a military junta seized power in Greece in 1967 and kept their eye firmly on Cyprus. Turkey, Greece’s long-standing rival, then invaded Cyprus in July 1974 after a CIA sponsored coup overthrew the existing govt. They occupied the northern third of the island displacing 180,000 Cypriots.

Peace talks have been held sporadically, but Cyprus remains divided. The south prospers, while no country in the world except Turkey recognises the independent state in the north. However, desperate to join the EU, Turkey’s support is waning and pressure to re-unite has been mounting recently.