Zurich and London Agreements

In February 1959, Greece, Turkey and Britain, along with representatives of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities, signed agreements in Zurich and London that created an independent Republic of Cyprus and ended the EOKA campaign against British rule. The agreements were negotiated by the Greek prime minister Konstantinos Karamanlis and the Turkish prime minister Adnan Menderes, then confirmed in London with Archbishop Makarios III and the Turkish Cypriot leader Fazıl Küçük. Under the agreements, Cyprus would become independent in 1960 with a constitution that divided power between the Greek Cypriot majority and the Turkish Cypriot minority. The president would be a Greek Cypriot and the vice president a Turkish Cypriot, each with veto powers. Both union with Greece and partition were forbidden. Greece, Turkey and Britain became guarantors of the island's independence, with the right to intervene, and Britain kept two sovereign military bases. Makarios became the first president. The agreements were seen as a compromise, but the constitution proved difficult to operate, and violence between the communities broke out in 1963.