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Cyprus The Society and Its Environment
![[GIF]](http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cyprus/cy02_00a.gif)
Mosque of Lala Mustafa Pasha (once the Cathedral of Saint Nicholas),
built by the Lusignans, Famagusta (Gazimagusa)
CYPRUS WAS BITTERLY DIVIDED at the beginning of the
1990s. The
island's 9,200 square kilometers encompassed two separate
societies: one Greek Cypriot and the other Turkish
Cypriot. Until
1974 the two peoples had lived side by side throughout the
island.
Although they had kept their separate languages and
religions, they
had become in many respects similar, most of the two
peoples being
small farmers or peasants, and relations were generally
harmonious,
if reserved, during the four centuries they shared the
island.
The rise of Greek Cypriot nationalism, most clearly
demonstrated in the ever-increasing strength of the dream
of
enosis--the unification of Cyprus with the Greek
motherland--
engendered a Turkish reaction, the doctrine of
taksim, or
partition. The Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities
became
estranged within a single generation. The Greek-backed
coup of 1974
resulted in a Turkish invasion and the de facto partition
of the
island. Afterward the two communities lived virtually
without
contact. Greek and Turkish Cypriot societies appeared
relatively
successful at the beginning of the 1990s, but their
centuries-long
intercourse was ended.
Data as of January 1991
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