Timeline of Cypriot history

This is a timeline of Cypriot history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in Cyprus and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see History of Cyprus. See also the list of presidents of Cyprus.


Millennia: 1st BC · 1st · 2nd · 3rd

15th century BC

YearDateEvent
1400 BCHellenization of Cyprus after the colonization of Mycenaeans

Centuries: 10th BC · 9th BC · 8th BC · 7th BC · 6th BC · 5th BC · 4th BC · 3rd BC · 2nd BC · 1st BC

10th century BC

YearDateEvent
1000 BCEmergence of the City States and eventually the Ten City States.

8th century BC

YearDateEvent
709 BCThe lands of Cyprus were conquered and unified by the Neo-Assyrian Empire under Sargon II.

7th century BC

YearDateEvent
631 BCThe ten city-kingdoms of Cyprus declared their independence from Assyrian rule.

6th century BC

YearDateEvent
570 BCCyprus was conquered by the Egyptians under Amasis II.
526 BCAmasis died. His son Psammetichus III succeeded him as pharaoh.
525 BCThe kingdoms of Cyprus pledged allegiance to Cambyses II of the Achaemenid Persian Empire in anticipation of his invasion of Egypt.
Battle of Pelusium (525 BC): The Persian army wiped out the Egyptian army at Pelusium.

5th century BC

YearDateEvent
499 BCIonian Revolt: Aristagoras, the appointed tyrant of Miletus, rebelled against Persian rule.
Ionian Revolt: With the support of Athens and Eretria, Aristagoras captured Sardis, the capital of the Persian satrapy of Lydia.
Ionian Revolt: The kingdoms of Cyprus joined the revolt.
498 BCIonian Revolt: The Persian army reestablished control over Cyprus.
450 BCKition increased in importance.
Phoenician rulers established themselves in Salamis.
411 BCThe Teucrid Evagoras I regained the throne of Salamis.
400 BCEvagoras attempted to establish himself as an independent ruler on Cyprus with Athenian help.

4th century BC

YearDateEvent
386 BCUnder the Treaty of Antakidas, Persian rule over Cyprus was accepted by Athens.
380 BCPersia reconquered Cyprus.
351 BCPythagoras of Salamis and other Cypriot kings went over to Alexander The Great during the beginning of the siege of Tyre.
350 BCA Cypriot rebellion began.
344 BCThe Cypriot rebellion was crushed by Artaxerxes III.
332 BCThe siege of Tyre ended.
331 BCNicocreon began to rule.
325 BCThe Archaic and Classical Period ended.
310 BCNicocreon ended his rule.
Menelaos was made satrap of Cyprus.
306 BCMenelaos ended his time as satrap of Cyprus.
Antigonus began his rule.
301 BCAntigonus ended his rule.
The Ptolemaic Lagid Dynasty began.

2nd century BC

YearDateEvent
116 BCCleopatra sent her son Ptolemy Philometor
109 BCCleopatra sent Alexander, her son and the brother of Ptolemy IX Lathyros, to Cyprus.
107 BCAlexander returned from Cyprus and was made king of Egypt. Ptolemy campaigned in Palestine.

1st century BC

YearDateEvent
58 BCCyprus became a Roman province.
51 BCCyprus was placed under the rule of Cleopatra by Julius Caesar.
30 BCThe Ptolemaic Lagid Dynasty ended.
Cyprus reverted to Roman rule.

Centuries: 1st · 2nd · 3rd · 4th · 5th · 6th · 7th · 8th · 9th · 10th

1st century

YearDateEvent
45Apostle Paul, St Barnabas and St Mark introduced Christianity to Cyprus and converted the Roman governor Sergius Paulus.

2nd century

YearDateEvent
115Kitos War: A messianic Jewish revolt began which resulted in the massacre of 240,000 Cypriots. Trajan intervened to restore the peace and expelled the Jews from Cyprus.
116Kitos War: The revolt ended.

4th century

YearDateEvent
335The revolt of the usurper Calocaerus was suppressed by Flavius Dalmatius.
350Salamis was rebuilt by Constantius II, the son of Constantine, after being destroyed by earthquakes and was renamed Constantia.
395Cyprus became part of the Byzantine Empire.

5th century

YearDateEvent
431The Church of Cyprus achieved its independence from the Patriarch of Antioch at the First Council of Ephesus.

7th century

YearDateEvent
649The Arabs under Muawiya invaded and occupied Cyprus.
683The Arab garrison was withdrawn after its defeat at the hands of Constantine IV.
688Emperor Justinian II and Caliph al-Malik signed a treaty under whose terms no garrisons were to be stationed in the island, and all taxes collected were to be divided between the Arabs and the Emperor.

10th century

YearDateEvent
965Cyprus was restored to Byzantine rule by Nicepheros Phokas

Centuries: 11th · 12th · 13th · 14th · 15th · 16th · 17th · 18th · 19th · 20th

12th century

YearDateEvent
1185Cyprus became an independent Empire under Isaak Comnenus.
1192Isaak Comnenus ended his reign.
Richard I of England captured Cyprus on his way to Acre. The island was sold to the Templar Order, who in turn sold it to Guy of Lusignan.
Guy of Lusignan and his descendants began to rule Cyprus as an independent kingdom.
1193Altheides of Cyprus, the traveling philosopher, was born.

15th century

YearDateEvent
1489The descendants of Guy of Lusignan ended their rule of Cyprus.
Cyprus became an overseas colony of the Venetian Republic after having been purchased from the last member of the Lusignan dynasty.
9 JuneOttoman Turks raid Karpas Peninsula.[1][2]

16th century

YearDateEvent
1539Ottoman Turks attack Limassol.[2]
15701 JulyOttoman Turks invade Cyprus with 80,000 men.
25 JulyOttoman army besieges Nicosia.
9 SeptemberNicosia falls to the Turkish invaders. 20,000 Nicosians, Greek and Latin, are killed in the aftermath. About 1,000 survivors are bound and shipped out to be sold in the Constantinople slave markets.
1571Cyprus ended its time as a Venetian colony.
Having been put under siege the previous year, Famagusta was captured and Cyprus was subjected to Ottoman rule. The first Ottoman settlers arrived.
The Ottomans took Famagusta; Cyprus became a part of the Ottoman Empire. Greeks on the island of Cyprus sided with Venetians to fight off the attacking Ottomans.
1572A period began during which twenty eight bloody uprisings occurred.

19th century

YearDateEvent
1821The Cypriots sided with Greece in a revolt against Turkish rule. The island's leading churchmen and notables were executed as punishment. 20,000 Christians fled the island.
1869The Suez Canal opened.
187812 JulyBritish occupation began. The British took over the administration of the island, by mutual agreement, in order to protect their sea route to India via the Suez Canal. In exchange, Britain agreed to help Turkey against future Russian attacks.
22 JulySir Garnet Joseph Wolseley became Crown commissioner.
1879Sir Robert Biddulph became Crown commissioner.
1886Sir Henry Ernest Bulwer became Crown commissioner.
1892Sir Walter Sendall became Crown commissioner.
1898Sir William Frederick Haynes Smith became Crown commissioner.

20th century

YearDateEvent
1904Sir Charles King-Harman became Crown commissioner.
1911Sir Hamilton Goold-Adams became Crown commissioner.
1914Britain annexed Cyprus in response to Turkey's alliance with Germany and Austro-Hungary in World War I.
1915Sir John Eugene Clauson became Crown commissioner.
1920Sir Malcolm Stevenson became Crown commissioner.
1925Cyprus became a British Crown Colony. Sir Malcolm Stevenson was made governor.
1926Sir Ronald Storrs became governor.
1931Greek Cypriots demanding Enosis, the union with Greece, instigated their first serious riots. The government-house in Nicosia was burned down; martial law was declared afterwards and the legislative council was abolished. The Greek National Anthem and the display of the Greek flag were banned. The British invented the terms "Greek Cypriot" and "Turkish Cypriot" and used the latter against the "Greek Cypriots" so as to cease Enosis demands.
1932Sir Reginald Edward Stubbs became governor.
1933Sir Herbert Richmond Palmer became governor.
1939Cypriots fought with the British in World War II, Greek Cypriots demanding Enosis at war's end. The Turkish Cypriots wanted British rule to continue.
Sir William Denis Battershill became governor.
1941Sir Charles Campbell Woolley became governor.
1946The British Government began to imprison thousands of displaced Jews in camps on Cyprus.
Sir Reginald Fletcher, Lord Winster, became governor.
1949The British Government finished imprisoning displaced Jews.
Sir Andrew Barkworth Wright became governor.
1950Archbishop Makarios III was elected the political and spiritual leader of Cyprus, the head of the autocephalous Cypriot Orthodox Church and leader of the campaign for Enosis with the support of Greece.
1954Sir Robert Perceval Armitage became governor.
28 JulyMinister of State for the Colonies, Henry Hopkinson, says that there were certain territories in the Commonwealth 'which, owing to their particular circumstances, can never expect to be fully independent'.[3]
1955Sir John Harding became governor.
1 AprilA series of bomb attacks marked the start of a violent campaign for Enosis by the National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters (EOKA) under George Grivas, a Cypriot ex-colonel in the Greek army. Grivas took the name Dighenis and conducted guerrilla warfare from a secret hideout in the Troodos Mountains.
1956Britain deported Makarios to the Seychelles in an attempt to quell the revolt.
1957Field Marshal Sir John Harding was replaced by the civilian governor Sir Hugh Foot in a conciliatory move.
195827 JanuaryFirst of 2 days of serious rioting by Turkish Cypriots. Seven were killed by British security forces.[3]
7 JuneTurkish press office in Nicosia is bombed. Inter-communal clashes as Turkish Cypriots invade Greek sector.[3] On 26 June 1984 the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktaş, admitted on British channel ITV that the bomb was placed by the Turks themselves in order to create tension.[4] On 9 January 1995 Rauf Denktaş repeated his claim in the Turkish newspaper, Milliyet.[5]
12 JuneThe first massacre between Greeks and Turks on Cyprus. British police released from arrest a group of 35 Greeks in the region of Guenyeli. A Turkish mob attacks the unarmed group, killing some of them.[3]
195918 OctoberBritish minesweeper HMS Burmaston intercepts the Turkish registered boat, Deniz. Loaded with weaponry, the boat is scuttled by its 3-member crew. The crew, all Turkish nationals, are arrested for importing munitions without a permit.[6]
28 OctoberArchbishop Makarios III and Dr. Fazıl Küçük appeal to their respective communities to hand over illegal weapons.[6]
15 NovemberDeadline to hand over illegal weapons.[6]
1960British occupation ended.
The British, Greek and Turkish governments signed a Treaty of Guarantee to provide for an independent Cypriot state within the Commonwealth of Nations and allow for the retention of two Sovereign Base Areas at Akrotiri and Dhekelia. Under the treaty, each power received the right to take military action in the face of any threat to the constitution. Cyprus became independent of foreign rule. The Greek Cypriot Archbishop Makarios became the first president, with Turkish Cypriot Dr. Kutchuk his vice president. Both had the right of veto. Turkish Cypriots, who formed 18% of the population, were guaranteed the vice-presidency, three out of ten ministerial posts and 30% of jobs in the public service. They were further guaranteed 40% representation in the army and separate municipal services in the five major towns. Overall, a very complex constitution was drafted, which demanded a majority of votes overall as well as within each community for many decisions.
1963Greek Cypriots began to view the constitution as unworkable and proposed changes abolishing all veto rights and many ethnic clauses; these proposals were rejected by Turkish Cypriots and the Turkish government. Inter-communal fighting erupted. Tylliria was bombarded with napalm bombs. A UN Peace Keeping Force was sent in, but soon proved powerless to prevent incidents. Thousands of Turkish Cypriots retreated into enclaves where they were embargoed by the Greek Cypriots. The UN attempted to supply them with food and medicine. Akritas plan
1964The Battle of Tylliria takes place. Greek-Cypriot forces storm the Turkish-held Kokkina enclave, prompting a Turkish military intervention and airstrikes on the Greek forces. However, Soviet pressure prevented the Turks from going any further, and when the battle ended after four days of fierce fighting, the Kokkina enclave had been reduced to 50-40% of its original size.
1971EOKA B' is being created
1973The Turks emerged from their enclaves.
1974see Timeline of events in Cyprus, 1974
1975Turks announced a Federate State in the north, with Rauf Denktaş as leader. UN Forces remained as buffer between the two zones.
1977Makarios died. He was succeeded by Spyros Kyprianou.
1983The Turkish Federated State declared itself the independent Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), with Denktaş as president. The new state was not recognised by any country except Turkey and was officially boycotted.
Fearing a "second Cyprus", the Greek government adopts a policy of referring to the Turkish community in Greek Thrace as Greek Muslims or Hellenic Muslims, and does not recognise a separate Turkish minority.[7]
1992UN sponsored talks began between the two sides.
1995The UN talks ran into the sand, but with a commitment to resume.

21st century

YearDateEvent
2001The European Court of Human Rights found Turkey guilty of continuing human rights violations against the Greek Cypriots.
2003Cyprus was set to join the European Union in May 2004. Renewed negotiations about the status of the island took place.
23 AprilThe line which divided the two parts of Cyprus was partly opened. Thousands of Turkish and Greek Cypriots crossed the buffer zone to the "other side" after 30 years.
200424 April2004 Annan Plan Referendum: The Annan Plan was accepted by the majority of Turkish Cypriots but overwhelmingly rejected by the Greek Cypriots.
1 MayThe sovereign Republic of Cyprus joined the European Union, however the EU acquis was suspended in the occupied north, Akrotiri and Dhekelia and the United Nations Buffer Zone.
2008Demetris Christofias replaces Tassos Papadopoulos as president of the Republic of Cyprus. It was the first time that a leader of the Greek Cypriot communist party, AKEL, had entered the presidential race. He is currently the only communist leader in the European Union.

See also

References

  1. Har-El, Shai (1995). Struggle for Domination in the Middle East: The Ottoman-Mamluk War, 1485-91. Brill Academic. p. 172. ISBN 9004101802.
  2. Mirbagheri, Farid (2010). Historical Dictionary of Cyprus. Scarecrow Press. p. 123. ISBN 0810862980.
  3. "Cyprus Conflict Net". Archived from the original on 11 November 2012.
  4. Arif Hasan Tahsin. "He Anodos Tou _Denktas Sten Koryphe". January 2001. ISBN 9963-7738-6-9
  5. http://gazetearsivi.milliyet.com.tr/Ara.aspx?&ilkTar=09.01.1995&sonTar=10.01.1995&ekYayin=&drpSayfaNo=&araKelime=Rauf%20Denkta%C5%9F%201958%20haziran&gelismisKelimeAynen=&gelismisKelimeHerhangi=&gelismisKelimeYakin=&gelismisKelimeHaric=&Siralama=RANK%20DESC&SayfaAdet=20&isAdv=true
  6. Mirbagheri, Farid (2009), Historical Dictionary of Cyprus, Scarecrow Press, pp. 45–46
  7. Antoniou, Dimitris (2005). "Western Thracian Muslims in Athens". Balkanologie. IX (1–2).
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