Ethnic Conflicts and International Politics: An
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ETHNIC CONFLICTS AND INTERNATIONAL POLITICS: AN ANALYSIS OF THE COMMUNAL REGIONAL, AND GLOBAL DIMENSIONS OF THE CYPRUS PROBLEM by Triadafilos Triadafilopoulos Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters ofArts Department ofPolitics BROCK UNIVERSITY St. Catharines, Ontario June, 1995 @) Triadafilos Triadafilopoulos Acknowledgments I would like to begin by thanking my thesis supervisor Professor Daniel Madar. Professor Madar's patience and guidance helped me remain focused through the duration ofthe project. I also would like to thank Professors Terrence Carroll, Gerald Dirks, Charles Burton, Alan Arthur, and George Stoubos for their careful reading ofthe thesis and useful comments and criticisms. Professor Carroll's assistance in framing the study's analytical framework was particularly helpful. I would also like to thank Professors Tozun Bahcheli and Van Coufoudakis for reading early drafts ofthe work's introduction and providing me with invaluable advice and assistance. Thanks also to Barb Magee for fielding calls from Toronto, answering vague questions, and guiding me through the intricate web ofadministrative procedures which plague all graduate students. I would like to thank my mother and father, Panayiota and Anastasios, for their unflagging support and commitment to raising my brother and I in a caring household. I thank my brother John for bearing with me through these long months and allowing me to use his desk when mine was piled high with books, newspaper articles, and other debris. Thanks to my friends John Tsoukas and Sean Young for reading several rough drafts ofthe thesis and providing much needed moral support. My warmest thanks is reserved for Mary, who I look forward to spending the rest ofmy life with. Mary's ability to excel at her own profession while also preparing for our wedding and move to New York was truly inspiring. I am certain that our friendship and commitment to one another will enable us to deal with all that the future holds. ii Abstract The thesis assesses the impact ofinternational factors on relations between Greek and Turkish Cypriots during and after the Cold War. Through an analysis ofthe Cyprus problem it explores both why external actors intervene in communal conflicts and how they influence relations between ethnic groups in plural societies. The analytical framework employed throughout the study draws on contributions ofInternational Relations theorists and students ofethnic conflict. The thesis argues that, as in the global political system, relations between ethnic groups in unranked communal systems are anarchic; that is, actors within the system do not recognize a sovereign political authority. In bipolar communal systems dominated by two relatively equal groups, the struggle for security and power often leads to appeals for assistance from external actors. The framework notes that neighboring states and Great Powers may heed calls for assistance, or intervene without a prior request, ifit is in their interest to do so. The convergence ofregional and global interests in communal affairs exacerbates ethnic conflicts and precludes the development ofeffective political institutions. The impact ofexternal intervention in ethnic conflicts has the potential to alter the basis ofcommunal relations. The Cyprus problem is examined both during and after the Cold War in order to gauge how global and regional actors and the structure oftheir respective systems have affected relations between ethnic groups in Cyprus. The thesis argues that Cyprus's descent into civil war in 1963 was due in part to the entrenchment ofexternal interests in iii the Republic's constitution. The study also notes that power politics involving the United States, Soviet Union, Greece and Turkey continued to affect the development of communal relations throughout the 1960s, 70s, and, 80s. External intervention culminated in July and August 1974, after a Greek sponsored coup was answered by Turkey's invasion and partition ofCyprus. The forced expulsion ofGreek Cypriots from the island's northern territories led to the establishment ofethnically homogeneous zones, thus altering the context ofcommunal relations dramatically. The study also examines the role ofthe United Nations in Cyprus, noting that its failure to settle the dispute was due in large part to a lack ofcooperation from Turkey, and the United States' and Soviet Union's acceptance ofthe status quo following the 1974 invasion and partition ofthe island. The thesis argues that the deterioration of Greek-Turkish relations in the post-Cold War era has made a solution to the dispute unlikely for the time being. Barring any dramatic changes in relations between communal and regional antagonists, relations between Greek and Turkish Cypriots will continue to develop along the lines established in July/August 1974. The thesis concludes by affirming the validity ofits core hypotheses through a briefsurvey ofrecent works touching on international politics and ethnic conflict. Questions requiring further research are noted as are elements ofthe study that require further refinement. iv Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii MAPS OF CYPRUS AND EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN viii, ix Introduction Understanding the Cyprus Problem: Three Levels ofInquiry 1 Background: The Roots ofEthnic Rivalry in Cyprus 5 Chapter One Anarchy, Bipolarity, and the Communal, Regional, and Global Dimensions of the Cyprus Problem Introduction 15 Anarchy and Bipolarity 16 Regional Systems 18 Communal Systems 20 Synthesis 22 Enosis, Takism and the End ofBritish Rule 24 The Zurich-London Agreements 28 From Independence to Civil War 32 Chapter Two International Politics and the Evolution of the Cyprus Problem: 1964-1990 Introduction 38 The Era ofUncertainty 39 The 1967 Crisis 47 The Road to Partition: 1968-1974 50 Invasion, Partition and the Transformation ofCommunal Relations 55 Confronting New Realities: Intercommunal Talks, 1977-1990 59 The Triumph ofViolence? 66 v Chapter Three The Cyprus Problem in the Emerging International System Introduction 69 The Emerging International System 70 Greek-Turkish Relations After the Cold War 74 Recent United Nations Initiatives 82 Communal Perceptions 86 Conclusion 89 Conclusion Ethnic Conflicts and International Order: The Case ofCyprus Introduction 91 Summary and Findings 91 The Lessons ofCyprus: International Politics and Ethnic Conflicts 103 Conclusion 110 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................... 114 vi List ofAbbreviations AKEL Anorthotikon Komma Ergazomenou Laou (Progressive Party ofthe Working People) EC European Community EDEK Eniaion Democratike Enosis Kentrou (Unified Democratic Center Union) EOKA Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston (National Organization ofCypriot Fighters) ED European Union NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization PKK Kurdish Workers Party DDI Unilateral Declaration ofIndependence UN United Nations USA United States ofAmerica USSR Union ofSoviet Socialist Republics TMT Turk Murkavelnet Teskilati (Turkish Defense Organization) TRNC Turkish Republic ofNorthem Cyprus vii Cyprus MEDITERRANEAN SEA -,/~ _~/~-'t. Kyrenia Ilta\Il~:'. - . ~- · Mou -~_ . .......-~~ Kyrenl a, .../~'.. ~~~~~~~~.- ITURKISH - CYPRIOT HELD I <: ~ ~ Yerolakkos . Tymbou ~ /-'- e L~•••""'~·• ··N!:i~. (Ercanl eVatili .Dhenia Icosla e IL ... - .......• .4~ Pvroi .,- --~'- .........~.'" ..... ·u· r, ~)' - .h~ .1 eJI\ ~/:.- "~'~"" • .Louroujina -/~- ~ :~-····~~~IGREEK - CYPRIOT HELDI ~ Larnaca w-.r.- T.'."J ~ .•Troodos )"'/'~ . .-" ....~ -- .) -,roouo~i(_. >': ~ ~_~-. .-~..... .-/~~Mountalns~~ . ~- ...--.~.~ eKophinou /~.- -~. ~. mumn United Nations buffer zone Limassol 'rt:;:~/"'~~:!' British sovereign bases o Miles 20 , I , , , Source: United Nations BLACK SEA ROdhos ~d Crete N~ SYRIA "" --4100 ll1iles CYPRUS"-", "" LEBANON "J ,,'- MEDITERRANEAN SEA Beirut ~ ,,/ -"... Damasc~s,\ IRAQ LIBYA J{ "" \ ISRAEL ( ....'-_"""" ~ _ Jefusalem .1.Amman __ I ,- SAUDI--- " I~ORDAN', ARABIA EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN ix Introduction Understanding the Cyprus Problem: Three Levels ofInquiry The Cyprus problem, like most other ethnic conflicts, has a variety ofcauses. These causes extend beyond the community itselfand include the influence ofother countries as well as pressures created by the international system. The rivalry between Greek and Turkish Cypriots has developed in response to relations between Greece and Turkey, threats to NATO cohesion, and the strategic interests offoreign powers. International as well as domestic political considerations have been crucial to its development. Scholars are beginning to emphasize the role ofinternational politics in ethnic conflicts. 1 Many have noted that the end ofthe Cold War has led to a proliferation of conflicts based on ethnicity. In the words ofRobert Cooper and Mats Berdal, "the system ofbipolarity contained elements oforder whose disappearance has not only altered the context within which military intervention is considered, but also increased the potential for violent ethnic conflict within the system as a whole.,,2 Samuel P. Huntington has stated that the ideological divisions ofthe Cold War have been replaced 1 Recent work on the subject ofethnic conflict has emphasized the role ofinternational factors. See Michael E. Brown, ed., Ethnic Conflict and International Security, (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1993); Ted Robert Gurr and Barbara Hartl: Ethnic Conflict in World