Pre - History of Cyprus

 
The metal "copper" is named after the country of Cyprus by the Romans. In Latin it was called aes Cyprium - meaning the "metal of Cyprus", shortened to cyprium and then corrupted to cuprum. The ancient Greek word for copper is chalkos.
                        
*ca. 8500 BC: Possible first human settlement by epipalaeolithic hunters and gatherers at Aetokremnos.    
*7000-5300 BC: Neolithic
** ca. 7000: Settlement of the island by Neolithic farmers from the Levant (PPN B) who introduced domesticated wheat, cattle,
    sheep, goats, dogs and fallow deer, wild foxes and tamed cats.
** 6th Millennium: aceramic Khirokitia-culture with round houses
**4500-4000: first pottery produced during the Sotira-Phase
* 4000-2500 Chalcolithic
**Erimi-Phase (Chalcolithic I), copper known, but used sparingly
** Ambelikou/Ayios Georghios (Chalcolithic II)
*2700-1050 Bronze Age
**2700-1900: Early Bronze age. First rectangular houses, re-introduction of cattle from Anatolia, introduction of plough. Strong
    Anatolian influences
** Enkomi-phase: first cities, Systematic copper mining and trade
*1900-1600: Middle Bronze Age
*1600-1050: Late Bronze Age, First use of The Cypriot syllabic script in (LCIB).
** 1300-1200 BC Late Cypriot (LC) IIC, local prosperity, re-building of cities.
** 1200-1100 BC: end of the late Bronze Age (LCIIIA). Local production of so-called Mycenaean pottery
** 1100-1050: latest bronze Age (LCIIIB,), introduction of a new type of grave, Mycenean influences in pottery decoration,
    interpreted by some as an invasion from the Greek mainland.
**1125-1050: Submycenean period.
*1050-700: Iron Age
* 1050-750: Geometric period
* 8th Century: foundation of numerous Phoenician colonies

Ancient-History of Cyprus

* 709 BC: Assyrian conquest of Cyprus by King Sargon II (721-705 BC) of Assyria.
* 669/663 BC: Independent city-kingdoms
* 570 BC: conquest by the Egyptians under Amasis.
* around 500 BC: first Cypriote coins, using the Persian weight system.
* 499 BC: Kingdoms of Cyprus take part in the Ionian rising under Onesilos of Salamis.
* defeat of the Cypriote kings, re-conquest of the island.
* Around 450 BC: increased importance of Kition.
* 450 BC: Phoenician rulers in Salamis
* 411 BC: The Teucrid Etageres I regains the throne of Salamis.
* around 400 BC: Evagoras attempts an independent rule on Cyprus with Athenian help.
* Ca. 380 BC: Persian reconquest,
* 386 BC: treaty of Antakidas, Persian rule over Cyprus accepted by Athens.
* 350 BC: Cypriote rebellion, crushed by Artaxerxes in 344.
* 351-332 BC: Pythagoras of Salamis and other Cypriote kings go over to Alexander The Great during the siege of Tyre.
*331-310 BC: Nicocreon
*310-306 BC: Menelaos is made satrap of Cyprus.
*306-301 BC: Antigonus.
*301-30 BC Ptolemaic Lagid Dynasty
*116 BC Ptolemy Philometor sent to Cyprus by his mother Cleopatra
*109 BC Alexander the brother of Ptolemy IX Lathyros sent to Cyprus by his mother Cleopatra.
*107 BC Alexander returns from Cyprus and is made king of Egypt. Ptolemy campaigns in Palestine.
*58 BC Cyprus becomes a Roman province.
*51 BC Cyprus placed under the rule of Cleopatra by Julius Caesar.
*30 BC Cyprus reverts to Roman rule.
*45 Paul of Tarsus, St Barnabas and St Mark introduce Christianity to Cyprus and convert the Roman governor Sergius Paulus
*115-116: A messianic Jewish revolt results in the massacre of 240,000 Cypriots.Trajan. intervenes to restore the peace and
     expels the Jews from Cyprus.
*335: The revolt of the usurper Calocaerus is omated by Flavius Dalmmatius.
*c.350 Salamis is rebuilt by Constantius II the son of Constantine after being destroyed by earthquakes and is renamed
     Constantia.

Middle-Ages

* 395 AD Cyprus becomes part of the Byzantine Empire.
* 647 The Arabs invade Cyprus under Muawiya and occupy it.
* 683 The Arab garrison is withdrawn after the Arabs are defeated by Constantine IV.
* 688 Emperor Justinian II and Caliph al-Malik sign a treaty. No garrisons stationed in the island, and the collected taxes being
    divided among the Arabs and the Emperor.
* 965 Cyprus is restored to Byzantine rule by Nicepheros Phokas
* 1185-1192 Cyprus independent Empire under Isaak Comnenus
* 1192 Richard I of England, Richard Cœur de Lion (kör due lyôN') or better known as Richard the Lion-Heart, captured Messina
   on his way to Acre and married (1191) Berengaria of Navarre. The island is sold to the Templar Order, who in turn sell it to Guy
   of Lusignan.
*1192-1489 Guy of Lusignan and his descendants rule Cyprus as an independent kingdom.
*1489-1571 Cyprus becomes an overseas colony of the Venetian Republic after having been purchased from the last member of
    the Lusignan dynasty.
* 1571 Having been put under siege the previous year, Famagusta is captured and Cyprus becomes part of the Ottoman Empire.
 

Ottoman-Empire Period

*1571 The Ottomans take Famagusta, Cyprus becomes a part of the Ottoman Empire.
*1572-1668 Twenty eight bloody uprisings, most of these were by the Muslim forefathers of the Turkish Cypriots, who staged 27
    rebellions according to famous Cyprus historian Harry Luke. One of the most memorable is that of rebel leader Halil Agha who
    in 1624 assassinated the Ottoman pasha, Chil Osman in Nicosia, and later burned his palace.Halil Agha held control over
    certain areas of Cyprus, which was an embarrassment for the Ottomans. Agha criticized both the Ottomans for asking for too
    much tax from the Muslims and the Greeks who were acting as good citizens by paying a larger amount of these taxes. He
    gained support from other Muslim Turkish Cypriots. Agha challeged Ottoman authority over the island, so much so that the
    imperial porte in Constantinople ordered that soldiers be dispatched to crush the militia. Later Agha was defeated and
    beheaded, but his campaign is important for Turkish Cypriot feelings of nationhood. Had he succeeded there would have been
    a Turkish Cypriot state as early as 1624.
*1625-1700 Great depopulation of Cyprus. The plague wipes out over half of the population
*1821 Greek Cypriots side with Greece in a revolt against Turkish rule. The island's leading churchmen are executed as
    punishment. 20,000 Christians flee the island.
*1869 The Suez Canal opens.

 Modern-History of Cyprus

   Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, Cyprus was annexed by Britain in 1925 and made a crown colony.
   Between 1955-59 EOKA was created by Greek Cypriots and led by George Grivas to perform enosis (union of the island with
   Greece). However the EOKA campaign did not result union with Greece but rather an independent republic, The Republic of
   Cyprus, in 1960.

   In 1960 Turkish Cypriots were only the 18% of the Cypriot population. However, the 1960 constitution carried important
   safeguards for the participation of Turkish Cypriots to the state affairs, like vice-president being Turkish Cypriot, 30% of
   parliament being Turkish Cypriot, etc. Archbishop Makarios would be the President and Dr Fazil Kucuk would become Vice
   President. One of the articles in the constitution was the creation of separate local municipalities so that Greek and Turkish
   Cypriots could manage their own municipalities in the big towns. This article of the constitution has never been implemented by
   the Republic and president Archbishop Makarios. In response to the Greek-backed coup Turkey invaded the island in 1974 and
   seized the northern third of the island, Turkish Cypriots in the south would travel north and Greek Cypriots in the north would
   move south. The de facto state of Northern Cyprus was proclaimed in 1975 under the name "Turkish Federated State of
   Northern Cyprus". The name was changed to its present form on 15 November 1983. The only country to formally recognise The
   "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" is Turkey. Turkey refer to the Republic of Cyprus as the "Greek Cypriot Administration of
   Southern Cyprus" and refuse formal recognition against the international and European law.
 

Timeline of Cyprus

*1878-1960: British occupation. The British take over the administration of the island, ceded by the Ottomans, for its strategic
    value, to protect their sea route to India via the Suez Canal. In exchange, Britain agrees to help Turkey against future Russian
    attacks.
*Crown commissioners:
**Sir Robert Biddulph (1880-?)
**Sir Walter Sendall (1892-1898)
**Sir Charles King-Harman (1904-1910)
*1914: Cyprus is annexed by Britain when Turkey joins with Germany and Austro-Hungary in World War I.
*1925: Cyprus becomes a British Crown Colony.
*Governors:
**Sir Richmond Palmer
*1931: First serious riots of Greek Cypriots demanding Enosis, the union with Greece. The government-house in Nicosia is burned
    down and martial law is declared afterwards and the legislative council is abolished. The display of the Greek flag and the
    Greek National Anthem were banned.
*1939: Greek Cypriots fight with the British in World War II, but remain set on Enosis after the war is over. The Turkish Cypriots,
    however want the British rule to continue.
*1946-1949: Thousands of displaced Jews are sent to camps on Cyprus by the British Government.
*1950: Archbishop Makarios III is elected as political and spiritual leader. Makarios becomes the head of the autocephalous
    Cypriot Orthodox Church and heads the campaign for Enosis with the support of Greece.
*1955: A series of bomb attacks starts a violent campaign for Enosis by EOKA (National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters) led by
    George Grivas, an ex-colonel in Greek army, born in Cyprus. Grivas takes name of Dighenis, and conducts guerrilla warfare
    from a secret hideout in the Troodos Mountains. He is estimated to have 300 men at maximum, yet successfully plagues
    20,000 British troops and 4,500 police.
*1956: Britain deports Makarios to the Seychelles in attempt to quell the revolt. Turkish Cypriots are used as auxiliaries of British
    Security Forces, and become one of the major targets of the EOKA.
*1957: Field Marshal Sir John Harding is replaced by the civilian governor Sir Hugh Foot in a conciliatory move.
*1958: Turkish Cypriots are alarmed by British conciliation and begin demands for partition. There are inter-communal clashes
    and attacks on British.
*1960: British, Greek and Turkish governments sign a Treaty of Guarantee to provide for an independent Cypriot state within the
    Commonwealth of Nations and allowing for the retention of two Sovereign Base Areas of Dhekelia and Akrotiri. Under the treaty,
    each power has the right to take military action in the face of any threat to the constitution. Cyprus becomes independent of
    foreign rule. Archbishop Makarios, (Greek Cypriot) becomes the first President, Dr Kutchuk (Turkish Cypriot) Vice-President.
    Both have the right of veto. Turkish Cypriots, who form 18% of the population, are guaranteed vice-presidency, three out of ten
    ministerial posts and 30% of jobs in the public service, 40% in the army and separate municipal services in the five major
    towns. Overall, a very complex constitution is drafted, including a lot of decisions to be taken by majority of votes overall as well
    as within each community.
*1963-1973: Greek Cypriots view the constitution as unworkable and propose changes abolishing all veto rights and many ethnic
    clauses; these proposals are rejected by Turkish Cypriots and the Turkish government. Inter-communal fighting erupts. A UN
    Peace Keeping Force is sent in, but is powerless to prevent incidents. Thousands of Turkish Cypriots retreat into enclaves and
    are embargoed by the Greeks Cypriots. The UN attempts to supply them with food and medicine. The Turks are to remain in
    the enclaves for the next 11 years until the partition of the island in 1974.
*1974: On 15 July the military government (junta) in Greece with the support of the CIA and American national security advisor
    Henry Kissinger orders a coup by the Greek National guard to overthrow Makarios who they see as being too pro-Russian.
    Makarios is forced to flee to the British base. A puppet regime is imposed under Nikos Sampson, a former EOKA fighter and
    paid CIA operative.
**Five days after the coup on 20 July Turkish Turkey invades Cyprus and captures 3% of the islands territory around the town of
    Kyrenia, driving out the Greek Cypriot population.
**Three days later the coup is put down and democracy is restored.
**On 14 August after UN talks break down it lands 40,000 troops on the north coast. 200,000 Greek Cypriots Flee to the South,
    while Turkish Cypriots are forced to leave their homes in the South. Turkish forces are left in control of 37% of the island.
    Facing threats from Turkey the United Nations and the Cyprus government agree to allow the Turkish Cypriots living in the free
    areas to be transferred by the UN and British SBA authorities to the occupied north against their will.
*1975: Turks announce a Federate State in the north, with Rauf Dentkta as leader. UN Forces stay as buffer between the two
    zones.
*1977: Makarios dies, having been restored as President of Greek Cyprus after 1974. He is succeeded by Spyros Kyprianou.
*1983: The Turkish Federated State declares itself independent as the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), with
    Denkta as President. The new state is not recognised by any country except Turkey and officially boycotted.
*1992-1995: UN sponsored talks between the two sides run into the sand, but with a commitment to resume.
*2001: The European Court of Human Rights finds Turkey guilty of continuing human rights violations against the Greek Cypriots,
    and the Turkish Cypriots also.
*2003: Cyprus is set to join the European Union in May 2004. Renewed negotiations about the status of the island take place.
**  On 23 April 2003, the line which divides the two parts of Cyprus was partly opened. Thousands of Turkish and Greek Cypriots
     cross the border to the "other side" after 30 years.
* 24 April 2004 The Annan Plan for unification is rejected by the majority of Greek Cypriots in a bipartisan referendum.
**  Cyprus as a whole joins the EU on 1 May but the EU acquis is suspended in the occupied north.