Foreign relations of Cyprus


Cyprus is a member of the United Nations along with most of its agencies as well as the Commonwealth of Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund and Council of Europe. In addition, the country has signed the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency Agreement. Cyprus has been a member of the European Union since 2004. In the second half of 2012 and currently helds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Historical non-alignment

historically used to followe a non-aligned foreign policy, although it increasingly identifies with the West in its cultural affinities and trade patterns, and maintains close relations with the European Union, Greece, Armenia, Lebanon, Israel and the United States.
File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F013050-0001, München, Staatsbesuch Präsident von Zypern.jpg|thumb|left|Cyprus former President Makarios III at a state visit in Munich with the German Chancellor in 1962
The prime originator of Cypriot non-alignment was Archbishop of Cyprus Makarios III, the first President of the independent republic of Cyprus. Prior to independence, Makarios - by virtue of his post as Archbishop of Cyprus and head of the Cypriot Orthodox Church - was the Greek Cypriot Ethnarch, or de facto leader of the community. A highly influential figure well before independence, he participated in the 1955 Bandung Conference. After independence, Makarios took part in the 1961 founding meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement in Belgrade.
Reasons for this neutrality may lie in the extreme pressures exerted on the infant Republic by its larger neighbours, Turkey and Greece. Intercommunal rivalries and movements for union with Greece or partial union with Turkey may have persuaded Makarios to steer clear of close affiliation with either side. In any case Cyprus became a high-profile member of the Non-Aligned Movement and retained its membership until its entry into the European Union in 2004. At the non-governmental level, Cyprus has also been a member of the popular extension of the Non-Aligned Movement, the Afro-Asian Peoples' Solidarity Organisation hosting several high-level meetings.
Immediately after the 1974 Greek-sponsored coup d'état and the Turkish invasion, Makarios secured international recognition of his administration as the legitimate government of the whole island. This was disputed only by Turkey, which currently recognizes only the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, established in 1983.
Since the 1974 crisis, the chief aim of the foreign policy of the Republic of Cyprus has been to secure the withdrawal of Turkish forces and the reunification of the island under the most favorable constitutional and territorial settlement possible. This campaign has been pursued primarily through international forums such as the United Nations and the Non-Aligned Movement, and in recent years through the European Union.
In the 21st century Cyprus is following a western foreign policy.

Diplomatic relations

List of countries which Cyprus maintains diplomatic relations with:

Bilateral relations

Multilateral

Africa

CountryFormal relations beganNotes
Algeria

Americas

CountryFormal relations beganNotes
Argentina

Asia

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Armenia

Europe

Cyprus' 1990 application for full EU membership caused a storm in the Turkish Cypriot community, which argued that the move required their consent. Following the December 1997 EU Summit decisions on EU enlargement, accession negotiations began 31 March 1998. Cyprus joined the European Union on 1 May 2004. To fulfil its commitment as a member of the European Union, Cyprus withdrew from the Non-Aligned Movement on accession, retaining observer status.
CountryFormal relations beganNotes
Albania

Oceania

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Australia

Multilateral relations

  • Cyprus–NATO relations

    International disputes

The 1974 invasion of the Turkish army divided the island nation into two. The internationally recognised Republic of Cyprus currently has effective control in the south of the island while its area not under its effective control makes up 37% of the island. Turkey utilising the territory occupied during the invasion recognizes a declared separatist UDI of Turkish Cypriots in 1983, contrary to multiple United Nations Security Council Resolutions. The two territories of the Republic are separated by a United Nations Buffer Zone ; there are two UK sovereign base areas mostly within the Greek Cypriot portion of the island.