Η επίδραση του Κυπριακού ζητήματος και των ελληνοτουρκικών ζητημάτων στις ελληνοτουρκικές σχέσεις την περίοδο 1967-1980

Λυκίδης, Βασίλειος

Master Thesis

Author

Λυκίδης, Βασίλειος

Date

2025

Abstract

During the period of military rule in Greece (1967-1974), two events constituted milestones in the trajectory of Greek–Turkish relations in the Aegean: the initiation of hydrocarbon exploration by the Greek side, in cooperation with the American consortium Oceanic, in the wider Kavala–Thasos area, and the sortie of the Turkish research–oceanographic vessel Çandarlı into disputed territorial waters in the Aegean. Subsequently, the differences between the two parties regarding control of the airspace unfolded through NOTAM 714 (which established a delimiting reference line in the middle of the Aegean, coinciding with the 25th meridian, and stipulated that aircraft flying east of this line were required to report to, and receive instructions from, the Istanbul air traffic control center) and, by extension, through the questioning of sovereignty over numerous islets and rocky islets in the Aegean (since the extent of territorial waters did not coincide with that of the airspace). Moreover, Turkey began to demand the demilitarization of the Greek islands adjacent to the Asia Minor coastline, invoking the security of its mainland. On the Cyprus front, the major event was the Kofinou clash of 1967, which led to the withdrawal, on the Greek side, of the division numbering 10000 troops from the island, a development that rendered Cyprus vulnerable to a potential Turkish attack. The steadily deteriorating relations between the Greek junta of Dimitrios Ioannidis, who fervently sought the Union of Greece and Cyprus (Enosis), and the Cypriot leader, Archbishop Makarios, who favored non-aligned independence as a more feasible solution, culminated in the reckless coup carried out by the Greek dictatorship and the overthrow of Makarios. The coup activated Turkey’s reflexes, which, invoking the Zurich–London Treaty of Guarantee, intervened by invading in two phases—Attila I and Attila II—occupying 37 percent of Cypriot territory and causing a humanitarian catastrophe with thousands of dead, wounded, and missing. During the period 1974–1980, when the reins of the country were initially held by the Government of National Unity and subsequently by the New Democracy governments of Karamanlis and Rallis, two major events marked Greek–Turkish relations in the Aegean: the sortie of the research vessel Hora into Greek territorial waters and the signing of the Bern Protocol. The pre-existing disputes (territorial waters, airspace, and the islands of the Eastern Aegean) remained unchanged. In addition, Turkey began systematically raising the issue of the existence of a Turkish minority in Western Thrace, a position that Greece categorically rejected, arguing that the minority was exclusively religious in character—specifically Muslim—and therefore did not constitute a national minority but a religious one. Furthermore, regarding the Cyprus issue, summit-level talks were conducted between Denktaş and Makarios and between Denktaş and Kyprianou under the auspices of the United Nations; these proved fruitless, with the tragic consequence of consolidating the division and partition of the island, an outcome of the Turkish invasion and occupation of Northern Cyprus.

Postgraduate Studies Programme

Διεθνείς και Ευρωπαϊκές Σπουδές

Department

Σχολή Οικονομικών, Επιχειρηματικών και Διεθνών Σπουδών. Τμήμα Διεθνών και Ευρωπαϊκών Σπουδών

Number of pages

Language

Greek

URI

https://dione.lib.unipi.gr/xmlui/handle/unipi/19337

Collections

Τμήμα Διεθνών και Ευρωπαϊκών Σπουδών

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Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as
Αναφορά Δημιουργού-Μη Εμπορική Χρήση-Όχι Παράγωγα Έργα 3.0 Ελλάδα