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Summary: The recent release of archives relating to the Cyprus War of 1974 shed completely fresh light on the lead-up to the Turkish landing on the island and its aftermath. This book, based on the records from the British and American governments, for the first time unpicks the truth behind this controversial conflict, the effects of which are still felt today. While there was no British-American involvement in the coup that overthrew Archbishop Makarios in July 1974, Jan Asmussen proves that some members of British and American intelligence knew about Athens' plans for a coup to occur at some point in the autumn of 1974, although they did not know the actual timetable nor of Ioannides' decision to put the plan into action. Asmussen explores why the British and the Americans did not take warnings about the coup more seriously and make more effort to tip off the Cyprus government about the imminent danger as well as, equally controversially, the reasons behind Britain's surprising reluctance to exercise her right of intervention on the island. Asmussen analyses the background to the 1974 war as well as the long shadow it casts right up to the failure of the Annan plan in 2004 and Turkey's campaigns to join the European Union. This is a vital re-reading, in the light of recently released documents, of a long-running conflict in the eastern Mediterranean, now transported to the heart of the European Union. It will be an essential source for anyone interested in British or American diplomatic affairs as well as the history of Cyprus. |
