TURKEY AND THE CYPRIOT QUESTION

This research examines the issue of the Turkish occupation of Northern Cyprus within the context of selected international relations theory and concepts. The selected international relations theory and concepts are liberalism, institutionalism, and realism.

Since its creation in 1960, Cyprus frequently has been referred to as the "reluctant republic" (Solsten, 1993, p. xxi). The ethnic division of the island approximated 80 percent Greek and 20 percent Turk. The great majority of Greek Cypriots have long pushed for union with Greece, while the Turkish Cypriot community has resisted such a move with equal vigor. The Republic of Cyprus was created, in part, as a compromise action.

Greece and Turkey generally favor the positions of their ethnic counterparts on Cyprus (Solsten, p. xxvii). When the Cypriot National Guard, led by officers of the Greek army, staged a coup in 1974, and declared an intention to unify Cyprus with Greece, Turkey invaded Cyprus, quickly captured, and occupied the northern end of the island where the bulk of Turkish Cypriots lived. Approximately 200,000 Greek Cypriots were expelled from Northern Cyprus, and over the ensuing years substantial immigration to Northern Cypress from Turkey has occurred.

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was proclaimed in 1983, and continues to function in 1995, although

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istic, must accept human nature as it actually is, and must deal with political processes as they actually occur. The theory of political realism holds that international relations is the concept of interest defined in terms of power. Political realism does not require, nor does it condone indifference to political ideals and moral principles, but it does requires a sharp distinction between the desirable and the possible (p. 7). Political realism holds that universal moral principles cannot be applied to the actions of states in their abstract universal formulation, but that they must be filtered through the concrete circumstances of time and place (p. 10). Liberalism and institutionalism are two opposing approaches in international relations theory. Liberalism embraces "the second image hypothesis" (Waltz, 1959, pp. 38-59). Institutionalism embraces the systemic hypothesis (Rogowski, 1987, pp. 1121-1137). The systemic hypothesis holds generally that the international relations policy of a given state tends to be a product of the international regime of which it is a part. The second image hypothesis holds contrarily that the international relations policy of a state tends to be a product of domestic political structure
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Analysis Issue, Concepts Realism, Greece Turkey, Northern Cyprus, Turkish Cypriots, UN Chronicle, Greece Cypriot, Cypriot Issue, Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriot, international relations, turkish cypriots, systemic hypothesis, northern cyprus, international relations theory, relations theory, cypriot community, greek cypriots, relations theory concepts, turkish cypriot, republic cyprus, image hypothesis, turkish cypriot community, relations policy tends, selected international relations,
Approximate Word count = 1307
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)