Cyprus problem (Crisis) and its impact on Turkish foreign policy (1945-1974)

Attempting to establish balanced and beneficial relations in its foreign policy following the Second World War, Turkey became more in need of the alliances of the USA and England in the face of the Russian threat. Cyprus, which was governed by England at that time, was not on Turkey's agenda during this period. On the other hand, Greek Cypriots and Greece had been fighting since the last periods of the Ottoman Empire to give the control of the island to Greece. Therefore, right after the Second World War, Greece took action for Cyprus. Greece insisted on the application of the principle of sovereignty on the island notwithstanding this stance, which provoked a response from England. In the following process, Turkey-Greece relations became tense due to the Cyprus issue. The possibility of England leaving the island to Greece, Greece's efforts to take the Cyprus issue to the United Nations despite all the efforts of the United Kingdom and to get results for self-determination resulted in Turkey's following a clearer Cyprus policy since 1955. The connection between the island and Greece was rejected by Turkey. Until the Cyprus Peace Operation in 1974, the Cyprus issue continued to be a major issue that was tried to be resolved between Britain, Turkey and Greece. In our study, the process leading to the Cyprus Peace Operation in 1974, the Cyprus policies of Turkey, England and Greece between 1945-1974, the relations of the three states in the axis of the Cyprus issue; archival documents, official publications, the press of the period and various research works were examined to better understand in the source.