The Cyprus question is one of the most complex international disputes, which the Republic of Turkey has been engaged in since its foundation in 1923. Although Cyprus was conquered by the Ottoman Empire in 1571, the Turks actually lost control over the island in 1878. British rule only strengthened ethnic divisions in Cyprus, especially when Cyprus became a Crown Colony in 1925. After World War II, Greek Cypriots wanted to unite with mainland Greece (enosis), while Turkish Cypriots promoted the division of the island’s territory between Greece and Turkey (taksim). Finally, both sides agreed on the foundation of an independent Cypriot state, named the Republic of Cyprus, in 1960, and became its guarantors. Yet this was not the end of the Cypr...