The conflict in Cyprus between the Cypriot Greeks and the Cypriot Turks, along with their respective governments of Greece and Turkey, is one that has a long and complex history, in which UN peacebuilding efforts, particularly the United Nations Peacekeeping Force In Cyprus (UNFICYP), has been long involved. The initial Greek movement to Cyprus occurred in the 13th century BC, and the Ottoman Empire’s Turkish forces soon thereafter conquered the territory. The territory itself also holds a unique geographical location, as it is positioned between the Middle East, Europe, and Africa. Initially, under Ottoman rule, the Turkish and Greek ethnic groups appeared to co-exist quite peacefully. In fact, the two groups banded together against the corrupt Ottoman rule.

Be that as it may, due to the division that existed in regards to ethnic identity, the creation of a broad Cypriot identity was hampered. The division was difficult to overcome due to the groups both identifying with their ethnic backgrounds as opposed to their territorial one. Under the Cyprus Convention of 1878, the territory was handed over to British rule, and the British in turn promised to protect the Cypriots from Russian aggression. While the land was still a colony of Great Britain, the Cypriot Greeks began claiming the annexation of the territory by Greece.

These Cypriot Greeks actually constituted a majority of the Cypriot population, at approximately 80%. This then led to the rise of opposition and guerrilla forces to fight British rule, such as enosis and EOKA. Seeing no other solution to the conflict, Britain, along with Greece and Turkey, signed what was called the Zurich-London Agreement. This agreement essentially gave Cyprus independence. The agreement also constructed the framework for the creation of the new constitution of the independent Cyprus.

The primary purpose of this constitution was to attempt to alleviate or resolve the political division that existed between the Cypriot Greeks and the Cypriot Turks. However, the new constitution was not one that went over well with all invested parties, particularly Greece, who criticized the constitution for giving too much power to the minority, Cypriot Turks. This is when the initial United Nations efforts in the area began, with both the United Kingdom and Cyprus appealing to the United Nations Security Council to attempt to resolve the situation and bring back peace to the region. The Security Council passed a resolution establishing the UNFICYP. Initially, the dialogue that was established between the two groups showed some promise, but this was soon disrupted when the Greek Cypriots attempted a coup d'état and a few days later Turkey invaded Cyprus.

Following this, the United Nations established what was known as a buffer zone along the Green Line, which essentially divided Cyprus into the Turkish Cypriot region on the northern side, and the Greek Cypriot region on the southern side. The buffer zone is a demilitarized zone patrolled by the UNFICYP. Since then, the United Nations have maintained the UNFICYP peacekeeping force in the region in order to prevent the resurgence of conflict, providing general humanitarian aid and keeping watch of the buffer zone/maintaining the Green Line.

The United Nations has also attempted to open dialogue between the two ethnic groups. The UN maintains that the status quo is not a solution and an active agreement must be reached to restore peace to the region. Technically, the Turkish Cypriots claim to have declared independence from south Cyprus. This statement is supported by the Turkish government, and they refer to themselves as the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), even though they are not officially recognized as an independent state from Cyprus.

The United Nations Security Council Resolution 2338, adopted by the Security Council at its 7869th meeting, on January 26th, 2017, first and foremost, starts out by referencing, and commending, the Secretary General’s report on January 9th, 2017 on the United Nations operation in Cyprus (S/2017/20). This report lays out the current developments of the situation in Cyprus, along with providing frameworks for what needs to be done to create further progress. The Secretary General emphasizes the importance of all invested parties: Greece, Turkey, and the UK, to remain committed to supporting the ongoing and determined efforts of the two leaders.

He acknowledges the ongoing efforts to build support for settlement talks and the reunification by citizen groups in Cyprus, as well as emphasizes the pivotal role that civil society holds for fostering grassroots support for a solution. He emphasizes the role of the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP), and the necessity of providing the committee with the proper means and information to best conduct its work. The CMP, an organ of the United Nations, works to enable relatives of missing persons to recover the remains of their loved ones, arrange for a proper burial, and end a long period of anguish and uncertainty.

Most Cypriot families have been directly or indirectly affected, and it is hoped that the healing of old wounds will in turn favor the overall process of reconciliation between both communities. The SG also emphasizes the importance of maintaining efforts to get rid of the mine fields across the island, due to the serious safety risks that they pose. He establishes that the clearance of these mine fields would allow increased freedom of movement, in and around the buffer zone. He calls for the lifting of all restrictions that aim to limit religious freedom in the region. The Secretary General sees the promotion of initiatives such as trade, sporting, and other such social and cultural events, as crucial to building an environment of peace and cooperation. He also calls on respecting the ceasefire that exists within the buffer zone, and its violation by hunters as an issue that must be addressed.

Any inter-ethnic conflict such as the one in Cyprus proves to be extremely complex, and negotiations to create a settlement are reminiscent of the Israel-Palestine conflict. Looking at this resolution, it does not essentially do anything new. It does procure the very same recommendations as the one the year before and the one the year before that. In fact, even the resolution in 1999 seems very similar to this one. This kind of equivalence that is evident has implications on the effectiveness of these measures, considering that essentially the same thing is being continued to be called for over the years.

The leaders of the Cypriot Turkish group and the Cypriot Greek group have been proceeding to ‘negotiate’ for what has become a number of years, and both leaders at this point still contend. As is seen in the press conference, there are still major points of disagreement, and every year they seem to promise to continue these negotiations with nothing critically substantial to show for this.