NICOSIA, December 20. /TASS/. The United States has always considered Cyprus as a potential strategic foothold and sought to create conditions for its accession to NATO, historian Nikos Kouzoupis told TASS on Friday.

"Although all previous presidents have claimed that Cyprus belongs to Western civilization, none of them openly stated that the country should join NATO," Kouzoupis said in talking about Cypriot Nikos Christodoulides’ recent statement that Cyprus is discussing ways of its entry into NATO with Washington.

Kouzoupis noted that the first step to remove practical obstacles to accession was made with the signing of the 1959 London and Zurich Agreements - the international treaties that led to the creation of the Republic of Cyprus. "The then leaders of Greece and Turkey, the countries that guaranteed independence, territorial integrity and security of Cyprus [Greek and Turkish Prime Ministers Konstantinos Karamanlis and Adnan Menderes] concluded a "gentlemen’s agreement," which stipulated that Greece and Turkey would advise future Cypriot leaders to keep the Communists out of office so that they could not prevent Cyprus from joining NATO. However, this plan was foiled by the first president of the republic, Archbishop Makarios III, who began to rely on left-wing political forces in his domestic policy," said Kouzoupis, who is also quite liberal in his views.

Washington tried to pave Cyprus' way to NATO five years later, allegedly to ease tensions between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots that escalated in late 1963. The US objective was to satisfy the foreign policy interests of Greece and Turkey by eliminating Cyprus' independence.

"In January 1964, a five-sided conference was held in London. It was attended by representatives of both the Greek and Turkish communities of the island and the three powers - guarantors of Cyprus’ security: Britain, Greece and Turkey. The sides put forward the so-called Acheson Plan [Dean Acheson was the US secretary of state during the presidency of Harry Truman], which envisioned sending 10,000 NATO troops to Cyprus to ensure an inter-communal truce, reunifying Cyprus with Greece while maintaining the status of the British Akrotiri and Dekelia military bases, creating three buffer zones for Turkish Cypriots and granting Turkey control over the Karpas Peninsula in order to establish a military base there.

This plan de facto led to the partition of Cyprus. It was supported by Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, but rejected by Archbishop Makarios III. No one could object to the latter’s decisions at that time," Kouzoupis said.

"Since 1964 the US has tried to turn Cyprus into an unsinkable aircraft carrier," but its actions were blocked by the first president of Cyprus, who was among the leaders of the Non-Aligned Movement and a notorious thorn in Washington’s side, the politician added.

The NATO Council and the Cypriot coup

Eventually, the United States created a scenario for partitioning Cyprus between Greece and Turkey at the 1971 meeting of the North Atlantic Council in Lisbon.

"After that meeting, the Greek junta or Regime of the Colonels sent a note to Makarios III demanding submission to the 'national center,' that is, Athens. No wonder the archbishop rejected it. This event gave rise to mass Cypriot demonstrations against the actions of the Greek authorities. However, the 1971 plan was finally implemented in the summer of 1974, when a military coup took place on the island. All the top officers of Cyprus' National Guard were from Greece, which made the coup possible. Five days later Turkish troops intervened in northern Cyprus," Kouzoupis noted.

The coup failed and Cyprus defended its independence, but only because Makarios managed to leave the Presidential Palace and later muster international support for preserving the independence of Cyprus, the historian said.

NATO membership: resuming discussions

During the presidential campaign in Cyprus in early 2023, the only politician to promote the idea of the country joining NATO was Averof Neophytou, the former leader of the right-wing party called The Democratic Rally. However, on November 24, 2024, the Greek newspaper Kathimerini reported that Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides presented a plan for Cyprus to join NATO to his American counterpart Joe Biden on a visit to Washington on October 30.

On November 28, Christodoulides confirmed his country's intention to become a member of the North Atlantic Alliance, saying that Nicosia was in ongoing discussions with Washington on the matter. The next day, however, Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos clarified that NATO membership was a long-term goal, and would not happen right away. Among the obstacles keeping the country out of NATO at this point, the foreign minister named issues in relations between Cyprus and Ankara. Turkey has not recognized the Republic of Cyprus since 1963; it has occupied the northern part of the island since 1974; like other NATO member states, it has the right to veto the entry of new members into the Alliance.

On December 2, President of Northern Cyprus Ersin Tatar expressed his belief that Ankara will not allow the Republic of Cyprus to join NATO until the Cyprus problem is resolved. As a key member of NATO, Turkey guarantees that the unilateral initiatives of the Greek Cypriot leadership will not continue, he said, recalling that NATO membership is regulated by Article 10 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which requires unanimous approval from all NATO members to bring in new countries.

On December 3, during a speech to members of Cyprus' Standing Committee on Foreign and European Affairs the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos made it clear that the talk on the matter is meaningless since Cyprus is not yet ready to join the Alliance. "We are not at the point of applying for NATO membership," Kombos emphasized.