Early Conflicts between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot Communities in Cyprus

Abstract

In general accounts relating to the Cyprus conflict, it has been quite fashionable to focus on the landslide struggles between Greek and Turkish Cypriots during the years 1958, 1963-1964 and 1974 respectively. 1 Recent research about inter-ethnic relations in Cyprus before the outbreak of violence indicates a high degree of common values and culture shared by both communities as well as a general cooperation in the fields of business and agriculture.2 It is less known, however,  that during the first half of the twentieth century there had already been two incidents of nationalistically motivated clashes between members of the two Cypriot communities. These encounters were the so-called Limassol-Riots of 1912 and the inter-ethnic clashes of 1922. Wondering why these events have largely been ignored in contemporary Cypriot historiography, this article aims to examine the roots of these early conflicts as well as their possible impact on the subsequent relations between Greek and Turkish Cypriots on the island.