1960 Treaty of Guarantee
From Freepedia
The 1960 Treaty of Guarantee was a pact designed to preserve the territorial independence of the Republic of Cyprus. The guarantor powers (Great Britain, Turkey, and Greece) promised not to seek annexation or partition of Cyprus, and to assist their communities on Cyprus in the event of major clashes between the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots. It was the attempted July 1974 Greek-backed coup d'etat that made Turkey intervene militarily, arguing that the Treaty of Guarantee made their intervention fully legal. Critics counter that only the first stage of the intervention - the initial landings - is covered by the treaty. The second stage of the intervention - the occupation of 37% of the island - however, was condemned by UN Security Council resolutions. Turkey counters that the Turkish Cypriot community would always be threatened and thus their continued presence on Cyprus as a protector of the Turkish Cypriot community is in line with their status as a guarantor power under the treaty, even though Turkey withdrew its recognition of the Republic of Cyprus after the death of President Makarios III in 1977.
