London and Zurich Agreements

The London and Zürich Agreements for the constitution of Cyprus started with an agreement on the 19 February 1959 in Lancaster House in London, between Turkey, Greece, the United Kingdom and Cypriot community leaders (Archbishop Makarios III for Greek Cypriots and Dr. Fazıl Küçük for Turkish Cypriots). On that basis, a constitution was drafted and agreed together with two further Treaties of Alliance and Guarantee in Zürich on 11 February 1959.

Cyprus was accordingly proclaimed an independent state on 16 August 1960.

Following the failure of the Agreement in 1963 and subsequent de facto military partition of Cyprus into Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot regions, the larger Greek-Cypriot Region, controlled by the Cypriot Government, claims that the 1960 Constitution basically remains in force, whereas the Turkish-Cypriot region claims to have seceded by the Declaration of Independence of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in 1983.

The Constitution provided for under the Agreements divided the Cypriot people into two communities on the basis of ethnic origin. The President had to be a Greek-Cypriot elected by the Greek-Cypriots, and the Vice-President a Turkish-Cypriot elected by the Turkish-Cypriots. The Vice-President was granted the right of a final veto on laws passed by the House of Representatives and on decisions of the Council of Ministers which was composed of ten ministers, three of whom had to be Turkish-Cypriots nominated by the Vice-President.

In the House of Representatives, the Turkish Cypriots were elected separately by their own community. The House had no power to modify the basic articles of the Constitution in any respect and any other modification required separate majorities of two thirds of both the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot members. Any modification of the Electoral Law and the adoption of any law relating to municipalities or any fiscal laws required separate simple majorities of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot members of the House. It was thus impossible for representatives of one community alone to pass a bill.

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