Is Cyprus part of Greece or Turkey? The straight answer

Lots of people wonder about this before they travel, and the short answer catches many British visitors off guard. Cyprus isn’t part of Greece or Turkey. The Republic of Cyprus is a separate state, with its own president, its own House of Representatives and its own seat in the European Union. Here I explain why it gets confused so often, what’s going on in the north and what it all means for your holiday. To place it on the map, see where is Cyprus.

A state of its own since 1960

The Republic of Cyprus was born on 16 August 1960, when it stopped being a British colony. The UN points out that its constitution came out of agreements signed by Greece and Turkey in Zurich and London in 1959, and that the new country joined the United Nations a month after independence. It has been a sovereign state ever since, an EU member from 2004 and in the euro from 2008. For how it’s run now, see the political system of Cyprus. Even the Cyprus flag, white with the outline of the island, had to be neutral in design and colour between the two communities, as the Constitution required.

The confusion comes from the population. In 1960, according to the UN, roughly 80% of Cypriots were Greek Cypriots and 18% Turkish Cypriots. That’s why Greek and Turkish are the two official languages. But a Greek Cypriot isn’t Greek, just as a Turkish Cypriot isn’t Turkish. Both are Cypriots. How the island is named in each language is in the name of Cyprus.

And the north?

This is the part that leads people to think Cyprus is partly Turkish. In summer 1974, after the coup against the Makarios government, Turkey sent forces into the north coast, and that part of the island has been outside the Cypriot government’s control ever since, about 3,355 km² according to the Spanish foreign ministry.

In 1983 an entity styling itself the ‘Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’ was proclaimed in the north. Only Turkey recognises it. In resolution 541 the UN Security Council ruled the secession legally invalid and asked all states to recognise only the Republic of Cyprus. London doesn’t recognise it either, gov.uk makes clear. The whole story, in facts and dates, is in the Cyprus problem.

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What the EU says

The EU puts it very clearly. Cyprus came in already split, but all of it counts as EU territory. Until a settlement is reached, though, EU rules don’t operate where the government isn’t in charge. A specific regulation, the Green Line Regulation of 2004, governs movement between the two parts, including how much shopping you can bring back from the north.

There’s a third player many people forget, and it’s the UK. When Cyprus became independent, Britain kept two Sovereign Base Areas in the south, Akrotiri and Dhekelia, which aren’t part of the Republic. Their Administrator answers to the UK Defence Secretary, and two of the crossing points to the north lie inside the Dhekelia base.

What it means for your trip

In practice, you’re travelling to an EU country that isn’t in Schengen. You show your passport on arrival, get it stamped, pay in euros and get around the Republic much as you would anywhere in southern Europe. Your days there don’t count towards your Schengen 90, so see is Cyprus in the EU and Schengen.

You can visit the north. British visitors cross the Green Line at the official points, and the easiest to start with is Ledra Street in Nicosia, on foot. Bear in mind, gov.uk says, that time spent north of the line is added to your allowance in the Republic. What you shouldn’t do is enter the island through Ercan airport or a northern port, because the Republic treats that as illegal entry and you could be fined or refused exit. All the crossing points and rules are in crossing to northern Cyprus.

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How to talk about Cyprus without putting your foot in it

For the state I say ‘the Republic of Cyprus’, for the area outside government control ‘the north’, and for the people ‘Cypriots’, adding Greek or Turkish Cypriot when it matters. Those are the terms the UN, the EU and gov.uk use, and on the island people appreciate a visitor who doesn’t take sides without knowing the story. For the basics of the country, start with the Cyprus travel guide.

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