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Northern Cyprus
The Turkish Cypriot north of a divided island, recognized only by Turkey
A line of sandbags, barbed wire, and abandoned buildings runs across Cyprus from coast to coast, and through the middle of its capital. North of it lies the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, a self-declared state that Turkey alone recognizes. The Republic of Cyprus, a member of the European Union and the United Nations, regards the north as its territory under Turkish military occupation, and Security Council resolutions have called the 1983 declaration legally invalid. Turkish Cypriots describe the north as their own state, created after years of intercommunal violence. Since crossings opened in 2003, people walk between the two sides with an identity card, yet the island remains one of Europe's longest-running unsettled divisions.
The north covers about 3,355 square kilometers, a little over a third of the island. Its backbone is the Kyrenia (Beşparmak) range, a narrow limestone ridge topped by crusader-era castles and rising to just over 1,000 meters, which drops steeply to the harbor town of Kyrenia (Girne) on the northern coast. South of the range spreads the Mesaoria plain, and to the northeast the long, thin Karpas peninsula reaches toward Turkey and Syria. Famagusta (Gazimağusa) holds the fenced-off quarter of Varosha, empty since 1974 and partly reopened by Turkish Cypriot authorities in 2020. The UN-patrolled buffer zone, the Green Line, separates north from south, and two British Sovereign Base Areas sit on the island as well.
Cyprus gained independence from Britain in 1960 under a power-sharing constitution that collapsed within three years amid fighting between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, and UN peacekeepers arrived in 1964. In 1974 a coup backed by the military government in Athens sought union with Greece, and Turkey intervened militarily, an action Turkey describes as a peace operation and the Republic of Cyprus as an invasion. The island was partitioned, with large displacements in both directions. In 2004 Turkish Cypriots approved the UN's Annan Plan for reunification while Greek Cypriots rejected it, and Cyprus joined the EU undivided in law. Tufan Erhürman, who favors a negotiated federal settlement, won the Turkish Cypriot leadership election in October 2025, reviving hopes for renewed UN-led talks.