The Republic of Cyprus and the Commonwealth in the 1960s

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Abstract

Britain and other Commonwealth countries were reluctant to grant Cyprus full membership of the Commonwealth, but eventually conceded to accept full membership. There was also strong opposition to membership within Cyprus, and as a compromise the House of Representatives supported membership only for a provisional period of five years. However, at the end of the provisional period, the growing political and economic importance of the Commonwealth for Cyprus had convinced Cypriot MPs that withdrawing from the Commonwealth would not be a prudent option. The Commonwealth provided an additional forum to receive support on the Government’s position regarding the Cyprus Problem and allowed Cyprus to participate in world affairs and promote international co-operation. The particular case of the relationship of Cyprus with the Commonwealth is an example of a small state interacting with the organisation in order to pursue its own political objectives, while embracing the Commonwealth agenda as its own.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)19-30
Number of pages12
JournalRound Table
Volume111
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

Keywords

  • Cyprus
  • diplomacy
  • political aspirations
  • provisional membership
  • Small states

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