The United Nations and the Cyprus problem

Both communities in the Cyprus dispute have at different times objected to the intervention of the United Nations when in their view mediatory function was somewhat replaced by more forceful methods resembling arbitration. In 1965, the UN Mediator, Galo Plaza, issued a Report that met outright opposition from Turkey and Turkish Cypriots on the grounds that the mediator had acted as an arbiter. In 2004, the Annan Plan was rejected by the Greek Cypriots feeling that the kind of settlement proposed was an imposition by the outsiders. This short paper aims to assess the intervening role of the UN in Cyprus in respect of peacemaking and peacekeeping from 1964 to the present day. Both the traditional nature of the UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus UNFICYP as well as the oscillating diplomatic efforts of the organisation to bring about a settlement have been discussed. The attitude of the belligerent parties to the UN involvement, their concerns and expectation as well as the influence of the major powers through the organisation to tailor a solution has accordingly been analysed.