I’m not as familiar with this region, and so I was able to learn some things from this article. However, the author does also express his opinion on the matter in addition to the analysis. Please share any thoughts or concerns in the comments since, again, I’m not as familiar with the history of this topic. I’m also happy to delete my post if there are issues.

Author: Spyros A. Sofos | Assistant Professor in Global Humanities, Simon Fraser University

Excerpt:

In the recent Northern Cyprus presidential election, an overwhelming majority of the Turkish Cypriot electorate rejected incumbent Ersin Tatar, backed by the Turkish government, and his hard-line two-state rhetoric.

Opposition leader Tufan Erhürman’s landslide victory has revived hopes for a settlement on the divided island.

Cyprus is an independent country and a member of both the United Nations and the European Union. But it’s divided, with the internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus in the south and a self-declared state in the north, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, recognized only by Turkey.

A two-state solution calls for the island to remain divided between Greek Cypriots in the south and Turkish Cypriots in the north instead of reunifying.

This division was the result of Turkey’s 1974 invasion of Cyprus that followed a coup orchestrated by the Greek junta aimed at uniting the island with Greece. Turkey intervened, ostensibly to protect the Turkish Cypriot minority.