Cyprus–United Kingdom relations
bilateral relations between United Kingdom and Cyprus
Foreign relations between Cyprus and the United Kingdom are considered generally positive. Cyprus gained its independence from the United Kingdom in 1960, after 82 years of British control; the two countries now enjoy warm relations, though the continuing British sovereignty of Akrotiri and Dhekelia in Cyprus continues to divide Cypriots. The countries are both members of the United Nations and Commonwealth of Nations.
The United Kingdom has a High Commission in Nicosia and Cyprus has a High Commission in London. Irfan Siddiq is the current British High Commissioner to Cyprus, whilst Andreas Kakouris is the current Cypriot High Commissioner to the UK.
According to the results of a 2024 YouGov poll, 98% of British people who were asked about Cyprus had heard of it; 69% of these viewed Cyprus positively, while 26% remained neutral and the remaining 3% had a negative view.
History
Under Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli and Foreign Minister Lord Salisbury, Britain used its diplomatic prowess to obtain Cyprus from the Ottoman Empire in 1878. Britain promised to use Cyprus as a base to protect the Ottoman Empire from Russia, according to the secret Cyprus Convention agreement. Instead of using the Army, the British set up a semi-military group called the Cyprus Military Police. Disraeli, leader of the Conservative party, was promoting British imperialism and expanding the British Empire. William Ewart Gladstone, leader of the opposition Liberal party, vehemently opposed the takeover as immoral, but he did not return the island.
The public source identifies “Cyprus–United Kingdom relations” as bilateral relations between United Kingdom and Cyprus. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Cyprus, United and Kingdom.
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This entry incorporates text from “Cyprus–United Kingdom relations” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.