Exploring the history and future of borders and conflict resolution on the politically divided island of Cyprus – Professor Innes Keighren

In 1964, the United Nations established a peacekeeping mission in Cyprus in response to growing tensions between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities. Almost 60 years later, the UN is still in there, keeping the peace by patrolling a buffer zone that separates the island into two states: the Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. The island’s political and ethnic tensions—often referred to as the Cyprus Problem—are complex and have proved difficult to resolve. This lecture explores the history of Cyprus’s political division, how a border between north and south was created and has been maintained, and how UN peacekeeping efforts sit alongside political and grassroots attempts to reunify the island.

This fits within the following parts of the A-Level syllabus:

Pearson Edexcel, Option 8B: Migration, Identity and Sovereignty, Key idea 8B.4c

OCR, Topic 2.2.4 Global Governance: Option D – Power and Borders, Key idea 3.b