The Cyprus crisis of October 1931 and Greece's reaction: The place of Turkey and Turkish Cypriots in the eyes of Greek and Greek Cypriot leadership

Abstract

It is generally believed that Cyprus question has been a dispute among Greece, Turkey, Great Britain and Cyprus itself. However, the riots that erupted on the island in October 1931 and their repercussions in Greece revealed that Greek ruling circles and public opinion treated the Cyprus dispute until 1960 as a matter between Greece/Greek Cypriots and Britain, The crisis in October 1931 had come about a short while after Turkey and Greece established good-neighborly relations in the summer and fall of 1930 by signing two sets of treaties that ushered in a new phase in the history of the Turkish- Greek relations. This article analyzes the October 1931 riots and the subsequent Greek official and popular reactions to them as they manifest how Greece perceived the Cyprus dispute until 1960.