After some tactical manoeuvres , the British came to the conclusion that military bases on Cyprus would suffice and therefore did not need the whole island .They secured two bases for themselves with a total area together of some 150 km² ; both are still British sovereign territory right down to the present . In November 1959 , Archbishop Makarios III was elected first state president and Dr. Fazil Küçük vice - president . In August 1960 , Cyprus had a constitution the unalterable nature of which was laid down in the treaties with the United Kingdom , Greece and Turkey , and proved difficult to implement in practice . The state president was always to be a Greek Cypriot , the vice-president a Turkish Cypriot . The prescribed proportional allocation of offices applied at all levels down to the communal administration . Both sides had a right of veto ; only too often the Turkish side used it to bring the government's work practically to a standstill . In the army and police , the Turks were intentionally disproportionately represented measured by their 18% share of the population with a 40% and 30% share respectively , a provision which was not implemented . Both sides formed secret armed unit . Military forces from Greece and Turkey were stationed on the island . All this did not help reduce mistrust .

In 1963 , Makarios's attempt at supplementing the constitution failed with Ankara's brusque rejection anticipating a reaction by the Turkish - Cypriot side . In the inflamed atmosphere , a small incident led to an escalation of violence . There were over 1000 dead , mainly on the Turkish side . Despite economic disadvantages , about one quarter of the Turkish Cypriots withdrew into enclaves . UN troops have been on the island since that time .

In 1967 , the military in Greece organised a putsch ; a junta now ruled in Athens which believed it could solve the Cyprus problem in no time at all in the sense of enosis . The crisis came to a head again , but diplomatic activities succeeded in saving the situation once again . The enosis idea lost in popularity in Cyprus . In 1965 , 18% of the Greek Cypriot inhabitants were for union with economically weaker Greece . But enosis activists , such as Grivas , continued to fight for it . They regarded Makarios as a traitor ; on 15 July 1974 , Greek units attacked the Presidential Palace and proclaimed a counter-president . Five days later , Turkish troops attacked Cyprus and occupied over a third of the island's territory . Some 180,000 Greek - Cypriots fled to the south , about 40,000 Turkish - Cypriots went to the north . Since then , communication between the two parts of the country has been practically broken off , the situation has become bogged down , and the hope that both communities might come together again appears a woolly - headed fantasy . The free part of the republic coped with the enormous economic problems quickly ; in the Turkish north they lasted longer as the economy there is almost completely dependent on Turkey . But in both parts , nobody forgets what has happened ; the longing , sadness and anger about events which overwhelmed the people here remain .