DHEKELIA & AKROTIRI

Two British naval bases on the former colony of Cyprus, 98 square miles retained... well, we don't really know why. But they're the only British presence for hundreds of miles.

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395: Cyprus becomes part of the Greek dominated Byzantine Empire.

649-83: Arab occupation

1191: King Richard the Lionheart sacks Famagousta and sells Cyprus to the Knights Templar.

1192: The Cypriot people rebel against the Knights Templar who sell Cyprus to Guy de Lusignan, the exiled king of Jerusalem.

1489: The Venetians take control of Cyprus and the Greek Orthodox Church is given full religious freedom.

1570: The Ottomans invade Cyprus and massacre 20,000 inhabitents of Nicosia. The rest of Cyprus soon falls except for Famagousta which is held under siege.

1571: The Ottomans massacre the population of Famagousta and flay the Venetian captain Marcantonio Bragadin alive after breaking their word of honour. The Cypriot Christian population is subjected to slavery.

1572-1668: Twenty eight bloody uprisings occur across the island. That's about one every four years!

1625-1700: Plague wipes out over half of the population.

1821: Greek Cypriots side with Greece in a revolt against Turkish rule. The island's leading churchmen are executed as punishment. 20,000 Christians flee the island.

1869: The Suez Canal opens. Cyprus suddenly becomes much more important to the UK.

1878: In return for aiding the Ottoman Empire, the British demand (and get) the island.

1925: Cyprus becomes a British Crown Colony.

1931: First serious riots of Greek Cypriots demanding Enosis, the union with Greece.

1939: Greek Cypriots fight with the British in World War II, but remain set on Enosis after the war is over. Turkish Cypriots, however, want the British rule to continue.

1955: A series of bomb attacks starts a violent campaign for Enosis by EOKA (National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters) led by George Grivas, an ex-colonel in Greek army, born in Cyprus.

1960: British, Greek and Turkish governments sign a Treaty of Guarantee to provide for an independent Cypriot state within the Commonwealth and allowing for the retention of two Sovereign Base Areas of Dhekelia and Akrotiri. Under the treaty, each power has the right to take military action in the face of any threat to the constitution. Cyprus becomes independent.

1974: Greek Cypriots fleeing the Turkish invasion of the island are allowed to pass through Dhekelia, on the new border.

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