Part 1 The Cold War Era (1945–89), 17 Turkey’s Intervention in Cyprus—1974

Subject(s):

Self-defence — Precedent — Humanitarian intervention — International peace and security

This contribution discusses the 1974 intervention by Turkey in Cyprus. It sets out the facts and context of the crisis, the legal positions of the main protagonists (Turkey and Greece), and the international community’s reactions. Concerning the intervention’s legality, it examines, above all, the right to intervene under the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee and the right to self-defence. The final section analyses the intervention’s precedential value and its impact on the jus ad bellum. It is argued that the role of the territorial state’s consent to the intervention was critical in the Cyprus case, and that the case clearly demonstrates that states may effectively limit their consent by agreeing on substantial restrictions or procedural prerequisites to the use of armed force on their territory.