Third Vienna Agreement

The Third Vienna Agreement, also known as the Voluntary Exchange of Populations or Population Exchange Agreement, was a bilateral agreement reached between the Turkish Cypriot leadership (Rauf Denktaş) and the president of Cyprus (Glafcos Clerides) in August 1975.[1] It mainly allowed Turkish Cypriots in the south to move north voluntarily.

It also provided for the safekeeping of the enclaved Greek Cypriots in the north, but this was never fully implemented because the Turkish Army overruled it,[2] through discrimination, harassment, and intimidation, causing the number of Greek Cypriots to decline from 13,000 in 1975 to solely 500 in 2010.[3]

On the basis of this agreement, the displacement of 201,000 Greek Cypriots from the north was formalized. In addition, 45,000 Turkish Cypriots living in the south moved to the north with the aid of the UNFICYP.[3][4]

The following issues were agreed upon:

  1. The Turkish Cypriots in the south of the island would be allowed, if they wanted to do so, to proceed north with their belongings under an organised programme and with the assistance of the United Nations Peace Keeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP).
  2. Mr. Denktaş reaffirmed, and it was agreed, that the Greek Cypriots in the north of the island would be free to stay and that they would be given every help to lead a normal life, including facilities for education and for the practice of their religion, as well as medical care by their own doctors and freedom of movement in the north.
  3. The Greek Cypriots in the north who, at their own request and without having been subjected to any kind of pressure, wished to move to the south, would be permitted to do so.
  4. The United Nations would have free and normal access to Greek Cypriot villages and habitations in the north.
  5. In connection with the implementation of the above agreement, priority would be given to the reunification of families, which may also involve the transfer of a number of Greek Cypriots in the south, to the north.

References

  1. ↑ "Interim Report of the Secretary-General Pursuant to Security Council Resolution 370 (1975) (UN Document S/11789)". United Nations Documents.
  2. ↑ Petranyi, A. (2020). The Modalities of Ethnic Homogenisation in Cyprus: Hard and Soft Ethnic Cleansing (Doctoral dissertation, University of Nicosia).
  3. 1 2 Sert, D. S. (2010). Cyprus: Peace, return and property. Journal of Refugee Studies, 23(2), 238-259.
  4. ↑ UN Document S/11789
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