ABSTRACT
The existence and persistence of the Cyprus conflict is characterised by a fundamental reluctance by all the principal parties to create, re-establish or run a unified independent Cyprus in which Greek and Turkish Cypriots would coexist peacefully on the basis of a shared understanding of their political equality. This reluctance has been driven by the parties’ understanding of how they could each attain their own objectives of self-determination, individual rights and communal security. Their positions have revolved around a legalistic and modernist discourse of absolute sovereignty, statehood and military power and balance.
