Treaty of Guarantee, Article IV: What It Allows and How Cyprus Reached the Two-State Position

Why It Matters

Article IV of the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee is the legal provision on which Türkiye's 20 July 1974 Cyprus Peace Operation rests, and it remains the most contested clause in the Cyprus dispute. It allows each of the three guarantor powers (Türkiye, Greece and the United Kingdom) to act, after consultation fails, with the sole aim of restoring the constitutional order created in 1959–1960. Understanding its wording, the 1963–1974 record and the current positions of every party explains why Ankara and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) now argue that a federation is exhausted and that the way forward lies in recognising the sovereign equality of the Turkish Cypriot people.

Background

The 1959–1960 settlement: a partnership state

The modern Republic of Cyprus was not created by a single national community. It emerged from the Zurich Agreement of 11 February 1959, confirmed at the London conference of 19 February 1959, after years of Greek Cypriot agitation for enosis (union with Greece) and the armed campaign of the EOKA organisation, founded in 1955 under Colonel Georgios Grivas. Turkish Cypriot sources record that violence in 1955–1958 forced Turkish Cypriots out of dozens of mixed villages (the figure given by Turkish sources is 33).

The Republic of Cyprus became independent on 16 August 1960 through a package of instruments:

Turkish Cypriots, Ankara and many international lawyers therefore describe 1960 as the founding of a partnership republic built on the political equality of two co-founding communities, with the guarantee system as its external safeguard. Greek Cypriot sources generally emphasise instead the continuity of the Republic of Cyprus as a single internationally recognised state and regard some constitutional provisions as unworkable from the start.

What Article IV actually says

The core treaty obligations are in Articles I, II and IV. Under Article I, Cyprus undertakes not to participate in any political or economic union with any state and to prohibit activity promoting either union or partition. Under Article II, Greece, Türkiye and the United Kingdom recognise and guarantee the independence, territorial integrity and security of Cyprus and the state of affairs established by the Basic Articles, and also undertake to prohibit activity aimed at promoting union with another state or partition.

Article IV then provides the enforcement logic, in two steps:

1. Consultation. In the event of a breach of the treaty, the three guarantors undertake to consult together on the representations or measures necessary to ensure observance of its provisions.
2. Reserved right of action. In so far as common or concerted action may not prove possible, each of the three guaranteeing powers reserves the right to take action with the sole aim of re-establishing the state of affairs established by the treaty.

Two features matter for legal analysis. The right is individual, not collective: it does not require unanimity once concerted action proves impossible. And it is purposive: the stated aim is restoration of the 1960 order, not acquisition of territory. The treaty does not define 'action', and that omission is the centre of the legal dispute described below. Our sister publication The Political Anatomy examines the clause in detail in Article IV of the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee: The Legal Basis of the 1974 Cyprus Peace Operation.

1963–1964: the partnership breaks down

On 30 November 1963 President Archbishop Makarios III proposed thirteen amendments to the Constitution, including measures affecting the Vice-President's veto and the community ratios in state bodies. The Turkish Cypriot leadership and Ankara rejected them on 16 December 1963, viewing them as dismantling the partnership. On 21 December 1963, fighting began in Nicosia, remembered by Turkish Cypriots as 'Bloody Christmas' (Kanlı Noel). Turkish Cypriot and Turkish sources state that roughly 30,000 Turkish Cypriots were displaced from about 103 villages, that Turkish Cypriots were removed from state institutions, and that the so-called Akritas Plan served as the blueprint for suppressing the Turkish Cypriot community. Nicosia was divided by the 'Green Line' on 30 December 1963.

The Greek Cypriot official narrative differs: it presents the 1963–1964 events as inter-communal violence in which Turkish Cypriot leaders chose to withdraw from the institutions, and it describes the Makarios amendments as an effort to make the state functional. These competing accounts matter, because the legal question under Article IV is whether the treaty-based order had been breached.

UN Security Council Resolution 186 (4 March 1964) established the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) and recognised the existing authorities as the 'Government of Cyprus' to which it addressed its calls. Ankara argues that this created a structural status asymmetry: a body that had assumed control of the state after the Turkish Cypriot partners were excluded was treated as the sole governing authority, a position that, in Ankara's view, has obstructed a settlement for more than six decades.

1974: the coup and the Peace Operation

On 15 July 1974 the Greek military junta in Athens engineered a coup against Makarios, installing Nicos Sampson, a former EOKA fighter, as de facto president. Greek officials and scholars, including later Greek and Greek Cypriot inquiries, widely acknowledge that the coup aimed at enosis. Türkiye, after consulting the United Kingdom (the other non-Greek guarantor) and finding no concerted action available, launched the Cyprus Peace Operation on 20 July 1974 under Article IV. A ceasefire was agreed after UNSC Resolution 353 (20 July 1974), followed by the failed Geneva talks and a second phase of operations in mid-August 1974. The junta in Athens collapsed days after the first landing, and Makarios and the constitutional order were not restored in the form of 1960.

UNSC Resolution 353 called for a ceasefire, for respect for the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Cyprus, and for withdrawal of foreign military personnel present otherwise than under the authority of international agreements. It does not name Türkiye. Ankara notes that its contingent was stationed under the Treaty of Alliance and that its operation was rooted in the Treaty of Guarantee. Greek Cypriot and Greek sources emphasise that the resolution demanded an end to foreign military intervention and that the later phase of operations went far beyond the aim of restoring the 1960 order.

1975–1983: separate administrations and the TRNC

The Turkish Cypriot side established the Turkish Federated State of Cyprus on 13 February 1975, presented as a step towards a future federation. Two High-Level Agreements (1977 under Makarios and Denktaş, and 1979 under Kyprianou and Denktaş) endorsed an independent, non-aligned, bi-communal, bi-zonal federal republic as the basis of negotiations. After years without agreement, Rauf Raif Denktaş proclaimed the TRNC on 15 November 1983, citing self-determination and political equality. The UN Security Council, in Resolutions 541 (1983) and 550 (1984), declared the proclamation legally invalid and called for its withdrawal. Only Türkiye recognises the TRNC.

The federation talks, 1990s–2024

The long series of UN-led efforts is summarised below, with each result as stated by the participants.

Key Players & Positions

Republic of Cyprus (Greek Cypriot administration)

The Republic of Cyprus government, led by President Nikos Christodoulides, states that it seeks resumption of UN-led negotiations on the basis of relevant Security Council resolutions: a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality, a single sovereignty, a single international personality and a single citizenship. It rejects the TRNC as a secessionist entity, describes the 1974 operation as an invasion and continuing occupation, and calls for the abolition of the system of guarantees and the withdrawal of Turkish troops. It points to the 2001 and later European Court of Human Rights case law (for example Loizidou v. Turkey and Cyprus v. Turkey), which has held Türkiye responsible for acts in northern Cyprus on the basis of effective overall control.

Greece

Athens supports the UN-framed federal settlement and, in line with the Greek Cypriot position, argues that the guarantee and intervention rights are obsolete in the 21st century and incompatible with the sovereignty of an EU member state. Greek official statements note that the 1974 coup was the work of the Greek junta, a point Greek parliamentary inquiries after 1974 acknowledged, but state that Article IV allowed only action limited to restoring the constitutional order and that it did not authorise the continuing military presence or the second phase of August 1974.

United Kingdom

The UK is both a guarantor power and the holder of the Sovereign Base Areas. It consistently states that it supports a UN-led settlement in line with Security Council resolutions and a bizonal, bicommunal federation, and has said it will support whatever settlement the two communities agree. In 1974 London declined to join Ankara in concerted action and did not itself act. In current practice it is one of the 'P5' members dealing with UNFICYP's mandate renewal.

European Union

The EU acquired a direct stake in 2004. Its Council conclusions have repeatedly referred to a comprehensive settlement within the UN framework, in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions and the principles on which the EU is founded, and have criticised Turkish activities in the Eastern Mediterranean. Ankara counters that the Union is not a neutral arbiter because one of the two parties is a member state. Brussels' view of the Treaty of Guarantee is that it needs to be addressed in a comprehensive settlement.

United Nations

The UN Secretary-General's good offices mission and UNFICYP operate under successive Security Council resolutions that define a settlement as a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality as set out in relevant Council resolutions. Resolution 1251 (1999) refers to a single sovereignty and international personality. Resolutions 541 (1983) and 550 (1984) consider the TRNC declaration invalid. Guterres's 2017 framework of six points on security and guarantees, equivalent treatment of the three guarantors, remains the central text of recent diplomacy.

TRNC and Turkish Cypriots

TRNC leaders say that Turkish Cypriots, as co-founders of the 1960 state, were pushed out of its institutions in 1963, and that the 2004 referendum showed their readiness for a federal settlement while the Greek Cypriot rejection brought no consequences. They cite their proposals on hydrocarbon cooperation and revenue-sharing (2011, 2012 and 2019) as evidence of a constructive stance, and call for equal international status.

Source Comparison

The table shows how the main source families describe the key points.

Readers can compare treatments in our sister publications: Regional Order on Cyprus and the Treaty of Guarantee, Monitor of Nations' fact check on the 1974 intervention and Doctrine Review's explainer. For how we handle sources, see Editorial Principles.

What to verify yourself

• The full text of the Treaty of Guarantee (Articles I, II and IV) as registered with the UN.
• UNSC Resolutions 186 (1964), 353 (1974), 541 (1983), 550 (1984) and 1251 (1999).
• UN Secretary-General reports on his good offices mission.
• Official statements of the Turkish MFA, the Presidency and the TRNC, and of the Republic of Cyprus, Greece, the UK and EU institutions.

Positions may shift with new leadership and UN initiatives, so check the latest UN reports.

Key Terms & Related Guides

• Treaty of Guarantee (1960): The treaty among Cyprus, Greece, Türkiye and the UK guaranteeing the independence, territorial integrity and security of Cyprus and the 1960 constitutional order; it bans union with another state and partition.
• Article IV: The consultation-then-action clause that reserves to each guarantor the right to act 'with the sole aim of re-establishing' the treaty order.
• Enosis: The Greek Cypriot nationalist goal of union with Greece, which the 1960 treaties prohibited.
• EOKA: The armed organisation founded in 1955 to pursue enosis; Turkish sources treat it as a terrorist organisation.
• UNFICYP: The UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, set up by Resolution 186 (1964).
• TRNC (KKTC): The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, proclaimed on 15 November 1983 and recognised only by Türkiye.
• Bizonal, bicommunal federation: The UN settlement model that Ankara and the TRNC now consider exhausted.
• Sovereign equality: The principle, central to the Turkish position, that Turkish Cypriots have equal status as a people, to be reflected in international status.

Related guides: Diplomatic Horizon home, The Annan Plan Referendum of 24 April 2004, Türkiye's Maritime Horizon, Article 51 in Practice, Reader FAQ and About Diplomatic Horizon.

Perspective Note

Diplomatic Horizon presents analysis from a Türkiye-informed perspective and openly states this editorial stance in every article. Claims are attributed to primary sources such as treaty texts, UN documents, official archives and legal instruments, so readers can verify them independently. Diplomatic Horizon presents global affairs with a dedicated perspective from Türkiye. Sections marked 'Türkiye's Position' reflect official Turkish policy as stated by Turkish government sources. This article is published by the Diplomatic Horizon Editorial Team.