Cyprus dispute Kingdom of Cyprus. In February 1489 it was seized by the Republic of Venice. Between September 1570 and August 1571 it was conquered by the Ottoman Empire, starting three centuries of Turkish rule over Cyprus. Starting in the early nineteenth century, ethnic Greeks of the island sought to bring about an end to almost 300 years of Ottoman rule and unite Cyprus with Greece. The United Kingdom took administrative control of the island in 1878, to prevent Ottoman possessions from falling under Russian control following the Cyprus Convention, which led to the call for union with Greece ("enosis") to grow
International Festival of Ancient Greek Drama, Cyprus International Festival of Ancient Greek Drama, Cyprus The International Festival of Ancient Greek Drama is a theatre festival that takes place every summer in Cyprus. It is organised by the Cyprus Centre of International Theatre Institute. It began in 1996 and is an annual event which attracts professional theatre companies from various parts of the world. It has hosted companies from Greece, Britain, United States, Germany, Russia, Romania, Sweden, Croatia, Bulgaria, Italy, Austria, Korea, Slovenia, China and Cyprus. This wide international participation in the Festival helps to bring out the universality of ancient Greek drama and underline its living presence