History of Cyprus since 1878 accepted by both sides. Both Greece and Turkey along with Britain were appointed as guarantors of the island's integrity. Some of the major points of the Zurich agreement are: On August 16, 1960 Cyprus gained its independence from the United Kingdom, after the long anti-British campaign by the Greek Cypriot EOKA (National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters), a guerrilla group which desired political union with Greece, or "enosis". Archbishop Makarios III, a charismatic religious and political leader, was elected the first president of independent Cyprus. In 1961 it became the 99th member of the United Nations. The Zurich agreement, however, did
Cyprus dispute the boundaries of the island of Cyprus itself and involve the guarantor powers under the Zürich and London Agreement (Turkey, Greece, and the United Kingdom), the United Nations and the European Union, along with (unofficially) the United States. The 1974 Cypriot coup d'état, ordered and executed by the Greek military junta, was followed five days later by Turkey's invasion/intervention, leading to the occupation of the northern part of the internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus. In 1983, the Turkish Cypriot community unilaterally declared independence, forming the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, a sovereign entity that lacks international recognition with the exception