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Institute of Commonwealth Studies

Cyprus: Political Parties Material


IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): GB 0101 PP.CY

Held at: Institute of Commonwealth Studies

Title: Cyprus: Political Parties Material

Date(s): 1957-

Level of description: Collection (Fonds)

Extent: 2 boxes

Name of creator(s): Institute of Commonwealth Studies

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

Cyprus was ruled by Britain between 1878 and 1960, first under 'lease' from the Ottoman Empire and then as a colony after 1914. A growing desire amongst the Greek Cypriot majority for 'enosis' or union with Greece culminated in an armed uprising between 1955 and 1959. The Turkish Cypriot minority naturally opposed enosis and instead favoured partition, a solution unacceptable to the majority. Agreement on independence made Cyprus a republic with minority rights protected by the constitution, these accords being guaranteed by Greece and Turkey as well as Britain. Continuing intercommunal violence and military posturing by the two 'mother' countries culminated in the 1974 Athens-inspired coup and subsequent Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus. Most of the materials held here deal with the events of 1974 and arguments over how to resolve the division of the island, although the significant collections of EDEK and AKEL materials show the complicated position of the Greek Cypriot left, who were hostile to the Greek military junta and also suspicious of Cyprus being used as a pawn by NATO due to its strategic importance.

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

Platforms, speeches, manifestos, constitutions, posters, leaflets, letters, photographs, reports issued by Anorthtiko Komma Ergazomenou Laou (Cyprus), the Centre Union (Cyprus), the Cyprus is Turkish Party, the Democratic Party (Cyprus), the Democratic Rally (Cyprus), the EDEK Socialist Party of Cyprus and the Pancyprian Renewal Front as well as various miscellaneous materials.

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: English and Greek

System of arrangement:

Alphabetically by party, and then in rough chronological order.

Conditions governing access:

Open to all for research purposes; access is free for anyone in higher education.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copies can usually be obtained - apply to library staff.

Physical characteristics:

Finding aids:

Records at item level on library catalogue (SASCAT).

Detailed catalogue

ARCHIVAL INFORMATION

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:

Accruals:

Further accruals are expected, some in electronic form.

Archival history:

The ICS political parties collection was begun in 1960-1961, with special emphasis being placed on primary material such as party constitutions, policy statements, convention reports and election manifestos. Since then, the main method of gathering material has been to appeal directly to political parties throughout the Commonwealth, though contributions from Institute members and staff following visits to relevant countries have been significant. More recently material has been collected by means of downloading documents from the websites of the major parties.

Immediate source of acquisition:

Institute of Commonwealth Studies

ALLIED MATERIALS

Existence and location of originals:

Existence and location of copies:

Related material:

See also Cyprus: Trades Unions Material (TU.CY), Cyprus: Pressure Groups Material (PG.CY) and Cyprus, Northern: Political Parties Material (PP.CYN), as well as Political Party, Trades Unions and Pressure Group Materials for other Commonwealth countries and related material in the library's main classified sequence, all held at the ICS.

Publication note:

DESCRIPTION NOTES

Note:

The Political Archives Project was a 2.5 year project to catalogue political archive material held in the libraries of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies and the Institute for the Study of the Americas to the University and present it as a cohesive virtual collection. The project was successfully completed in July 2005. Descriptions of all the documents may be found by searching the library catalogue at http://catalogue.ulrls.lon.ac.uk/, or via the Political Archives website: http://polarch.sas.ac.uk

Archivist's note: Description compiled by Daniel Millum, Political Archives Project Officer at the Institutes of Commonwealth and Latin American Studies.

Rules or conventions: Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions: Created 03/03/2004 AIM25


INDEX ENTRIES
Subjects
Parliamentary elections | Elections | Electoral systems | Internal politics
Political parties | Internal politics
Politics | Political science
History

Personal names

Corporate names
Centre Union (Cyprus)
Cyprus is Turkish Party
Democratic Party (Cyprus)
Democratic Rally (Cyprus)
EDEK Socialist Party of Cyprus
Pancyprian Renewal Front

Places
Cyprus | Western Europe | Europe