By Tom Housden BBC News Online The years following Cyprus's
independence from British rule in 1960 saw constitutional
wrangling and rising tension between the island's Turkish
Cypriot and Greek Cypriot communities. This escalated into
clashes between rival paramilitary factions. Archbishop Makarios
fled to Britain in 1974 Greece and Turkey became increasingly
embroiled in the situation. Greece sent 20,000 troops to the
island, while Turkey responded to attacks on Turkish Cypriot
areas with air strikes. In 1964 the United Nations sent in
peacekeeping troops to support British soldiers manning the so-
called "Green Line", set up to divide the Greek and Turkish
Cypriot sectors of Nicosia. For a time the situation on the
ground improved, but repeated attempts to achieve a long-term
political solution made little headway. In 1967 a military junta
seized power in Greece, and seemed determined to resolve the
deadlock by force. Relations between the junta and the Cypriot
President, Archbishop Makarios, became increasi