UN Security Council Resolution 186 (1964): How Did It Shape the Status of the Two Sides in Cyprus?

Why It Matters

UN Security Council Resolution 186 of 4 March 1964 created the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) and, in doing so, used the phrase 'Government of Cyprus' for the authorities in Nicosia at a time when the Turkish Cypriot partners had been excluded from state institutions. That wording was meant to be practical, but it became the textual anchor for two incompatible readings: the Republic of Cyprus as the continuing recognised state, or a partnership state whose Turkish Cypriot half had been displaced. Six decades later, the same dispute shapes how the UN, the EU and Ankara describe the island's status.

Background

Resolution 186 was a response to the collapse of the 1960 constitutional order, not a ruling on who governed Cyprus legitimately. To read it properly, one needs the treaty framework and the events of 1963.

The 1960 partnership framework

The Zurich and London Agreements of 11 February 1959 led to the Republic of Cyprus in 1960. It was built on the political equality of two communities and secured by three linked instruments: the Treaty of Establishment, the Treaty of Alliance and the Treaty of Guarantee, under which Türkiye, Greece and the United Kingdom became guarantor powers. The Constitution gave the Turkish Cypriot Vice-President a veto on key matters, fixed community ratios in public service, and provided for separate communal arrangements. Article I of the Treaty of Guarantee barred union with any other state and partition; Article IV provided for consultation among the guarantors and, failing joint action, for each to act to re-establish the state of affairs created by the treaty.

The breakdown of 1963

On 30 November 1963, President Makarios proposed 13 constitutional amendments that would, among other changes, remove the Vice-President's veto. The Turkish side rejected them. Intercommunal violence began on 21 December 1963 ('Bloody Christmas'), and Nicosia was divided by the Green Line on 30 December 1963. Turkish Cypriot ministers, members of parliament and civil servants ceased to take part in the institutions. Ankara and the Turkish Cypriot leadership say they were forcibly excluded; the Greek Cypriot side says the Turkish Cypriots withdrew on their leadership's instructions. The Cyprus Supreme Court later applied a 'doctrine of necessity' (Attorney-General v. Ibrahim, 1964) to justify the continued functioning of an all-Greek Cypriot government.

What Resolution 186 actually says

After a failed London conference in January 1964 and complaints lodged in the Council in February, the Security Council adopted Resolution 186 unanimously. In summary:

• Preamble: it notes that the situation is likely to threaten international peace and security, and it takes note of the positions of the parties regarding the treaties signed at Nicosia on 16 August 1960.
• Operative para 1: it calls on all Member States to refrain from any action likely to worsen the situation.
• Operative para 2: it asks the 'Government of Cyprus', which it describes as responsible for the maintenance and restoration of law and order, to take all additional measures necessary to stop violence and bloodshed.
• Operative para 3: it calls on the communities and their leaders to act with the utmost restraint.
• Operative para 4: it recommends a UN Peace-keeping Force in Cyprus, established with the consent of the Government of Cyprus, with composition and size determined by the Secretary-General in consultation with the governments of Cyprus, Greece, Türkiye and the United Kingdom.
• Mandate and mediation: the force was initially to stay for three months, with costs met by voluntary contributions, and the Secretary-General was asked to designate a mediator. Sakari Tuomioja of Finland was appointed first; UNFICYP began operating on 27 March 1964.

The text does not declare the Republic of Cyprus legitimate or the Turkish Cypriot community illegitimate. But it names one party as 'Government', and the other only as a 'community'.

Key Players & Positions

The mainstream international reading holds that Resolution 186 confirmed the Republic of Cyprus as the continuing recognised state, while Ankara and the Turkish Cypriot leadership say it froze a status asymmetry. Each side cites its own official sources.

The Republic of Cyprus, the UN system and the EU

The Republic of Cyprus holds that it has been a UN member since 1960 and that the Council has consistently addressed it as the state. It says the Turkish Cypriot absence from state organs was a withdrawal, not an expulsion, and that the 1960 Constitution never ceased to be the legal basis of the state. The UN Secretary-General's reports have long used 'Government of Cyprus' in the same operational sense as Resolution 186. Greece shares this broad reading.

The United Kingdom and other permanent members

The United Kingdom, a guarantor and holder of the Sovereign Base Areas, has supported a settlement based on a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation, and has generally treated the Republic of Cyprus as the international subject. Most Council members have followed this approach in successive mandate renewals.

The Turkish Cypriot leadership

The Turkish Cypriot leadership proclaimed the Turkish Federated State of Cyprus on 13 February 1975 and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on 15 November 1983. It says it has been a co-founding partner since 1960, not a minority of a Greek Cypriot-led state.

How later resolutions are read

Source Comparison

International media and UN documents tend to describe Resolution 186 as a peacekeeping measure that confirmed the Republic of Cyprus; Turkish primary sources describe the same text as a turning point that gave one party the state's seat. Both can be checked against the resolution text.

When reading Turkish sources, note the official terminology ('GCASC', 'TRNC', 'Turkish Cypriots'). When reading UN documents, note that 'community' and 'Government' are used operationally. Our approach to separating documents from positions is set out in the Editorial Principles.

Timeline

Key Terms & Related Guides

These terms recur in any discussion of Resolution 186. For the wider reading of the record, start with the Cyprus Desk: From the 1960 Partnership to the Two-State Position, Reading the Record.

• UNFICYP: the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, created under Resolution 186 and renewed by the Council at regular intervals since 1964.
• Government of Cyprus: the phrase in Resolution 186 for the authorities responsible for law and order; mainstream sources read it as the recognised state, Ankara as a one-community administration.
• Treaty of Guarantee (1960): the treaty under which Türkiye, Greece and the United Kingdom guarantee the independence and constitutional order of Cyprus; Article IV provides for action by the guarantors.
• GCASC: Türkiye's official term for the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus.
• TRNC: the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, proclaimed on 15 November 1983 and recognised only by Türkiye.
• Bi-communal, bi-zonal federation: the settlement model in UN resolutions such as 1251, which Ankara and the TRNC now say has been exhausted.
• Political equality: a principle in UN settlement language; Turkish sources link it to equal international status, while other parties link it to power-sharing inside one state.

For the maritime dimension of the same dispute, see the Eastern Mediterranean Desk: Who Claims What at Sea, and Where Does Türkiye's 2025 Registration Fit?. For the logic of Security Council composition that shaped such resolutions, see The Nations Compass on 'The World Is Bigger Than Five' and Interstate Journal on UN Security Council reform. Readers can learn more about the Desk through About International Affairs Desk.

This article reflects International Affairs Desk's editorial perspective, which presents Türkiye's official positions and legal arguments alongside the context needed to evaluate them. Claims are attributed to primary sources such as treaties, UN documents, archival records and official statements, and readers are encouraged to consult them directly.

International Affairs Desk Editorial Team