The Turkish Cypriot Legal System from a Historical Perspective

Abstract

The Ottoman Empire conquered the island of Cyprus in 1571 and from 1571 to 1878, Cyprus was a part of the Ottoman Empire. In 1878, England, waiting for a chance to take over Cyprus because of its Far East and Indian policies, seized the opportunity, when the Russian-Ottoman war crumbled for the Ottomans, by promising to protect the Ottomans against the Russians and leased the island. With this lease, not the ownership but only the management of the island passed to England and the Ottoman Empire retained sovereignty over the island.