Cyprus and the Non-Aligned Movement

The Mediterranean island country of Cyprus was one of the founding members of the Non-Aligned Movement with Makarios III attending the 1st Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Belgrade, SFR Yugoslavia in 1961, just one year after the Cypriot independence.

[1] Membership in the movement was perceived as one of two major foreign-policy alternatives with the first one being formal membership in NATO at least nominally supported by both Greece and Turkey in the initial period after the London and Zürich Agreements, and the second one being pro-Western participation in the Non-Aligned Movement.

[1] Nicosia believed that the participation in the movement will help the country to convince numerous predominantly Muslim members of the NAM not to recognize or to establish relations with the Northern Cyprus.

[2] Membership in the movement helped the island in development of its relations with neighboring Middle East countries.

[3] In 1964 Makarios reassured Prime Minister of Greece Georgios Papandreou of Cypriot historical and cultural links to the west but stressed that the country will continue to pursue Non-Aligned foreign policy.