Australian peacekeepers in Cyprus with UNFICYP from 1964 to 2021

Civil unrest in Cyprus

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A mountainous island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, Cyprus has a long history of civilisations and empires fighting over its shores. Under British rule since 1878, Cyprus became an independent nation in 1960. This followed years of violence and simmering discontent, both a sign of anti-British sentiment and the growing hostility between Greek and Turkish populations of the region.

In the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee signed by the United Kingdom (UK), Greece, and Turkey, the UK renounced its sovereignty, establishing the Republic of Cyprus. However, the UK retained control over 2 Sovereign Base Areas and a number of other military installations on the island.

Archbishop Makarios, a Greek Cypriot, became the first elected president of the Republic of Cyprus. After an initial period of peace and goodwill, tensions began to surface again a few years later. In November 1963, President Makarios proposed 13 changes to the country's constitution. Turkish Cypriots objected to these constitutional proposals, many of which erased their rights, and the Turkish Government rejected the changes. Violence soon erupted between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities, with many casualties on both sides.

The UN steps in

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Amid growing concern about a Turkish military intervention, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 186 on 4 March 1964. This recognised the situation in Cyprus was a threat to international peace and security. It recommended creating a UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus.

On 27 March 1964, UNFICYP became operational in Cyprus with a total multinational force of around 6,000 troops. Australia was invited to join and contribute troops. It initially declined due to military commitments in the South-East Asian region. However, Australia eventually agreed to send a police contingent.

The UN peacekeeping force was established with military contingents from:

• Austria
• Canada
• Denmark
• Finland
• Ireland
• Sweden
• the UK.

Civilian police units also formed part of the peacekeeping force, with police from:

• Australia
• Austria
• Denmark
• New Zealand
• Sweden.

The conflict of 1974

On 15 July 1974, the Cypriot National Guard staged a coup d'etat, overthrowing the Government of Cyprus. Led by 650 Greek officers, their aim was to unify the island with Greece. Intense fighting soon broke out across the island between President Makarios' supporters and heavily armed National Guard troops. Makarios himself escaped and was evacuated to the UK. Despite the violence, UNFICYP continued to patrol and kept a close eye on the movement of the National Guard.

Five days after the coup, under the pretext of protecting the rights and safety of the Turkish Cypriot minority, the Government of Turkey launched military operations. The Turkish military invaded Cyprus on 20 July 1974 and took control of the northern part of the island. Their occupying forces remain there to this day.

Today, the island is partitioned into the area controlled by the Government of Cyprus in the south and the area under the administration of the self-declared Turkish Republic of North Cyprus in the north. The Government of Cyprus is the legally recognised government for the entire island, except for the Sovereign Base Areas, which remain under the control of the UK.

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The Buffer Zone

Following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, a UN-controlled, demilitarised zone called the United Nations Buffer Zone was created. The UN headquarters and peacekeeping force were contained inside this zone. After the hostilities of 1974, UNFICYP was redeployed to maintain and patrol the Buffer Zone to prevent the dispute from turning into war.

The Buffer Zone lies between the lines of the Cypriot National Guard and the Turkish military and Turkish Cypriot forces to prevent further fighting between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots. It extends for more than 180 km from east to west across the country, through the centre of the capital, Nicosia. It's as small as 4 m in some parts of downtown Nicosia, and more than 7 km wide in others. It covers an area of 346 km².

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The mission of UNFICYP

The original mission of UNFICYP was to

• prevent conflict between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities on the island
• restore and maintain law and order
• help the country return to normal conditions.

The coup of 1974, and the subsequent Turkish invasion and control of the northern part of Cyprus, led to the division of the island and a large scale relocation of the 2 populations north and south.

The UN mandate was then redefined to include:

• supervising ceasefire lines
• providing humanitarian aid
• stabilising the situation on the island.

The Security Council has continuously renewed the Mission’s mandate for 6-month terms since then. While there is no sign of an end to the conflict, UNFICYP continues to help to minimise its effects and improve the relationship between the the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities. UNFICYP has also worked with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, and representatives of the 2 communities, to find a diplomatic solution to the Cyprus dispute.

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Australian operation

Cyprus was Australia's longest peacekeeping mission. Australian peacekeepers, including Australian police personnel, served in Cyprus for 57 years, from 1964 to 2021. Australia initially contributed a contingent of police officers. This was the first time Australian police had served as peacekeepers.

Police in peacekeeping

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UNFICYP was the first mission to have a civilian police force deployed to provide peacekeeping support, in addition to a military presence. The UN civilian police, UNCIVPOL, answered to the military and was under the direct command of Lieutenant General Prem Singh Gyani from India, the first commander of UNFICYP.

The first Australian contingent of 40 police officers, recruited from around Australia, arrived in Cyprus in May 1964 on an initial 3-month mission. The seriousness of the situation on the island meant their mission was soon extended to 12 months. Policing in this unfamiliar environment required police to improvise as they did not have the power to detain, arrest or charge.

The policing contingent oversaw law enforcement within the Buffer Zone between Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities. Australian police officers also supported the civil affairs branch of the mission to deliver humanitarian services and help the military branch to maintain the integrity of the Buffer Zone.

Fifteen police officers served in Cyprus on a yearly rotation. From 1964 to 1976, all Australian state and territory police forces contributed volunteer personnel to the UN force in Cyprus. These personnel were sworn in as special Commonwealth Police officers before deployment. This combination of Commonwealth and state police peacekeeping contributions continued until 1976, when Commonwealth Police took over the role of staffing the Cyprus contingent.

When the 28th Australian police contingent landed in Cyprus in 1988, Sergeant Kathy Burdett was among them. She was not only the first female officer to serve in Cyprus but the first Australian woman to serve in a peacekeeping mission. This paved the way for more female peacekeepers to follow, including into the force's top role in years to come. Burdett went on to join the UNFICYP Honour Guard to Oslo when the UN was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1988.

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An Australian Force Commander

Major General Cheryl Pearce AM, CSC, was the Force Commander, United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus from January 2019 until her retirement from the Australian Defence Force (ADF) in January 2021. Pearce was the first Australian to hold this position and the UN's second-ever female force commander.

It was more complex than anything I had done in Afghanistan or East Timor, because it was so politically charged and had such a rich history around it that it wasn't black and white. It was very much in the shades of how do you interpret it? How do you find the way forward and work around small pieces of ground, that meant so much to both sides?

[Cheryl Pearce, 'A complex interpretation' oral history, Anzac Portal, Department of Veterans' Affairs]

Pearce was awarded the Australian Conspicuous Service Cross for her outstanding achievement as Force Commander.

Operation Charter was established in 2019 to support Pearce in her role as the Force Commander and was the ADF contribution to UNFICYP. Operation Charter ceased operations in 2021.

Our mandate was an armed force, but in the '90s they had elected to go unarmed, and so our weapons were in the armoury. And I could have escalated if that was my call and I could have re-armed, but politically, there was no appetite to do so. So it was how to find the balance between the protection of your force and supporting the political outcomes. And that was something that was always in the back of my mind.

[Cheryl Pearce, 'Finding balance' oral history, Anzac Portal, Department of Veterans' Affairs]

Because when you're patrolling, and if you've got two opposing forces on the ground, and you've got conscripts at 18, 19 from both countries, and you're walking around or in a vehicle patrolling, especially by night, and you hear a weapon cock, and you're unarmed and we're not wearing helmet and vest, you are literally... You got the blue beret. What I'm asking my soldiers to do was high risk. So it was low threat, but there was certainly a high risk. And so it was trying to find that sweet spot in achieving the presence, and achieving the engagement, but not to the detriment of the safety of the troops. And holding and trying to deescalate the tensions at all levels.

[Cheryl Pearce, 'Finding balance' oral history, Anzac Portal, Department of Veterans' Affairs]

Withdrawal

While the long-running UN peacekeeping operation continues in Cyprus, the number of AFP officers serving in the peacekeeping mission had reduced over the years, from 15 down to 5. Australia withdrew the final contingent of 5 AFP officers from the Cyprus peacekeeping mission in June 2017. This concluded Australian police officers' service with UNFICYP after 53 years.

Following the conclusion of Operation Charter in June 2021, no Australian troops or police officers are currently serving in Cyprus.

Experiences of Australians

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After serving in Vietnam with the Australian Army and rising to the rank of sergeant, Geoff Hazel joined the ACT Police in 1972. Once his son had finished school, Geoff started volunteering for UN missions abroad. His first deployment was to Cyprus with UNFICYP in 1992 as operational commander for sectors 1 and 2. He returned to Cyprus 10 years later in 2003 as the AFP contingent commander and the commander for all UN police.

Because I had a young son, I didn't put in for any overseas postings or anything like that because I'd grown up as an Army brat, bounced around from school to school, pillar to pillar. So, I said, "No, until he finishes school, I'm staying in the one place." And then, once he finished school, then started sticking me hand up to go on UN missions as well. I then went to Cyprus was the first one, which was brilliant. It had been running for so long that everything just sort of flowed. And it was a great way to learn UN systems, which became a big help for me when I went to Mozambique.

[Geoff Hazel, 'ACT Police to Cyprus' oral history, Anzac Portal, Department of Veterans' Affairs]

For that first police contingent, there was no handover, community contacts or experience to guide them. Constable Mick Richards, from Australian Capital Territory Police, recalled:

'It was a culture shock ... It was like going back a thousand years. We had no idea what we were going into. To be driven around and see vehicles full of bullet holes was a wake-up call really.'

[Constable Mick Richards, quoted in Horner, David; Connor, John (2014). 'A reluctant start', in The Long Search for Peace: Volume 1, The Official History of Australian Peacekeeping, Humanitarian and Post-Cold War Operations.]

Constable Carl Hermanson, from New South Wales Police, remembered:

'It was violent, it was brutal, there was savagery. Man's inhumanity to man is unbelievable'.

[Constable Carl Hermanson, quoted in Horner, David; Connor, John (2014). 'A reluctant start', in The Long Search for Peace: Volume 1, The Official History of Australian Peacekeeping, Humanitarian and Post-Cold War Operations.]

Commemoration

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Australia lost 3 police officers during peacekeeping operations in Cyprus.

Sergeant Llewellyn Thomas, from South Australia Police, died on 26 July 1969.

Constable Patrick Hackett, from New South Wales Police, died on 29 August 1971.

Sergeant Ian Ward, also from New South Wales Police, died on 12 November 1974. Ward had also served as a National Serviceman in the Vietnam War from 1970 to 1971.

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On 16 June 2017, a flag-lowering ceremony was held in Cyprus to mark the end of Australian police personnel's peacekeeping service with UNFICYP. Around 40 men and women who had served in past Australian police contingents attended the service, as well as senior police and dignitaries from Australia and Cyprus, and then-AFP Commissioner Andrew Colvin. The families of the 3 Australian police officers killed while on peacekeeping duty in Cyprus also attended.

The Hackett, Thomas and Ward families also attended a commemorative service in honour of the 3 men. The service included the unveiling of a limestone obelisk memorial dedicated to the memory of the police officers. The memorial is next to St Columba's Church in the United Nations Protected Area in Nicosia.

National Peacekeepers' Day

On 14 September each year, we observe National Peacekeepers' Day. It's the anniversary of the day Australia became the world's first peacekeepers to deploy into the field, in the Netherlands East Indies (now Indonesia) in 1947. It’s a day to recognise the important work of those who have served, and continue to serve, in the name of global peace.

Learn more about Australia's peacekeeping missions since 1947.

National Police Remembrance Day

On 29 September each year, all police jurisdictions in Australia honour those officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty, including on global peace operations.

International Day of UN Peacekeepers

29 May is a day of commemoration and acknowledgement of all military, police and civilian personnel who have served as peacekeepers with the UN. Since UN peacekeeping began, more than 4,000 peacekeepers from many countries have lost their lives while performing their duties under the UN flag.