Cyprus given to Greece in the Treaty of Lausanne

The treaty of Lausanne replaced the Treaty of Sèvres and Turkey ended up with a lot more territory than originally planned. Both Greece and Armenia lost a lot of territory. Was it ever considered to give Cyprus to Greece as a compensation for the areas lost in Asia Minor? I assume the problem was that Cyprus was under British control and that Britain was not willing to give it up.

Also, how come that the great powers were willing to accept that Turkey took absolutely all of Ottoman Armenia?

Edit: Ok, of course, in the meantime the Soviet Union had conquered Russian Armenia, so I guess that is the explanation
 
In order to have any other outcome the British would have had to send an army to Occupy Russian and Ottoman Armenia. Only the presence of British troops would have prevented the Soviets and Turks from claiming terriroties. To be honest after the Brutal War that had just been fought Britiain was not prepared to expend any more lives or money.
 
Britain did offer Cyprus to Greece in October 1915, on the condition that Greece immediately join the Entente. Unfortunately, the Greek government, which was by that time tightly controlled by the King, refused. After that Britain didn't repeat the offer.

I think it's even weirder that they accepted Turkey also taking half of Russian Armenia, but the answer is more or less the same...they were just too weary of war.
 
Even if they were given Cyprus, unless there are population transfers the situation will eventually devolve into what we have today: a divided island.
 
Britain did offer Cyprus to Greece in October 1915, on the condition that Greece immediately join the Entente. Unfortunately, the Greek government, which was by that time tightly controlled by the King, refused. After that Britain didn't repeat the offer.

I think it's even weirder that they accepted Turkey also taking half of Russian Armenia, but the answer is more or less the same...they were just too weary of war.

Honestly, I'm not sure that offer could have been trusted any more than the promises to give Russia Constantinople. Some offers are just too good to be true, and Greece would have had even less capacity than Russia to do anything about it.
 
Even if they were given Cyprus, unless there are population transfers the situation will eventually devolve into what we have today: a divided island.

The population transfers in OTL resulted in a lot more people being forced to leave what became Turkey than the amount of people who were forced to leave Greece. Giving Cyprus to Greece would have meant that the population transfers could have been a bit more balanced.
 
Even if they were given Cyprus, unless there are population transfers the situation will eventually devolve into what we have today: a divided island.

What, you mean like the 1923 population transfers that displaced over 1.5 million people in Greece and Turkey?
 
Presumably the Turks resident on Cyprus would have been deported, just like the Turks and Muslims elsewhere in Greece. Deportation achieved, there would be no more reason to divide Cyprus than there would be to divide Crete.
 
What, you mean like the 1923 population transfers that displaced over 1.5 million people in Greece and Turkey?

Yes, people expelled or forced to flee in the period from the first world war until the Lausanne Treaty. There were a lot of people who were expelled or forced to flee. Many people were also massacred, particularly the Armenians, but also Greeks and Assyrians.
 
Yes, people expelled or forced to flee in the period from the first world war until the Lausanne Treaty. There were a lot of people who were expelled or forced to flee. Many people were also massacred, particularly the Armenians, but also Greeks and Assyrians.

I'm actually referring to the formal population exchange between Greece and Turkey which took place just before Lausanne as a result of the League of Nations "Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations", not the "haphazard" displacement that occurred due to unrest and anarchy in Turkey. This process, fully sanctioned and observed by the League of Nations, basically transferred all Christians in Turkey to Greece and all Muslims in Greece to Turkey, and actually netted Fridtjof Nansen a Nobel Peace Prize. Note that this specifically includes the transfer of half a million or so Muslims from Greece. So displacing however many Muslims there are from North Cyprus wouldn't be a particular big deal, I think. In fact, both the Turks and Greeks would probably insist on it (unless the Turks insisted on splitting the island, though I'm not sure that they would).
 
I'm actually referring to the formal population exchange between Greece and Turkey which took place just before Lausanne as a result of the League of Nations "Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations", not the "haphazard" displacement that occurred due to unrest and anarchy in Turkey. This process, fully sanctioned and observed by the League of Nations, basically transferred all Christians in Turkey to Greece and all Muslims in Greece to Turkey, and actually netted Fridtjof Nansen a Nobel Peace Prize. Note that this specifically includes the transfer of half a million or so Muslims from Greece. So displacing however many Muslims there are from North Cyprus wouldn't be a particular big deal, I think. In fact, both the Turks and Greeks would probably insist on it (unless the Turks insisted on splitting the island, though I'm not sure that they would).

The reason why I included the people that had been displaced earlier was because including these numbers would be relevant for considering what would be a fair transfer. Since what became Turkey in fact lost a lot of its population, while Greece needed to settle many more people than were expelled, including the Turkish population of Cyprus in the transfers would have made the treaty more fair. Then Greeks from Asia Minor could settle in Cyprus (as well as other parts of Greece), while Turks in Cyprus could have moved in the other direction. Theoretically this could have been done even if Cyprus had remained under British control (in which case it would most likely have become part of Greece at a later stage).
 
Even if they were given Cyprus, unless there are population transfers the situation will eventually devolve into what we have today: a divided island.

I don't see it. Cyprus was 80% Greek in the time period and the Turks were spread across the entire island.
The main reason there is such a stark divide now is because of Turkey invading unopposed and the Greek population fleeing the north

With Cyprus becoming part of Greece (with British support) half a century before this partition, with Turkey just recently devasted by war, the annexation would occur unopposed and the areas of Turkish settlement aren't going to be contiguous.
Even if Cyprus wasn't involved in the population transfers, there's not really a line you can divide the island down.
 
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I don't see it. Cyprus was 80% Greek in the time period and the Turks were spread across the entire island.
The main reason there is such a stark divide now is because of Turkey invading unopposed and the Greek population fleeing the north

With Cyprus becoming part of Greece (with British support) half a century before this partition, with Turkey just recently devasted by war, the annexation would occur unopposed and the areas of Turkish settlement aren't going to be contiguous.
Even if Cyprus wasn't involved in the population transfers, there's not really a line you can divide the island down.
You realize even though Cyprus is predominantly Greek, and I know expat Greeks who left for Cyprus to keep that majority, Turkey continues to stick it to Greece in order to keep Cyprus out of its orbit. I don't see that changing, only increasing, in this forced territorial change.
 
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You realize even though Cyprus is predominantly Greek, and I know expat Greeks who left for Cyprus to keep that majority, Turkey continues to stick it to Greece in order to keep Cyprus out of its orbit. I don't see that changing, only increasing, in this forced territorial change.

Why? Cyprus will be sovereign Greek territory in this timeline, and the Turks of Cyprus will have been gone. One might as well imagine Turkey trying to invade Rhodes, or Crete, in this context.
 
The reason why I included the people that had been displaced earlier was because including these numbers would be relevant for considering what would be a fair transfer. Since what became Turkey in fact lost a lot of its population, while Greece needed to settle many more people than were expelled, including the Turkish population of Cyprus in the transfers would have made the treaty more fair. Then Greeks from Asia Minor could settle in Cyprus (as well as other parts of Greece), while Turks in Cyprus could have moved in the other direction. Theoretically this could have been done even if Cyprus had remained under British control (in which case it would most likely have become part of Greece at a later stage).

Was fairness ever a consideration? I thought the point was to make ethnically homogeneous states (so that they could more easily be nation-states). After all, OTL's transfer was hardly fair by any measure.
 
Lots of interesting consequences. One is that during WW II, the Greek government stays in Cyprus, still ruling part of its territory, rather than become a mere exile regime. This has huge knock-ons. It probably pre-empts the Greek Communist effort to use the Resistance to take over the country.
 
Was fairness ever a consideration? I thought the point was to make ethnically homogeneous states (so that they could more easily be nation-states). After all, OTL's transfer was hardly fair by any measure.

Of course, strictly speaking what would be most fair would be that everyone were allowed to stay and where given special minority protection. The point with this alternate timeline is how things could have been done differently when that turned out not to be possible. A more equal transfer of populations seems to be more fair than what happened in OTL. This would also make Cyprus more homogenous, so it would fit with the wishes to create homogenous nation states. The Turkish Cypriots would then have been reallocated to areas with available space in Turkey.
 
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