The Society for Modern Greek Studies invites its members and non-members to a public lecture to mark an important centenary:
‘The Annexation of Cyprus by the United Kingdom on 5th November 1914: An Enduring Turning Point?’
Date: Wednesday 5th November 2014
Venue: Lecture Theatre N002, Ground Floor, N Block, de Havilland Campus, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield AL10 9EU
Admission: Free & Open to the Public
Registration: Please send an email to k.a.kyriakides@herts.ac.uk (Tel: 078 261 58814)
––––– PROGRAMME –––––
7.15 pm (prompt): Introduction & Welcome by Professor Robert Holland (King’s College, London)
7.30 pm: Lecture by Dr Klearchos A. Kyriakides (University of Hertfordshire)
8.15 pm: Question-and-Answer session chaired by Professor Holland
8.35 pm: Closing remarks by Professor David Holton (University of Cambridge), Chairman, Society for Modern Greek Studies
8.45 pm: Post-lecture drinks reception in the foyer outside Lecture Theatre N002
––––– SYNOPSIS OF LECTURE –––––
By means of an Order-in-Council made under the Royal Prerogative on 5th November 1914, the United Kingdom annexed the Island of Cyprus. Thus, on the same day as the UK declared war on Ottoman Turkey, the Anglo-Turkish Convention of 1878 was annulled and the Island metamorphosed from being an Ottoman province under British administration into a British colony under British sovereignty. In the short term, the annexation had profound implications for the Island and the UK, as well as for Greece and Turkey. Indeed, many Cypriots participated in the Great War, for example as part of the Macedonian Mule Corps which was raised by the British Army. In the long term, the annexation paved the way, in 1960, to the retention by the UK of two Sovereign Base Areas (SBAs), the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus and the application of common law in both the SBAs and the Republic of Cyprus. Today, the Republic of Cyprus represents the front line of the European Union in the Eastern Mediterranean, a bulwark in the face of religious extremism, a pillar of the Euro-Atlantic security framework and the indispensable counterpart to the two SBAs, the latter of which jointly constitute a British Overseas Territory. The Republic of Cyprus has also become pivotal to what David Cameron MP, the current Prime Minister of the UK, has described, in the context of the threat posed by the ‘Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’ (‘ISIL’), as ‘the defence of the values that we hold dear — liberty under the rule of law, freedom and democracy’. All of which has an interesting historical resonance. The Prime Minister of the UK in 1914 was Herbert Henry Asquith KC MP; he was a classicist by education, a barrister by profession and a Liberal by party political affiliation.
Organisation: This event is being organised by the Society for Modern Greek Studies, the website of which can be found at www.moderngreek.org.uk (If you would like to join the Society for Modern Greek Studies, you will find details and a downloadable application form on our website.)
Parking: Parking will be available in Car Park DH1 of the de Havilland Campus, subject to available spaces. The online maps available below may assist visitors to the University of Hertfordshire:
www.star.herts.ac.uk/mindthegap/dehavilland-campus-map.pdf
www.herts.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/66774/visitor-parking-map.pdf