THE ROOTS OF THE CONFLICT
When Fatih Sultan Mehmet conquered Istanbul in 1453 and Byzantine collapsed, the Greeks that saw the Byzantium Empire as a Hellenic Empire underwent a serious trauma.
Fatih Sultan Mehmet entered Mora again in 1458 in order to end the rivalry among the former Byzantium princes and divided the peninsula into three. According to this, Patras, Korent and northern Mora would be dominated by the Ottoman administration and the remaining two regions would be administered by two prince brothers.
In 1459, the Byzantium princes revolted again. This time, Fatih invaded the whole peninsula in 1460 and engaged the island directly to the Ottoman administration.
In this way, the last and permanent conquest of the peninsula was attained by Fatih Sultan Mehmet. In 1461, he terminated the Trabzon Greek State (Ponyus Greek State).
Indeed, Fatih Sultan Mehmet discarded all other invaders in the Greek peninsula and, with his great tolerance, created opportunity for a Greek nation to emerge and their culture and economy to develop during the 433-year Ottoman rule.
Greeks would assume themselves the pioneers of world literature, culture, arts and sciences. The fact that they had been under Turkish rule for 433 years and collapse of Byzantine and capture of Istanbul which they still call "Constantinopolis" by Turks have adversely shaped their psychology.
The British, French and Russians in special have well made use of this historical - psychological obsession of Greeks for their strategies of expansion against the Ottoman Empire. Thus, they have shaped the expansionist Greek ideology Megalo Idea and sent them forth on Turks.
Greece presumed that it could grow as a peninsula state by capturing territories from the Ottoman Empire (and then Turkey). It has always received support from the said three countries to attain its strategic ambitions as these ambitions were congruent to the plans of Russia to reach hot seas through the Straits and those of Britain and France to dominate the Mediterranean and Balkans.
The Greek strategy to expand to the disadvantage of the Ottoman Empire shifted into a strategy of besieging Turkey after the War of Independence and then World War II. Hence, the 12 islands, Crete and the Rhodes were given to Greece in an intriguing manner to surround Turkey as a bow from the Aegean Sea.
Cyprus had to be dominated by Greece to complete the southern section of the bow in order the siege to be fulfilled in the Mediterranean. This is the fundamental reason of the "Greek problem" in Cyprus. Greece has based its expansionist strategy on its national purpose which it calls the "Megalo Idea".
After Greece acquired its independence, it was in 1844 that it officially and clearly pronounced Megalo Idea as a national strategy.
In the aftermath of that period, Cyprus became one of the most problematic issues in Turkish-Greek relations. In his speech at the meeting of the Council of Tens on 3 February 1919, Venizelos stated the following:
"One could think why we do not put forward definite demands for the Cyprus island. There are certain reasons why we do not do so. The most important one is we believe that Britain, the first state to help the Greek Kingdom expand by having given the Ionia islands 50 years ago and to offer Cyprus to King Constantine in the time of war, will be so generous to give Cyprus to Greek in the end. In short, Greece demands all Eastern Mediterranean islands including Cyprus, Rhodes, Meis, 12 islands, Imroz and Bozcaada".
source :
http://www.kibris.gen.tr/english/beginproblem/beginproblem_roots.html