How was political power shared between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots under the 1960 constitution?

The 1960 constitution of the Republic of Cyprus established a power-sharing framework designed to balance the interests of the Greek Cypriot majority and the Turkish Cypriot minority. Executive power was vested in a Greek Cypriot president and a Turkish Cypriot vice president, both elected by universal suffrage for five-year terms. Both leaders held the authority to exercise a veto on matters concerning security, defense, and foreign affairs.12

The legislative and administrative branches were also structured with specific quotas:

• Council of Ministers: The cabinet consisted of seven Greek Cypriot and three Turkish Cypriot members.1
• House of Representatives: The 50-seat legislature was divided in a 35 to 15 ratio between the two communities.1
• Civil Service and Military: Turkish Cypriots were allocated three-tenths of the positions in the civil service and two-fifths of the army, with a joint military headquarters established to oversee operations.2

These provisions, derived from the 1959 Zürich negotiations, were intended to ensure minority representation, though they eventually became a source of political friction and were suspended following intercommunal conflict in 1963.1