Cyprus Convention between Britain and the Ottoman Empire
Convention concerning British support for the Ottoman Empire in Asia, reforms for Christian subjects and British occupation and administration of Cyprus.
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Full text · Published historical translation · US Department of State, Office of the Historian (FRUS)
Complete preamble, Articles I–II, date and signatures of the convention of 4 June 1878. The separately signed annex of 1 July has its own archive entry. Two transcription errors in Article I were corrected against Holland (1885), printed p. 354: “shall he retained hy Russia” → “shall be retained by Russia”.
Edition source · Text rights: Public domainHer Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India, and His Imperial Majesty the Sultan, being mutually animated with the sincere desire of extending and strengthening the relations of friendship happily existing between their two empires, have resolved upon the conclusion of a convention of defensive alliance with the object of securing for the future the territories in Asia of His Imperial Majesty the Sultan. Their Majesties have accordingly chosen and named as their plenipotentiaries, that is to say: Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India, the Right Honorable Austin Henry Layard, Her Majesty’s ambassador extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary at the Sublime Porte; And His Imperial Majesty the Sultan, His Excellency Safvet Pasha, minister for foreign affairs of His Imperial Majesty; Who, after having exchanged their full powers, found in due and good form, have agreed upon the following articles:
If Batoum, Ardahan, Kars, or any of them, shall be retained by Russia, and if any attempt shall be made at any future time by Russia to take possession of any further territories of His Imperial Majesty the Sultan in Asia, as fixed by the definitive treaty of peace, England engages to join His Imperial Majesty the Sultan in defending them by force of arms. In return, His Imperial Majesty the Sultan promises to England to introduce necessary reforms, to be agreed upon later between the two powers, into the government and for the protection of the Christian and other subjects of the Porte in these territories; and, in order to enable England to make necessary provision for executing her engagement, His Imperial Majesty the Sultan further consents to assign the island of Cyprus to be occupied and administered by England.
The present convention shall be ratified, and the ratifications thereof shall be exchanged, within the space of one month, or sooner if possible. In witness whereof the respective plenipotentiaries have signed the same and have affixed thereto the seal of their arms.
Done at Constantinople the 4th day of June, 1878. [l. s.] A. H. LAYARD. [l. s.] SAFVET.
Edition and reuse
FRUS 1878, document 521: Convention of defensive alliance, signed 4 June 1878.
Checked: Nov 7, 2026
Historical treaty text in the public domain. Modern website navigation and commentary are excluded. Hayki descriptions are CC BY 4.0.
Text rightsContext
Read with the 1 July annex and the treaties of San Stefano and Berlin when following the Armenian reform question in 1878.
- Parties
- Great Britain and the Ottoman Empire.
- Relevant provisions
- Articles I–II: Asian territories, reforms and Cyprus.
- Historical status
- Historical convention; this catalogue does not determine present legal effect.
Hosted text editions are listed above with their own languages, sources, scope and reuse terms.
- Historical period
- Before the First Republic
Source and provenance
- Document date
- Jun 4, 1878
- Issuing institution
- Great Britain; Ottoman Empire
- Source reference
- FRUS 1878, web document 521 (printed No. 516), enclosure: Convention of Defensive Alliance
- Source language
- en
- Edition
- English · Published historical translation; Armenian · Hayki working translation; Russian · Hayki working translation
Rights and reuse
Hayki catalogue descriptions: CC BY 4.0. Each hosted text edition has its own rights statement and source attribution.
Hayki catalogue: CC BY 4.0. Text editions follow their stated licences. CC BY 4.0
Rights referenceCitation
Great Britain; Ottoman Empire. Cyprus Convention between Britain and the Ottoman Empire. 1878-06-04. FRUS 1878, web document 521 (printed No. 516), enclosure: Convention of Defensive Alliance. US Department of State, Office of the Historian. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1878/d521