Editing Turkish Cypriots (section)

===Pre-Ottoman Cyprus===
Although there was no settled Muslim population in Cyprus prior to the Ottoman conquest of 1570–71, some Ottoman Turks were captured and carried off as prisoners to Cyprus in the year 1400 during Cypriot raids in the Asiatic and Egyptian coasts.<ref name="Beckingham 1957 loc=171">{{Harvnb|Beckingham|1957|loc=171}}.</ref> Some of these captives accepted or were forced to convert to Christianity and were baptized; however, there were also some Turkish slaves who remained unbaptized.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hill|1948|loc=469}}.</ref> By 1425, some of these slaves helped the [[Mamluke]] army to gain access to [[Limassol Castle]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Hill|1948|loc=473}}.</ref> Despite the release of some of the captives, after the payment of ransoms, most of the baptized Turks continued to remain on the island. The medieval Cypriot historian [[Leontios Machairas]] recalled that the baptized Turks were not permitted to leave [[Nicosia]] when the Mamlukes approached the city after the battle of [[Khirokitia]] in 1426.<ref>{{Harvnb|Machairas|1932|loc=657}}.</ref> According to Professor [[Charles Fraser Beckingham]], "there must therefore have been some Cypriots, at least nominally Christian, who were of Turkish, Arab, or Egyptian origin."<ref name="Beckingham 1957 loc=171"/>

[[File:Cyprus by Piri Reis.jpg|thumb|right|An early sixteenth century ({{circa|1521–1525}}) map of Cyprus by the Ottoman cartographer [[Piri Reis]]]]

By 1488, the Ottomans made their first attempt at conquering Cyprus when Sultan [[Bayezid II]] sent a fleet to conquer [[Famagusta]]. However, the attempt failed due to the timely intervention of a Venetian fleet.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hill|1948b|loc=736}}.</ref> The Queen of Cyprus, [[Caterina Cornaro]], was forced to relinquish her crown to the [[Republic of Venice]] in 1489. In the same year, Ottoman ships were seen off the coast of [[Karpas]] and the Venetians began to strengthen the fortifications of the island.<ref name="Gazioğlu 1990 loc=16">{{Harvnb|Gazioğlu|1990|loc=16}}.</ref> By 1500, coastal raids by Ottoman vessels resulted in the heavy loss of Venetian fleets, forcing Venice to negotiate a peace treaty with the Ottoman Empire in 1503. However, by May 1539 [[Suleiman the Magnificent|Suleiman I]] decided to attack [[Limassol]] because the Venetians had been sheltering pirates who continuously attacked Ottoman ships. Limassol stayed under Ottoman control until a peace treaty was signed in 1540. Cyprus continued to be a haven for pirates who interrupted the safe passage of Ottoman trade ships and Muslim pilgrims sailing to [[Mecca]] and [[Medina]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Constantini|2009|loc=52}}.</ref> By 1569, pirates captured the Ottoman ''defterdar'' (treasurer) of Egypt, and [[Selim II]] decided to safeguard the sea route from [[Constantinople]] to [[Alexandria]] by conquering the island and clearing the eastern Mediterranean of all enemies in 1570–71.<ref name="Gazioğlu 1990 loc=16"/>