DECODING THE PAST: THE ‘MYTH’ OF THE SOVIET ARCHIVES AND THE CYPRUS ISSUE

63 DECODING THE PAST: THE ‘MYTH’ OF THE SOVIET ARCHIVES AND THE CYPRUS ISSUE Argyrios Tasoulas One of the most intriguing research enigmas of the post-Cold War era is the possibility to acquire access to declassified Soviet archival materials. [...] These are the Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation (AVP RF) and the Russian State Archive of Contemporary History (RGANI), where the archives of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union are stored. [...] The dissertation discusses the historical aspects of the Cyprus question as well as the tactics of the Soviet Union regarding this particular international issue. [...] Of interest are also declassified legislative documents, mainly the resolutions of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPSU about the Cyprus issue, as well as the personal Archive of Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev. [...] The reasons behind the Soviet decision-making were related to the political and geopolitical understanding of the international system and the balance of power during the Cold War.