The Turkish Invasion 1974

A coup d' Etat on the 15 th July 1974 against the lawful Cypriot government provided a pretext for Turkey to invade the island on 20 th July and and promote her expansionist plans.

Ankara attempted to present the invasion as a socalled peaceful operation aiming at restoring constitutional order and protecting the Turkish Cypriot community. However, even after the restoration of constitutional order and the return of Archbishop Makarios III to in December 1974, the Turkish troops remained on the island promoting Turkey's plans against Cyprus.

On 14 th August 1974, the seccond phase of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus began which led to the following tragic consequences:

(a)  37% of Cypriot territory is under occupation despite repeated UN and other International Resolutions for the respect of independence and territorial sovereignty of the Republic of Cyprus.

(b)  Five thousand Greek Cypriots were killed, 180,000 lost their homes and became displaced and 1619 are still missing.

Since 1974 the people of Cyprus have been experiencing the tragedy of a divided country, with the Green Line cutting in two the heart of the capital city Nicosia and crushing the dreams of its inhabitants