By TurkNews Staff
July 20, 2025
Source: Reuters
Greek and Turkish Cypriots observed the 51st anniversary of Turkey’s 1974 military intervention in Cyprus on Sunday, underscoring the island’s ongoing division and the enduring strain in Greek-Turkish relations within NATO.
At 5:30 a.m., air raid sirens echoed across the southern part of the island, inhabited by Greek Cypriots, marking the exact moment Turkish forces landed on Cyprus in 1974 in response to a short-lived coup backed by Greece.
In the Turkish Cypriot-controlled north, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was scheduled to attend official celebrations. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), established in the aftermath of the intervention, remains recognized only by Turkey.
Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides attended a memorial in the south for the more than 3,000 people who died during the invasion, which also displaced tens of thousands of Greek Cypriots.
“Despite those who want us to forget, we will never forget, nor give up even an inch of land,” Christodoulides stated, condemning the north’s celebrations as “shameful.”
Efforts to reunify Cyprus under a bi-zonal, bi-communal federal model have repeatedly failed, with mistrust between the communities persisting since well before 1974. In the 1960s, intercommunal violence led to Turkish Cypriots withdrawing from the joint government, prompting the deployment of UN peacekeepers in 1964.
Marking the anniversary, Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar described the intervention as a moment of salvation for Turkish Cypriots.
“It brought peace and tranquility after the darkest years,” Tatar said in a video message, accusing Greek Cypriots of attempting to “destroy” the Turkish Cypriot community.
The unresolved status of Cyprus continues to hamper Turkey’s aspirations for closer ties with the European Union, of which both Cyprus and Greece are members.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres stated last week that talks on confidence-building measures would continue but warned, “there is a long road ahead.”
Reporting by Reuters. Edited for TurkNews.com.
