The Tragic 45th Anniversary of the Illegal Invasion of Cyprus July 17, 2019

The illegal invasion of Cyprus began on July 20, 1974. In the 45 years that have passed since that day, the struggle for justice for Cyprus continues. PSEKA President Philip Christopher recently sent out a statement reminding everyone “that 36% of Cyprus is still under occupation and has become the first modern Islamic Fundamentalist conquest of the West.” Read more

Turkish Cypriots to mark 1974 invasion with flyover, parade July 19, 2019

A number of Turkey’s F16 fighter jets will stage a flyover early on Saturday in the area of the Pente Mili beach in Kyrenia where the Turkish army landed on July 20, 1974 as part of events in the north to mark the anniversary of the invasion. The F16 will fly over Pente Mili beach at 2.15am. Events for the 1974 invasion anniversary started on Friday noon with a 21-gun salute. Read more

“Cypriots Can Achieve Peace on their Own,” Says Archbishop Elpidophoros of America July 19, 2019

Archbishop Elpidophoros of America said this week that it was within the power of Cypriots themselves to accomplish peace for the divided island, in a message released ahead of the 45th commemoration of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus on July 20. “Violence only bears violence, and it is the duty of the powers and states located beyond the seas of Cyprus to negotiate with her and not intervene …” Read more

When I got caught up in the Turkish invasion of Cyprus by Candy Ling

It was 1974, I was 19, and I thought it would be an adventure to spend the summer working in Kyrenia, a beautiful little port town in the northern part of Cyprus. I found a job as a waitress in one of the harborside restaurants, living with my then-boyfriend, my time off spent on boat trips or sightseeing around the island in an open-top jeep. Life was good. This was way before the internet, mobile phones or even, in my little rented apartment, a television, and I was in no hurry to take time away from the beach to check the news. Turns out that while I was enjoying my little bit of Mediterranean paradise one day, the Cypriot president was overthrown in a coup d’état and Turkey took the opportunity to invade. The first I knew of it was waking up one morning to armed soldiers running past my bedroom window. Read more

Diary offers glimpse of 1974 Cyprus war through teenage eyes invasion of Cyprus by Michele Kambas

On a balmy July morning in 1974, Victoria Harwood Butler-Sloss was awoken by the sound of gunfire outside her childhood home in Cyprus’s capital Nicosia. Aged 13, she started to document a defining moment in one of the world’s most intractable conflicts – a coup against a democratically elected government, engineered by Greece’s military junta, triggering a Turkish invasion five days later. “Machinegun fire, bombs, mortars, guns … fighting all round house. Only me, mam and Robert,” she wrote in neat script. Her mother tried to go outside, a bullet whizzed past, and then she, her mother and her brother spent the next few hours huddled in the kitchen. The telephone went dead. Butler-Sloss started her diary the day Greek Cypriot army tanks rolled into the streets of Nicosia. Read more

1974: Turkey invades Cyprus

Thousands of Turkish troops have invaded northern Cyprus after last-minute talks in the Greek capital, Athens, failed to reach a solution. Tension has been running high in the Mediterranean island since a military coup five days ago in which President Archbishop Makarios, a Greek Cypriot, was deposed. The coup led to fears among the Turkish Cypriot community that the Greek-backed military rulers would ignore their rights and press for unification for Cyprus with Greece or enosis. Read more

The 1974 Turkish Invasion and its consequences

In 1967, a military junta seized power in Greece. The relationship between that regime and President Makarios of Cyprus was tense from the outset and became increasingly strained. President Makarios made it known that he was convinced that the Athens junta was involved in efforts to undermine his authority and policies through extremist underground organisations in Cyprus conspiring against his government and against his life. Read more

July 20 1974 – Black Day for Cyprus as Turkey begins their Invasion

On July 20, 1974, at 5:20am, 40,000 Turkish troops landed and invaded northern Cyprus after last-minute talks in the Greek capital, Athens, failed to reach a solution. The Turkish troops under the command of Lieutenant Nurettin Ersin implemented their invasion plan, code-named ‘Attila’, illegally invading the island in violation of the UN Security Council Charter. Read more