Cyprus marks second Turkish 1974 invasion

Greek Cyprus side will on Monday mark the 43rd anniversary of the second invasion of the island by Turkish Armed Forces.

The Greek Cypriot side and Greece consider Turkey’s actions as a military invasion and a violation of human rights while the Turkish Cypriot side and Turkey consider the intervention as a peace operation aimed at protecting the Turkish Cypriots.

Brief History of the date:
-On July 15, 1974, the legal government of the late Archbishop Makarios III was toppled by a military coup, engineered by the military junta then ruling Greece.
-On July, 20, 1974, Turkish forces arrived in Kyrenia and captured 3% of the island .
-On July 22, a ceasefire was declared.
-Within that period, the Greek military junta collapsed and was replaced by a democratic government.
-On August 14 1974, little more than three weeks after the ceasefire of July 22, even as talks were being held and just as an agreement seemed about to be reached, another Turkish troops arrived the island for the second time, mounted a full scale offensive and captured almost 40% of the island including Famagusta, Karpasia (Karpas) and Morphou (Lefke).
-A United Nations Buffer Zone was then formed commonly referred to as the Green Line.

The green in the map represents the United Nations Buffer Zone

Ever since, the dividing line (or green line) has kept the Turkish Cypriot community on the north side and Greek Cypriots in the south.

Shot at settlement:
Several efforts to reunited the island have failed many times with the most recent negotiations in Crans-Montana failing to find a breakthrough between Greek Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci. 

And since the failure of talks in Crans-Montana, relations between the two sides have further deteriorated.

To mark the day, the government of the Greek Cypriot side in a written announcement called on Turkey to put an end to the occupation and to abandon its intransigent positions that are not conducive to a settlement.

This day evokes dark memories says Deputy Government Spokesman Viktoras Papadopoulos.

Papadopoulos said the government condemn the continuous occupation of part of the territory of the Republic of Cyprus and call on Ankara to fully implement UN resolutions and international law provisions, by withdrawing its troops from Cyprus.