Turkish Cypriot mark 44th anniversary of Turkey's Peace Operation in North Cyprus

Celebrations o mark the 44^th anniversary of the 20^th of July Peace Operation in North Cyprus will take place across the country today with a variety of events.

44 years ago, Turkish forces landed at Girne and parachuted just outside of Lefkoşa as part of an operation to save Turkish Cypriots from annihilation according to Turkish Cypriot media.

Celebrations kicked off at noon on Thursday with a 21 gun salute followed by an address to the nation by President Mustafa Akıncı. (Address to be posted later).

Separate ceremonies will be held in the late Friday afternoon at the Boğaz Martyrs’s Cemetery, the Dr. Fazıl Küçük Monument and the Rauf Raif Denktaş Monument.

In the morning the first ceremony will take place in front of the Lefkoşa Atatürk Monument followed by a similar ceremony in front of the Martyrs’s Monument.

At 9.30am a military parade will take place at the Dr. Fazıl Küçük Boulevard.

Meanwhile the annual dawn vigil will be held tonight at 9.30 pm at the Yavuz Çıkarma Beach where Turkish forces first landed in 1974.

Those who lost their lives during the war will be commemorated during the event.

The Turkish aerobatics team…the Turkish Stars…will be performing above Girne’s skies at 8pm on Friday.

Copied and edited from BRTK