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50th Anniversary of Turkey's invasion of Cyprus

Posted by (northern CA) on

July 20, 1974 was the day Turkish military attacked the nation of Cyprus, eventually gaining about a third of the island.

Fifty-four years earlier, also on July 20th (1920), Greece had been awarded the resort town of Silivri by the winners of WWI when they divvied up the Ottoman Empire in the various Paris peace conventions. Greece didn't actually have control because the Italian military had never left after the war, and the new Turkish military took it back in 1923.

That didn't stop Turkey from calling their invasion tit-for-tat, and with them as their backers, Cypriots of Turkish descent took over northern Cyprus and in 1983 declared it a new colony of Turkey; they've been calling for partition ever since. The only country that recognizes their cause as legitimate is Turkey.

Coverage of the 50th anniversary in the news has been very moving. More than 3,000 Greek Cypriots were killed in the invasion.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/what-are-key-issues-cyprus-conflict-50-years-since-invasion-2024-07-18/

is a spot to start, but see many other online articles as well.

See also the general articles here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_invasion_of_Cyprus

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyprus

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silivri

It's very interesting how various International bodies and countries treat this occupation in comparison to others.

Also very interesting that many western Europeans are familiar with Cyprus as a getaway destination, while Americans, including those of us here on the Forum, don't seem very clued in to it.

Posted by
8318 posts

Right before that happened, my next door neighbor flew into Cyprus in a Navy F-4 Phantom jet for refueling. He knew things were going to be hot when he ran into a group of Army Green Berets without any identification on them or their C-130. I assume that group went on to be known as the Delta Force.

We've been to Malta and most of the Greek Islands. But never have we been to Cyprus.

Posted by
1250 posts

Mentioning Cyprus made me think of UK garage. About 25 years ago the music scene exploded in Ayia Napa. Here's an article I found that goes some way to document the rise and fall.

https://www.museumofyouthculture.com/sun-city-strobes-and-skanking-ayia-napa/

It's been a package holiday destination for British people for a long time. My mother and (ex) stepfather honeymooned there, in Limassol, and that would have been 1985 or 1986.

The family that run my local fish and chip shop are Turkish-Cypriot.

Posted by
174 posts

Thank you for your post!
I was just reading my travel journal from my 1974 backpack trip. My brother and I were in Cyprus in late March of 1974. We noticed a lot of military presence including tanks and soldiers. I just thought it was some type of celebration at the time. On July 20th we were in Austria and heard about the invasion which included action in the town we had been staying in. I was stunned.

In later years I have thought back to that trip which included backpacking the so called "hippie trail" through the Middle East and shudder at how politically naive I was and what dangerous situations we could have wandered into.

Posted by
2239 posts

So glad for this posting.

I am not well traveled taking just one cruise a year but I try to be very aware . I do stay up with politics and current affairs.

After reading your post, I did some research.

It seems that Cyprus is one more very complicated situation among many other very complicated situations in the world.

I feel more educated because of your posting.

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