Greek and Turkish Cypriots yesterday marked the 51st anniversary of Turkey’s 1974 invasion of Cyprus, an event that split the island and continues to shape geopolitics in the region.
Air raid sirens wailed across the southern Greek Cypriot populated parts of Cyprus at 5:30am, the hour Turkish troops landed on the northern coast in a military intervention triggered by a brief Greece-inspired coup.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was due to attend celebrations in Northern Cyprus, a breakaway state recognized only by Ankara, while Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides attended a memorial service in the south for people who died.
Photo: Reuters
Efforts to reunify Cyprus as a bizonal, bicommunal federation have repeatedly failed amid deep-rooted mistrust and competing visions for the island’s future.
The simmering conflict is a source of tension between NATO partners Greece and Turkey, and complicates Turkey’s ambitions to foster closer ties with the EU, of which both Cyprus and Greece are members.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday said that the two sides would continue discussions on trust-building measures.
“There is a long road ahead,” he said.