– We do not believe that a federal solution is possible in Cyprus. It does no good for us to continue negotiations where we left off in Switzerland a year ago, Erdogan said during a visit to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus on the anniversary of the invasion on Saturday.
The self-proclaimed republic of northern Cyprus is only recognized by Turkey itself, while the rest of the world sees this part of Cyprus as occupied.
Only possible
The president of the Greek Cypriot part of the island, Nikos Christodoulides, however, believes that negotiations for reunification are the only viable path.
– There is no other choice but reunification, said Christodoulides, who on Saturday participated in a memorial service for soldiers who fell during the Turkish invasion.
– Regardless of what Erdogan and his representatives in the occupied area say or do, it is Turkey that 50 years later is responsible for the human rights violations once morest the entire Cypriot people and for the violations of international law, he said.
Answer to coup
The Turkish invasion on 20 July 1974 was a response to the Greek military junta, led by dictator Dimitrios Ioannides, having carried out a coup in Cyprus five days earlier to incorporate the island into Greece.
Archbishop Makarios, who was president, was overthrown and replaced with the pro-Greek politician and journalist Nikos Sampson.
Turkish forces invaded the northern part to restore the island’s independence which was enshrined in an agreement signed with the former colonial power Great Britain in 1960.
Over the next few days, Turkish bombs rained down on Greek positions, and thousands of Turkish government troops were landed and occupied areas long held by armed Turkish Cypriots.
Truce
The UN protested Turkey’s invasion and following three days pushed for a ceasefire. By then, 30,000 Turkish soldiers had all arrived in the northern part of Cyprus and taken control of a corridor down to the capital Nicosia as well as the Turkish-Cypriot part of the city.
Around 180,000 Greek Cypriots were driven south to the Greek-controlled part, while around 50,000 Turkish Cypriots were driven the other way and settled in areas that had recently been abandoned.
The Turkish invasion had major consequences in Greece where the military junta fell, the monarchy was abolished and democracy was reintroduced.
EU membership
In Cyprus, on the other hand, there have been few changes and the fronts have been locked for 50 years. While the anniversary of the Turkish invasion was celebrated in the north of the island, the day was marked by dejection in the south.
The southern and western part make up around 59 percent of the island and belong to the Republic of Cyprus, which became a full member of the EU in 2004.
The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which was proclaimed by Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash in 1983, makes up regarding 36 percent of the island. There, Ersin Tatar has been president since 2020.
UN force
Around 4 percent of Cyprus is a UN-created buffer zone between the two parties. It is patrolled by a peacekeeping force.
The UNFICYP force was sent to Cyprus in 1964, but was expanded following the Turkish invasion. Today, it numbers just over 1,000 people, among them around 740 soldiers and 70 police officers.
Abandoned villages, watchtowers, bombed buildings and roadblocks with concrete-filled oil barrels are still today a grim reminder of the events of 50 years ago.
After many and long unsuccessful rounds of negotiations, one of which was led by the then UN Special Envoy Espen Barth Eide in 2017, most Cypriots have lost faith in imminent reunification.
Lost cause
Demetris Toumazis should actually have finished his conscription in the Greek Cypriot National Guard on 20 July 1974, but it did not work out that way.
A few days before he was due to graduate, he fought once morest Turkish invasion forces, was taken as a prisoner of war and transported to Turkey. After three months in captivity, he was allowed to return to the then divided island.
– No one predicted that it would develop as it did. Now 50 years have passed, but there is still no solution, there is no longer hope, he says.
George Fialas, also a Greek-Cypriot war veteran, agrees.
– Reunification is a lost cause, I don’t think it will ever happen, he says.
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2024-07-21 17:17:56
