Nicosia: Today marks fifty-one years since the events that led to the division and occupation of Cyprus by Turkey. The Greek military junta, which was in control of Greece at the time, overthrew the democratically elected President of Cyprus, Archbishop Makarios III.
According to Cyprus News Agency, sirens will sound at 0820 local time (0520 GMT) as a reminder of the coup d’©tat. President Nikos Christodoulides, along with government ministers, will attend a memorial service at the Holy Church of Saints Constantine and Helen. The House of Representatives will hold a special session at 1030 to condemn the coup and the Turkish invasion, paying tribute to those who lost their lives.
The military junta took control of Greece in 1967. On 15 July 1974, the Greek military regime and their Greek Cypriot collaborators launched a coup against President Makarios III, who had just returned from a retreat in the Troodos Mountains. During the coup, Makarios was at the Presidential Palace receiving a group of Greek children from Egypt. As the shooting intensified, he protected the children and escaped, eventually fleeing the country to seek international support for Cyprus’s independence.
The coup provided Turkey with justification to invade Cyprus. In a military operation during July and August, Turkish troops occupied 36.2% of the island, displacing around 200,000 Greek Cypriots. Despite UN Security Council Resolution 353 (1974) calling for a swift restoration of constitutional order, Cyprus remains divided.
UN-led peace negotiations have yet to yield results. The most recent talks in July 2017 ended without agreement. The UN Secretary-General recently appointed Mara Angela Holguin Cuellar as his Personal Envoy on Cyprus to work on next steps. An informal meeting on Cyprus is scheduled for July 16-17 in New York, aiming to proceed with initiatives involving crossing points and a Technical Committee on Youth.
The European Commission has designated Johannes Hahn as Special Envoy for Cyprus to support the settlement process in cooperation with Holguin.