Nicosia: Today, Cyprus honors the memory of those who fell heroically defending democracy during the coup d'état of July 15, 1974. This year marks 52 years since that dark day of the treasonous coup perpetrated by the Athens Junta and EOKA B. According to Cyprus News Agency, the people of Cyprus, the Government, the Parliament, and organized groups pay tribute to all those who lost their lives defending democracy and constitutional order. Today, the nation remembers the heroic resistance of the state's legal forces and hundreds of volunteer citizens who stood against the tanks of betrayal. At 8:20 AM, sirens sounded in all cities, marking the exact time the coup was launched. Shortly thereafter, at 8:30 AM, the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, accompanied by Ministers, attended the official memorial service for the fallen at the Church of Saints Constantine and Helen. Additional commemorative events are being organized by political parties, municipalities, and organizations acros s the island. On the morning of July 15, 1974, the military junta of Athens and its collaborators in Cyprus (EOKA B) launched a coup to overthrow the democratically elected President of the Republic of Cyprus, Archbishop Makarios III. This betrayal opened the "back door" to the Turkish invasion ("Attila"), giving Turkey the pretext and opportunity it had been seeking for years to advance its expansionist plans against Cyprus. The coup was initiated under the code signal "Alexandros has entered the hospital". The start of the coup was officially communicated to Athens at 8:17 AM via an urgent and top-secret message sent by M. Georgitsis to the Office of the Chief of the Armed Forces. Just three minutes later, at 8:20 AM, the coordinated assault of battle tanks, armored vehicles, and commando forces against the Presidential Palace began, initially striking the entrance and then the exit on the eastern side, along Demostheni Severi Avenue. At that moment, inside the Presidential Palace, Makarios was welcoming a group of children from the Greek community of Egypt. Key installations in Nicosia and other cities were bombarded to suppress any resistance, resulting in dozens of deaths and hundreds of injuries. Archbishop Makarios was hosting a delegation of Greek students from Egypt when the attack began. As the Presidential Palace was shelled, his security detail smuggled him out through an unguarded passage on the west side of the palace. He fled to the Kykkos Monastery and subsequently to Paphos. While the coup plotters seized control of the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC/RIK) and repeatedly announced that Makarios was dead and that Nikolas Sampson had been sworn in as President, Makarios was actually alive. He managed to address the Cypriot people via an improvised, amateur radio station in Paphos. Archbishop Makarios's Address: "Greek Cypriot people, the voice you hear is familiar. You know who is speaking to you. I am Makarios. I am the one you elected to be your leader. I am not dead, as the Athens Junt a and its local representatives would wish. I am alive. And I am with you, a fellow fighter and standard-bearer in our common struggle. The Junta's coup has failed. I was the target, and as long as I live, the Junta in Cyprus will not pass..." Just five days later, on July 20, 1974, Turkey invaded Cyprus in two phases, bringing death, destruction, and ongoing division to the island. Cyprus has been divided since then, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results due to Turkish intransigence. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.