Nicosia: People from Cyprus and Greece, along with the country’s political, military, and religious leaders attended on Sunday morning a commemorative ceremony at Makedonitissa Tomb, a military cemetery and war memorial in Nicosia, to honor victims of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, that happened on this day, 51 years ago. The President of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, and the Greek Ambassador in Cyprus, Ioannis Papameletiou, paid their respects by laying wreaths in memory of the fallen.
According to Cyprus News Agency, representatives of political parties and other collective bodies also laid wreaths. Members of the families of the fallen and those who went missing also attended the ceremony and laid flowers on the tombstones. President Christodoulides had the opportunity to talk to members of the families and visited a reconstructed model of a Noratlas military aircraft, kept in the area in remembrance of an operation that carried Greek commandos and crew, in the early hours of July 22, 1974, in the wake of Turkey’s invasion. The aircraft was shot down by friendly fire.
“The sound of the sirens of tragedy is still heard. We do not forget, we do not compromise, we do not accept a fait accompli. Our goal and pursuit is the end of the illegal occupation, the liberation and reunification of our homeland,” the President noted in a post on X.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37% of its territory. 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.
A second informal meeting on Cyprus in a broader format was held in New York, on July 16-17, 2025. Another meeting is anticipated later this year, to follow up on initiatives agreed by the parties, which the UN Secretary-General Ant³nio Guterres said demonstrate a commitment to continuing a dialogue on the way forward. Guterres also announced that he would meet jointly with Cyprus leaders during the General Assembly high-level week, in September.