Turkish Invasion of Cyprus (1974): The Island Divided

The Turkish invasion of Cyprus began on 20 July 1974, five days after a coup against Cyprus’s President Makarios organised by the military junta ruling Greece. In two offensives, in July and August 1974, Turkish forces took control of the northern third of the island. The fighting displaced around a third of the population, and Cyprus has remained divided along a UN-patrolled buffer zone ever since.

Turkey officially calls the operation the “Cyprus Peace Operation”; Greek Cypriots, Greece and most international bodies refer to it as an invasion and to the continuing military presence as an occupation.

Background: an island of two communities

Cyprus, under British rule from 1878, had a population that in the 1960 census was about 77 per cent Greek Cypriot and 18 per cent Turkish Cypriot. In the 1950s the Greek Cypriot guerrilla group EOKA fought the British for enosis, union with Greece, while many Turkish Cypriots called for taksim, partition.

Cyprus became independent on 16 August 1960 under the Zurich and London agreements, negotiated in 1959 by Britain, Greece, Turkey and the two communities. Britain kept two Sovereign Base Areas on the island, at Akrotiri and Dhekelia, which remain British territory today. A power-sharing constitution gave Greek Cypriots the presidency and Turkish Cypriots the vice-presidency and veto rights. A Treaty of Guarantee made Britain, Greece and Turkey guarantors of the settlement, with a right to take action to restore it.

The arrangement broke down quickly. In November 1963 President Makarios proposed constitutional amendments, and in December intercommunal fighting broke out. A ceasefire line was drawn through Nicosia that became known as the Green Line, and in March 1964 a UN peacekeeping force, UNFICYP, arrived. Many Turkish Cypriots withdrew into armed enclaves. Further crises in 1964 and 1967 brought Greece and Turkey close to war.

The coup of 15 July 1974

Makarios, though once a supporter of enosis, came to favour an independent Cyprus. The junta in Athens, led after November 1973 by Brigadier Dimitrios Ioannidis (see Greek military junta), backed the underground EOKA-B group, which sought union with Greece.

On 2 July 1974 Makarios publicly demanded the withdrawal of the Greek officers who commanded the Cypriot National Guard. On 15 July the National Guard, directed by those officers, attacked the presidential palace. Makarios escaped, eventually reaching London via a British base, and addressed the UN Security Council. The coup leaders installed Nikos Sampson, a former EOKA gunman known for his hard-line views, as president.

The first offensive

Turkish Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit sought joint action with Britain, which declined. On the morning of 20 July 1974 Turkish troops landed near Kyrenia on the north coast, while paratroopers were dropped near Nicosia. Fighting was heavy, and both sides committed killings of civilians and prisoners.

The UN Security Council passed Resolution 353 on 20 July calling for a ceasefire and the withdrawal of foreign military personnel. A ceasefire took effect on 22 July, by which time Turkish forces held a corridor between Kyrenia and Nicosia. The crisis brought down both coup regimes: Sampson resigned on 23 July and was replaced by Glafcos Clerides, and the junta in Athens collapsed the same day.

Geneva talks and the second offensive

Britain, Greece and Turkey met in Geneva from 25 July and again from 8 August. Turkey, with Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktaş, proposed a federation with a large Turkish Cypriot zone; the Greek Cypriot side asked for time to consult. The talks broke down on 14 August.

The same day Turkish forces launched a second, larger offensive. They advanced east to Famagusta and west towards Morphou and Lefka. When a ceasefire was declared on 16 August 1974, Turkey controlled about 36 to 37 per cent of the island, along a line from Morphou Bay in the west through Nicosia to Famagusta in the east.

Key people

Makarios III (1913–1977), archbishop and first president of Cyprus, returned to the island in December 1974 and remained president until his death.

Nikos Sampson (1935–2001) held the presidency for eight days. He was later convicted of abusing power and imprisoned.

Bülent Ecevit (1925–2006), Turkey’s prime minister, ordered the intervention, which made him extremely popular in Turkey.

Rauf Denktaş (1924–2012) led the Turkish Cypriot community for decades and became the first president of the self-declared northern state.

Glafcos Clerides (1919–2013), acting president in 1974, later served as president of Cyprus from 1993 to 2003.

Consequences

The human toll was severe. Estimates of the dead vary, with figures for Greek Cypriots in the low thousands and for Turkish Cypriots in the hundreds, alongside losses among Greek and Turkish soldiers. Cases of missing persons from 1963–1974 still under investigation number about 1,500 Greek Cypriots and about 500 Turkish Cypriots.

Populations were then separated almost completely. Varosha, the modern resort district of Famagusta, was fenced off and left empty. In 1975 a Turkish Federated State of Cyprus was proclaimed in the north, and on 15 November 1983 it declared independence as the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. The UN Security Council, in Resolution 541, called the declaration legally invalid, and only Turkey recognises it.

The United States imposed an arms embargo on Turkey from 1975 to 1978. Settlers from Turkey later moved to the north, changing its population, a point disputed in later negotiations.

Attempts at reunification

UN-sponsored talks have repeatedly sought a bizonal, bicommunal federation. In April 2003 crossing points along the Green Line opened for the first time, and hundreds of thousands of people visited homes on the other side. On 24 April 2004 the Annan Plan was put to separate referendums: about 65 per cent of Turkish Cypriots voted in favour and about 76 per cent of Greek Cypriots voted against. On 1 May 2004 the Republic of Cyprus joined the European Union as part of the EU’s eastern enlargement, with EU law suspended in the north.

Later rounds of negotiation, including a conference at Crans-Montana in Switzerland in 2017, also ended without agreement. The main sticking points have remained the same for decades: security guarantees and the presence of Turkish troops, the return of property or compensation for displaced owners, territorial adjustments and how power would be shared in a federal government.

Timeline

• 1960, 16 August: Cyprus becomes independent.
• 1963, 21 December: Intercommunal violence breaks out.
• 1964, 27 March: UN peacekeepers (UNFICYP) begin operations.
• 1974, 15 July: Coup against Makarios; Nikos Sampson installed.
• 1974, 20 July: Turkish forces land near Kyrenia.
• 1974, 23 July: Sampson resigns; the Greek junta collapses.
• 1974, 14 August: Geneva talks fail; the second Turkish offensive begins.
• 1974, 16 August: Ceasefire leaves Turkey holding about 37 per cent of the island.
• 1983, 15 November: The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is declared.
• 2004, 24 April: The Annan Plan is rejected in the Greek Cypriot referendum.

Why it matters

The events of 1974 created one of the longest-running unresolved conflicts in Europe. They divided a member state of the European Union, displaced a large share of its people and continue to shape relations between Greece, Turkey and the EU.