Cyprus marks second wave of Turkish invasion

 

THE 36TH ANNIVERSARY of Turkey’s second offensive against Cyprus was condemned across the  local political spectrum yesterday.

On August 14, 1974, Turkish troops expanded their occupation to include the tourist resort of Famagusta in the east and the rich citrus-growing area of Morphou in the west. In total, almost 37 per cent of the island ended up under Turkish occupation.

Turkish troops first invaded Cyprus on July 20, 1974, five days after the legal government of the late Archbishop Makarios III was toppled by a military coup engineered by the military junta then ruling Greece.

Two unproductive conferences in Geneva followed; the first between Britain, Greece and Turkey and the second with the additional attendance of Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot representatives.

On August 13 the Turkish Foreign Minister called for the respective enclaves to be divided into cantons, and demanded an immediate response.

Greece, Britain and America all saw this as unreasonable. The next day the Turkish army mounted a second full-scale offensive, three weeks after a ceasefire was declared on July 22, and despite the fact that talks were still being held and agreement seemed about to be reached.

Cyprus President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat began a fresh round of UN-led talks in September 2008. A new Turkish Cypriot leader  Dervis Eroglu was elected in April  this year and has picked up the talks where Christofias and Talat left off.

 

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.