On July 20, Greek and Turkish Cypriots commemorated the 51st anniversary of Turkey’s 1974 invasion of Cyprus, a conflict that has divided the island and remains a source of tension between NATO partners Greece and Turkey. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan attended celebrations in north Cyprus, a breakaway state recognized only by Ankara. Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides attended a memorial service in the south to commemorate the more than 3,000 people who died in the Turkish invasion, which also drove tens of thousands of Greek Cypriots from their homes. Efforts to reunify Cyprus as a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation have repeatedly failed amid deep-rooted mistrust and competing visions for the island’s future. Before the invasion, clashes between Turkish and Greek Cypriots saw Turkish Cypriots withdraw from a power-sharing government and prompted the deployment of U.N. peacekeepers in 1964. The simmering conflict complicates Turkey’s ambitions to foster closer ties with the European Union, of which both Cyprus and Greece are members.
Greeks are mourning while Turks celebrate the anniversary of the invasion that divided Cyprus.
