Cyprus observed the 52nd anniversary of Turkey’s military invasion on Monday, as both the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities braced for a renewed United Nations effort to end years of stalled peace negotiations.
In the southern, Greek Cypriot-controlled portion of the island, air raid sirens rang out Monday morning to mark the exact hour Turkish forces arrived in 1974 — a military operation that came just days after a brief coup backed by Greece.
Meanwhile, military ceremonies were held in the Turkish Cypriot north, a self-declared state that only Turkey officially recognizes.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is scheduled to visit the island from July 27 to 29 in a bid to breathe new life into a peace process that has seen no meaningful negotiations in years.
Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides expressed cautious optimism ahead of the visit. “We hope the conditions will be created for the resumption of negotiations,” he said.
Progress toward peace has long been blocked by a fundamental disagreement over what a resolution should look like. Greek Cypriots want the island reunified as a federation, while Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot leadership are pushing for recognition of two separate sovereign states.
The unresolved conflict continues to strain relations between NATO allies Greece and Turkey, and it also stands as a significant barrier to Turkey’s long-standing goal of joining the European Union — an organization Cyprus has belonged to since 2004.
The roots of the crisis stretch back to years of intercommunal tension and violence that followed Cyprus gaining independence from Britain. Turkey refers to its 1974 military action as a “peace operation” carried out to safeguard the Turkish Cypriot population.
