Several weeks of destruction of Cyprus and several decades of unsuccessful attempts to restore it – this is how the world media summed up the anniversary of the Greek military coup on the island in 1974 (July 15) and then two Turkish invasions of it (July 20 and August 14-16, 1974), which ended in a conflict that continues to this day. It also extends beyond the island, as Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan took part in the celebrations on opposite sides of the border that runs through Cyprus, assuring their compatriots on the island that they are not alone in this division. A division that today seems more permanent than ever. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan assured them of this. – We do not believe that any federal solution is possible in Cyprus – concluded the Turkish leader, assuring the locals that the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus remains the “eye candy” for their compatriots on the mainland. – We will not allow any unilateral actions, nor will the Turkish Cypriots give in to any threats. It is impossible to ignore the ancient and fundamental component of the island, the Turkish Cypriots, he added.
Greek scams
Cyprus collapsed – or was dismembered, depending on the storyteller’s opinion – as a result of tensions and nationalisms in the metropolises that sponsored both communities. Since 1967, Greece had been ruled by juntas, the latter of which – in power since 1973 – was even more ultra-nationalist than the former. Its leaders, viewing Cyprus as Greek territory under the temporary management of the quasi-cabinet of Archbishop Makarios III, had little confidence in the cleric-president, which is why they almost immediately supported plots by uniformed Cypriot officers to overthrow the island.
By early July, Makarios III had no doubts about what was coming: he ordered the expulsion from the island of several hundred officers suspected of participating in the secret military organization EOKA-B, which was planning a coup d’état. Thus, a signal came from Athens to speed up the coup plans – and indeed, the coup took place on July 15, 1974. Makarios III, in dramatic circumstances, almost miraculously escaped death at the hands of his compatriots and was evacuated from the island by the British.
Cyprus fell apart – or was dismembered, depending on the storyteller’s opinion – as a result of tensions and nationalisms in the metropolises that sponsored both communities.
The events on the island prompted the government in Ankara to act. Turkey’s then Prime Minister, Bülent Ecevit, was himself under considerable pressure – just four years earlier, the Turkish military had overthrown the civilian government in the name of restoring peace to the country. And there was something to restore: Turkey, at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s, was constantly rocked by political unrest – terrorist groups were active, led by Turkish ultranationalists and communists, there was a relentless (and equally unproductive) inter-party struggle in parliament, the economy was beginning to stagnate, Islamist parties were becoming active on the fringes of the political scene, and tensions were high in Turkish Kurdistan.
