SAEDNEWS: As Ankara marked the 50th anniversary of its military intervention in Cyprus with parades and patriotic fervor, the Greek-Cypriot capital of Nicosia plunged into mourning—highlighting the enduring scars of one of the world’s longest-running territorial disputes.
According to Saed News, the streets of Nicosia were cloaked in grief as Greek Cypriots commemorated the 50th anniversary of Turkey’s 1974 military incursion into northern Cyprus—a day remembered as an invasion and national trauma by one side, and hailed as a liberation by the other. Meanwhile, across the divide, Turkish Cypriots and officials in Ankara marked the occasion with military parades and speeches steeped in national pride.
On July 20, 1974, Turkish troops entered Cyprus, citing the protection of ethnic Turks from an unfolding coup backed by Greece. The intervention led to the de facto partition of the island—an arrangement that persists to this day. Northern Cyprus remains recognized solely by Turkey, while the internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus, comprising the south, is a member of the European Union.
In the south, solemn ceremonies, church bells, and moments of silence honored the victims of displacement and conflict. In contrast, northern Nicosia saw the Turkish and “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” flags waved alongside tanks and troops during a large-scale military display. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan used the event to reaffirm Turkey’s support for a two-state solution on the island—a stance firmly opposed by the EU, Greece, and the Cypriot government.
Despite decades of UN-led peace talks, the diplomatic deadlock remains. The legacy of the 1974 intervention continues to fuel competing narratives: one of “rescue from ethnic cleansing,” the other of “military occupation.” As Turkey and its allies celebrate, the sorrow south of the buffer zone is a reminder that the island’s wound has never truly healed.
