Military history of Cyprus

By George Gilson

Exactly 47 years after Turkey's invasion of Cyprus, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in the Turkish-occupied Cyprus to celebrate the invasion that led to the occupation of 40 percent of the island and the ethnic cleansing of the north, leaving 200,000 Greek Cypriots refugees in their own land.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is set to start a two-day official visit to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on July 19. 

Joint letter by the largest Greek-American organizations on the occasion of the 47th anniversary of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus

By Stavri Kalopsidiotou*

Turkish provocations of the Republic of Cyprus are unfortunately not over.

The recent EU summit may have noted in its conclusions that we are in a period of de-escalation in the Eastern Mediterranean, but that does not at all reflect what is going on in Cyprus.

Following recent attempts to relaunch talks aimed to resolve the Cyprus dispute, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has called on the international community to "take a chance," while recalling that Turkish Cyprus has taken a position for a two-state solution in the last meeting in Genova.

Official negotiations on the Cyprus issue can start only after the recognition of the sovereign equality of the Turkish side, the Turkish Cypriot president said on June 26.

Ersin Tatar said he reiterated the necessity of acceptance of equal international status during a meeting with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Official negotiations on the Cyprus issue can start only after both sides on the island are recognized as equals, the Turkish Cypriot president said on June 24. 

The Turkish vice president on June 23 said Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) should work toward building a self-sufficient TRNC.

Fuat Oktay spoke at a joint press conference with TRNC Prime Minister Ersan Saner following their meeting at the presidential complex in capital Ankara.

The president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) urged the international community on June 20 to take action to change the status quo in Cyprus to guarantee the rights of the island's Turkish Cypriots.

Turkish Cypriots are in favor of "the new policy", a two-state solution, on Cyprus as decades of negotiations for a federation failed to resolve the Cyprus issue, said the president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).