Sirens sounded early this morning in Cyprus, marking the 50th anniversary of the invasion of the Mediterranean island by Turkish forces, which has since been cut in two.
On the southern part of the island under the control of the Republic of Cyprus, the only internationally recognized and member of the European Union (EU) since 2004, the sirens sounded at 5.30:1974 local time, at the time of the beginning, in XNUMX, of the Turkish army's operation "Attila".
Then the Turkish army conquered a third of the territory and caused the displacement of about 40 percent of the population of Cyprus.
A buffer zone, patrolled by UN peacekeepers, now crosses the island from west to east, with crossings and border controls separating Greek Cypriots in the south from Turkish Cypriots in the north.
Ahead of the anniversary, Greek Cypriot veterans expressed pessimism about the reunification of the island.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis should attend the commemoration tonight together with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides.
In the northern part of Cyprus, the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus recognized only by Turkey, the atmosphere is quite different - festive.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to attend the military parade.
The northern part of Cyprus, which unilaterally declared its independence in 1983, remains under an international embargo and lives off funds sent by Turkey.
After decades of talks, which failed to lead to reunification, the newest UN envoy, Colombian diplomat María Ángela Holguin Cueljar, wrote in an open letter at the beginning of July that it is necessary to "depart from the solutions of the past and think differently".
The last round of negotiations failed in 2017. Previously, in April 2004, during a referendum, the Greek Cypriots rejected the UN-backed unification plan.
The invasion was caused by an attempted coup by the Greek Cypriots with the support of the colonel's junta in Athens, to unite the island with Greece, which was fiercely opposed by the Turkish Cypriot community.
Operation Attila was the culmination of a period of conflict in the history of the island, a British colony since 1878 that became independent in 1960.
The leaders of Great Britain, Greece, Turkey and Cyprus negotiated this independence at the time within the framework of a complex constitution, designed to guarantee the rights of the Turkish Cypriot minority, which then numbered about 18 percent of the population.
The Treaty on the Independence of Cyprus prohibits unification with Greece or Turkey, as well as division, and makes London, Athens and Ankara guarantors of the island's independence, territorial integrity and security.
But this collapsed in late 1963 in the context of inter-communal violence, prompting Turkish Cypriots to retreat into enclaves.
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