Key words: Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Republic of Cyprus, attitude of other countries to the Cyprus problem.
Key words: Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Republic of Cyprus, the relation of other countries to the Cyprian problem.
The article is devoted to the study of the Cyprus problem, which consists in the division of the island of Cyprus into 2 states, one of which is recognized by the world community, and the other is not. As well as trying to solve the problem.
Article is studying studying of the Cyprian problem which consists of division of island Cyprus into 2 states, one of which is recognized the world community, and another is not present. And also to the questions to attempts of a solution of a problem.
The Cypriot problem lies in the division of the island of Cyprus into 2 states, one of which is recognized by the world community, and the other is not. As well as issues related to the division of the island, attempts to solve the problem and the attitude of the world community to this issue.
From the beginning, let's look at the history of the issue, then we will present Cyprus as 2 separately existing states, after that we will talk about attempts to resolve the Cyprus problem by the world community and then we will outline the positions different countries about this question.
And so, the history of the Cyprus issue begins in 1960, with the creation of the Republic of Cyprus. It was created after the independence of Cyprus from Great Britain. The Greek and Turkish communities were given equal opportunities to participate in the management of the new state. They were given places in the government and civil institutions of power. The guarantors of the existence of the new state in accordance with the 1960 Treaty on Guarantees were Great Britain, Greece and Turkey.
In December 1963 The Cypriot government collapsed. A conflict began between the Greeks and the Turkish Cypriots. Turkish Cypriots lost government posts. With the continuation of the conflict, Turkish Cypriots living in rural areas were blocked by the Greeks in places of compact residence. This situation lasted 11 years, until the division of the island. During this period, numerous conflicts took place between the communities.
In July 1974, with the support of the Greek military junta, a military coup took place on the island. President Makarios was removed from power, and control of the island passed to Nikos Sampson, a representative of the Greek underground organization EOKA-B (which advocated the annexation of Cyprus to Greece). As a response, in accordance with the 1960 Treaty, Turkish troops were introduced into Cyprus. In fact, the forceful action led to the division of the island, the fall of the Greek military junta and the restoration of Archbishop Makarios to power. The island of Cyprus as a result was divided into the North, controlled by the Turkish Cypriots, and the South, controlled by the Greek Cypriots.
Under the terms of the peace agreement, the creation of a federal republic was supposed, and in 1975. the Turkish Federative State of Northern Cyprus was proclaimed, formally as part of the federation, but with the reservations that the federation should be reviewed and its constitution brought into line with the de facto situation. This idea did not find support either from the Republic of Cyprus or from the international community. After 8 years of negotiations with the Republic of Cyprus, the Turkish Federative State of Northern Cyprus declared its independence in 1983. The new state became known as the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. The declaration of independence of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, however, was rejected by the UN. Thus, 2 independent states were formed on the island. The TRNC is separated from the rest of Cyprus by a buffer zone. The line dividing the island into two sectors (the so-called "Green Line") is guarded by a contingent armed forces UN Peacekeeping in Cyprus. What are these states today?
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus - partially recognized in 1983. a state from the Republic of Cyprus, occupying the northern third of the island of Cyprus. From 1975 to 1983 it was called Turkish Federal State of Cyprus. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is not officially recognized by UN member states and is recognized only by Turkey. The Government of the Republic of Cyprus continues to be the only internationally recognized authority in Cyprus. The official language is Turkish. The capital is Lefkosa (Nicosia in Greek). The form of government is a representative democracy. The President is Dervis Eroglu. Prime Minister Irsen Kyuchuk. Currency - Turkish lira.
The Republic of Cyprus is an island state in the eastern part of mediterranean sea. Date of Independence - 16 August 1960 (from Great Britain). The capital is Nicosia. The form of government is the Republic. President - Dimitris Christofias. Currency – Euro. Member (since May 1, 2004) of the European Union (EU). Officially, the territory of the Republic of Cyprus includes 98% of the territory of the island of Cyprus (the remaining 2% is occupied by the British military bases of Akrotiri and Dhekelia), as well as the nearby islands of Agios Georgios, Geronissos, Glukiotissa, Kila, Kiedes, Kordiliya and Mazaki. In fact, after 1974, the island was actually divided into two parts, 60% is controlled by the authorities of the Republic of Cyprus (Greek community), the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (Turkish community) was proclaimed on the rest. It should be emphasized that the TRNC is recognized as an independent state only by Turkey; the world community considers this territory occupied by Turkey.
Thus, each state considers itself a legitimate subject of international relations, has its own legislative framework, president, currency, and the rest.
Of course, throughout this conflict, various attempts at reconciliation and the search for a common solution were used. Negotiations on the unification of the island have also been going on for a long time, but have not yet borne fruit. One of the latest attempts failed in a referendum that was held on the island under the auspices of the UN on April 26, 2004. 75% of the Greek Cypriots voted against the unification, in contrast to the Turkish Cypriots, most of whom supported the unification based on a plan proposed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan . This project actually provided for the creation of a confederal republic, consisting of two equal states - Turkish and Greek, with an independent parliament and a bicameral legislative assembly. Moreover, Turkey received the right to maintain its military contingent on the island, and it was also provided for the legal force of the agreements signed between the TRNC and Turkey, which allowed both sides to use all the maritime and air space islands. The Turkish side would receive the right of veto in the united government of Cyprus. At the same time, all state structures of the united Cyprus were to be financed by the Greek side by 95%. The rights of the Greeks to operate property in the northern part of the island were limited until the standard of living of the two communities was equal. However, as already mentioned, the Greek population of Cyprus rejected the Annan plan with 76% of the votes, while the Turkish part voted 67% in favor.
Prior to this referendum, however, the application of Cyprus to join the EU was granted at the end of 2002. (Member since May 1, 2004) northern part of the island is still unresolved. At the present stage, the "Cyprus issue" is considered as one of the main obstacles for Turkey's entry into the European Union. That is, we see that there is a problem of the entry of the whole of Cyprus into the EU and a different economic level of 2 parts of the island.
With the visit to Cyprus in February 2010 by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, confidence in finding a solution to the problem as early as 2010 increased. The visit follows the final stage of intense meetings between the President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Mehmet Ali Talat, and the Leader of Greek Cyprus, Dimitris Christofias. The Secretary General stimulated and noticed progress in the negotiations. It should be noted that this was Ban Ki-moon's first visit to the island. The UN supports negotiations between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities, but is not a party to them. In general, the UN has been involved in the Cyprus settlement process since 1964, and since 1974 the island has been de facto divided by the Turkish military invasion. "I am glad that significant progress has been made in discussing a number of topics," the UN Secretary General told reporters after arriving on the island. According to Ban Ki-moon, he expects that his presence will support the negotiations, and community leaders will work to reach a compromise. Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias, at an official dinner in Nicosia, assured Ban Ki-moon that he would seek the implementation of UN resolutions on the settlement. "We are grateful to the UN Security Council for laying the foundations for a two-zone, two-communal federal solution, guided by the principles of international law, with political equality, common sovereignty, common international representation and citizenship," Christofias said. to the point where more agreement is needed on various aspects in order to open the way for a speedy solution," the President of Cyprus added. At the same time, he acknowledged that so far many issues have not yet been discussed or discussed insufficiently. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon believes that a political solution to the problem of the unification of Cyprus is achievable. "I have no illusions about the ease of solving the Cyprus problem or about the difficulties you face. At the same time, I am sure that a solution is possible and achievable," he told reporters. According to the UN Secretary General, reaching an agreement requires "courage, flexibility, foresight, as well as a spirit of compromise" from the parties. At that time, the president of northern Cyprus also expresses his willingness and desire to seek a compromise and refers to the Annanan plan.
Thus, it is clear that the dialogue between southern and northern Cyprus is being established with their own desire and with the help of the UN. And maybe with the assistance of the EU. After all, if Southern Cyprus joined the EU, then the Northern one has a greater interest in uniting Cyprus and forming a single economic space. What can not be said about Cyprus now, after the entry of one of the parts into the EU (different economic level).
How do other countries react to the division of Cyprus? Turkey keeps its embassy on the territory of the TRNC, the TRNC in Turkey has an embassy and consulates. In a number of other countries there are unofficial representative offices of the TRNC, which are de facto embassies. The residences of the US and British ambassadors are located in North Nicosia, but since they were there before the division of the island, this is not recognition of the TRNC. Azerbaijan, Gambia and Paraguay have announced their intention to recognize the TRNC. Despite the fact that no official contacts have been established, informal contacts are maintained. Most countries of the world, with the exception of Turkey, do not officially recognize the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus as independent state. The Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic, which is part of Azerbaijan, also recognized the TRNC. However, Azerbaijan itself did not officially support this decision. The Organization of the Islamic Conference granted TRNC the status of a part of a federal state and an observer.
As for Russia, it has clearly defined its position for a long time - it is necessary to reunite the island. But in the current situation, it recognizes, as well as almost the entire world community, and conducts a dialogue with southern Cyprus, which is shown by the visit of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to Cyprus on October 7-8 this year and the signing of a new version of the interstate agreement on avoiding double taxation. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev paid a working visit to the Republic of Cyprus for the first time. During the visit, the leaders of the two countries signed 15 documents, including the "Joint Program of Action for 2010-2013". This program will become the fundamental document of bilateral relations. A protocol was also initialed to the current agreement between the governments of the Russian Federation and Cyprus, which will help avoid double taxation on income and capital of companies in the two countries. Cyprus undertakes to respond to requests from the Russian tax authorities about the financial activities of certain companies. Previously, Russia could obtain such information only by decision of the Cypriot court. "We must do everything to ensure that such ties are legally verified, transparent, so that they are comfortable both for business and for the state," Dmitry Medvedev said after signing the documents. Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias affirmed the desire for transparency: "We are concerned that everything that casts a shadow on the purity of money is destroyed. Our relations are now as pure as the skies over Cyprus are clear throughout the year." The branch in Nicosia became the first retail office of a Russian bank in an EU country, the third largest bank in Cyprus and the largest foreign bank in the VTB Group with assets of 8 billion euros. (A branch of the Russian Commercial Bank is a subsidiary of the Russian VTB Bank.) Russia has always consistently supported the Republic of Cyprus on the path to solving the Cyprus problem. Russian leaders have repeatedly voiced the position of the country - the solution of the Cyprus problem should be based on the creation of a two-communal bi-zonal federation with political equality of both communities, as noted in the relevant UN documents. Cyprus should act as a sovereign state, where all citizens are citizens of one country, which is represented in the international community as a single and indivisible whole. It is very important for us to know that Russia supports our position on this issue. An important role is also played by the fact that Russian Federation is a member of the UN Security Council, so we believe that it can play an important role in solving the Cyprus problem. Dervis Eroglu also expresses the need to solve the problem: “Peace negotiations have been going on for years, and I believe that the time has come to an end. Unfortunately, the Greek side of Cyprus is recognized by the international community and is a member of the European Community, while the Turkish side is under an embargo. Perhaps it is in their interests to play for time, but not in ours ”when meeting with Ban Ki-moon.
Thus, the Cyprus problem is the division of the island, the religious division, economic, political, national. The Republic of Cyprus is a member of the EU, but northern Cyprus is not, Northern is not recognized, and Southern is recognized, everything is complicated by the fact that these two peoples are already accustomed to living sovereignly and no one wants to give up their territory, rights, sovereignty. There are several options for solving the problem, but the most possible is a confederation, 2 fairly separate states, but still united. And maybe after a while, they will ripen for a new association (maybe a federation) and integration. ____________________________________________
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which is now in fact island nation Mediterranean Sea.
Since the arrival of the British military contingent on the island, the Cyprus dispute has been defined as "a conflict between the peoples of Cyprus and Great Britain as colonial rulers." Today, however, the United Nations and, more recently, the European Union are taking part in solving this problem.
Background of the conflict
In 1960, Cyprus gained independence from Great Britain, which colonized the island in the second half of the 19th century. However, the UK retained two military bases located on the Akrotiri peninsula and next to the village of Dhekelia. New Constitution proclaimed the existence of two communities: Greek (80% of the island's population) and Turkish (18%). The inequality of the ethnic quotas prescribed in the main document of the state immediately aroused the discontent of the Turkish community. Even at the level of state administration, the communities refused to comply with decisions that were made by the opposite side.
Course of events
In the city, the gradually growing tension exploded with numerous ethnic conflicts on both sides. In order to attempt to resolve the situation, already in 1964, a UN peacekeeping contingent was deployed on the island, which remained in Cyprus for another ten years.
On July 15, 1974, a military coup took place on the island, during which the Greek Cypriot terrorist organization EOKA-V overthrew Archbishop Makarios III, the President of Cyprus. The Turkish authorities, seeing this as a danger to their interests in Cyprus, landed the 30,000th military corps, which occupied about 35% of the island's territory. Cyprus was divided into a southern Greek part and a northern Turkish part. Under the control of UN peacekeepers, the mutual resettlement of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots was carried out. The conflicting parties were separated by the so-called "green line" - the UN buffer zone. Moving across the demarcation line became almost impossible. A physical and social barrier was created between the Greek and Turkish communities.
In the city, the northern Turkish community self-proclaimed itself the Turkish Republic Northern Cyprus, this act was condemned in the UN Security Council Resolution and declared legally invalid, and so far only Turkey has recognized the newly formed state.
At the beginning of the 21st century, at the initiative of the UN, an attempt was made to finally resolve the Cyprus problem. On April 24, a referendum was held in which 75% of the Greeks voted against the so-called Annan Plan, which was prepared by British diplomacy, believing that it "legitimizes the results of Turkish aggression and perpetuates the Turkish occupation." 65% of the Turkish community supported this plan.
In the same 2004, Cyprus became a member of the European Union, but de facto only the southern Greek part of the island joined it. In 2005, the European Commission, during the negotiations on Turkey's accession to the European Union, demanded that the latter recognize the sovereignty of the Republic of Cyprus.
Modern stage
In 2008, Dimitris Christofias won the presidential election, who, even during the election campaign, promised to immediately resume negotiations on reunification. On March 21, 2008, in the buffer zone of the capital of Cyprus, the city of Nicosia, negotiations were held with the leader of the Turkish Cypriots, Mehmet Ali Talat. On April 3, 2008, barriers were removed on Ledra Nicosia Street, which were installed here back in 1960 in the presence of a large Greek and Turkish community.
Later, during the spring-summer of 2008, a series of conciliatory negotiations were held, and as early as June 1, the fundamental concept of introducing single citizenship and ensuring the single sovereignty of the Republic of Cyprus was appointed. In September, President Christofias called for the demilitarization of Nicosia. Actually, during the autumn-winter of 2008, the federal government bodies were coordinated. The prepared reunification plan is planned to be submitted to a referendum of both communities.
I dedicate this post to the favorable attention of Dmitry Ridiger and all bloggers who find it interesting. The Turkish invasion of Cyprus took place in 1974, in the last days of the junta of the “black colonels” in Greece, and was to a large extent a reaction to the inactivity of the United States and Great Britain, which acted as guarantors of an earlier agreement on the division of powers between the communities. However, the common Greek opinion that the events in Cyprus took place according to the American scenario of dividing the island (see the Acheson plan) looks more plausible.
Event History
War
Tank T-34-85, used during the war by the Greek Cypriots and captured by the Turkish army.
In 1964 and 1967, outbreaks of interethnic discord between Turks and Greeks were already observed, and the situation on the island remained quite tense. In July 1974, with the support of the Greek junta, the President of Cyprus, Archbishop Makarios, was removed from power, and control of the island passed to a group of radicals led by Nikos Sampson, a representative of the Greek underground organization EOKA-B, which advocated the annexation of Cyprus to Greece (enosis), known for its extremism and anti-Turkish activity in the past. Despite the new leadership's assurances of loyalty to the Turkish population of the island, as a response, on July 20, 1974, Turkey sent its army to the island (Operation Atilla). Turkey justified its actions with the 1960 Cyprus Independence Guarantee Treaty, according to which Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom acted as guarantors of independence. In fact, Turkey had hatched a plan for dividing the island for a long time, but the landing in 1964 was prevented by the secret Greek division on the island and the intervention of the United States, in order to avoid a military clash between the allies. One of the first actions of the Greek junta was the withdrawal of the division in 1968. The Turkish landing was only a matter of time, the removal of Makarios was taken over by the Greek junta. The coup was needed to give legitimacy to the Turkish intervention. The landing and ethnic cleansing carried out by Turkish troops led to the de facto division of the island into two parts, inhabited by Turks and Greeks respectively, and, secondarily, to the restoration of the government of Makarios. Although the Turks took advantage of the removal of Makarios for their intervention, after the landing they ceased to recognize him as the president of Cyprus.
The island of Cyprus, as a result, was divided into the North, controlled by the Turkish Cypriots, and in reality by Turkey, and the South, controlled by the Greek Cypriots. The European Court of Human Rights found Turkey responsible for violations of the rights of Greek Cypriots forced to leave their homes and lands in northern Cyprus (Loizidou v. Turkey).
Consequences
The line dividing the island into two sectors is guarded by a contingent of the United Nations Peacekeeping Forces in Cyprus (UNFICYP, English UNICYP). In the fall of 2004, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan recommended to the Security Council that the force's mandate be extended, but that its military component be cut by a third from 1,230 to 860, while strengthening the mission's political and civilian components. It is interesting that, unlike other zones of long-term presence of UN peacekeepers, such as Kashmir or Sinai, there are almost no combat contacts between the parties to the conflict along the line of contact during the entire period of the mission's presence. But on this line, in 2003, in the presence of peacekeepers, the unarmed Solomos Solomou, who tried to rip off the Turkish flag, was shot at point-blank range by the Turks.
In 1983, the Turkish sector proclaimed itself the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, but only Turkey recognized this state. According to international law, the Republic of Cyprus retains sovereignty over the entire territory that was part of it before 1974. The Republic of Cyprus joined the European Union in 2004, and the EU also recognizes its sovereignty over the entire territory, considering that the north of the island is temporarily outside the control of the legitimate government.
Negotiations on the unification of the island have been going on since the landing of Turkish troops in Cyprus, but without visible results. The last proposal to solve the problem was defeated in a referendum that was held on the island under the auspices of the UN on April 26, 2004. 75% of Greek Cypriots voted against this, believing that the plan does not provide for the unification of the island, but recognition of the results of intervention and occupation. Unlike the Turkish Cypriots, most of whom supported the plan prepared by British diplomacy and named after UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and not only Turkish Cypriots, but also immigrants from Turkey who moved to Cyprus, participated in the referendum. According to the Greek authorities of the Republic of Cyprus, the number of the latter already exceeds the number of Turkish Cypriots by three times.
Some hope for progress in the negotiations is associated with the victory in the 2008 presidential election of Dimitris Christofias, a supporter of increased efforts to reach a compromise.
Add-ons
- In 2004 Cyprus joined the European Union. In fact, only the Greek part of the island is a member of the EU. After the accession, a massive filing of documents by ethnic Turks for the issuance of Cypriot passports was noted.
- On the night of March 8-9, 2007, unexpectedly for the entire world community, a small part of the wall that divided the two parts of the Cypriot capital Nicosia into the Greek and Turkish parts was dismantled.
- Since January 1, 2008, Euro banknotes have been put into circulation in Cyprus.
ANOTHER STATEMENT OF THE SAME EVENTS. BUT FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF THE MILITARY AND MUCH IN DETAILS.
The worsening of the situation occurred with the coming to power in Greece in 1967 of the military junta. The military dictatorship actually headed for the capture of Cyprus and relied in this on the extreme Greek nationalists. In November 1967, General Grivas' forces attacked two Turkish villages on the island. In response, Turkey issued an ultimatum to Greece demanding the withdrawal of Greek troops from Cyprus, and both countries again found themselves on the verge of war. The situation softened somewhat only at the beginning of 1968. General Grivas was recalled from Cyprus, and the contingents of Greek and Turkish troops on the island were reduced to the size provided for by the 1959 agreement.
In political terms, the actual division of Cyprus was growing. The Greek Cypriots held new presidential elections in February 1968, in which Makarios III collected 96% of the vote. The Turkish Cypriots formed in December 1967 an official "Turkish Provisional Administration", declaring non-recognition of all laws issued in the Republic of Cyprus since the end of 1963. At the same time, inter-communal negotiations were underway, the parties agreed on measures such as the future return of Turkish representatives to state bodies in accordance with population, the abolition of the right of veto, etc. Disagreements persisted on many fundamental issues: the Greek Cypriot side insisted on a single state, the Turkish community leaned towards federation.
The emerging cautious progress was thwarted as a result of the actions of the Greek military junta and its supporters in Cyprus, who formed the secret organization EOKA-2, headed by Grivas who illegally returned to the island. The anti-communist regime in Athens was suspicious of the archbishop's dealings with Moscow and the support he received from the 40,000-member Cypriot Communist Party. The junta called him "Red", and feared that he would provide Cypriot ports for the basing of the Soviet fleet. In late spring and early summer, the campaign to discredit Makarios was intensified. The Cypriot bishops announced the removal of Makarios III from the post of archbishop, and the military government of Greece demanded that the Republic of Cyprus change the composition of the government. However, Makarios continued to pursue his former independent course and responded with repression to the actions of extreme nationalists. After the government of Cyprus on July 2 demanded that Greece withdraw from the island 650 Greek officers assigned to the Cypriot National Guard (CNG), on July 15, the Cypriot reaction, with the support of more than 900 people of the Greek military contingent, mutinied against the legitimate president, Archbishop Makarios, the latter managed to escape from countries with the help of the British military. The rebels seized the airport, radio station, presidential palace and several other government offices in Nicosia. Bloody battles broke out with security forces loyal to the government, police and volunteer units. Power was usurped by far-right politician Nikos Sampson. The main forces of the conspirators were the national guard of 11 thousand people, commanded by Greek officers. In addition, on the side of the rebels were: the Greek regiment stationed on the island (950 people), several units transferred from Greece by transport aircraft the day before, as well as terrorist groups of the underground organization EOKA-2. The Turkish government demanded that Greece not support the rebels, withdraw all Greek officers from the island, and respect the independence of Cyprus. The Greek junta began to dodge. started Civil War.
The rebellion in Cyprus directly affected the interests of the USSR. The Soviet embassy in Nicosia is the largest in this part of the Mediterranean, with more staff than any of the Soviet embassies in Cairo, Tehran and Beirut. A sophisticated communications center linked the Cypriot embassy to Moscow and the Soviet Mediterranean fleet, as well as to two Soviet intelligence vessels that monitored radio communications off the Israeli coast. And if the anti-communist Nikos Sampson was consolidated in power, it would be necessary to reduce the number of the embassy and curtail most of its activities. The Fifth Squadron of the Soviet Navy almost immediately became involved in the course of the crisis. On July 15, at 11:00 am, an urgent telegram from the chief of intelligence of the Black Sea Fleet arrived on the command ship, the cruiser Zhdanov, with a message about a military coup in Cyprus. With reference to telegraph agencies, he reported that the President, Archbishop Makarios, had been killed by the national guards. Then came telegrams from the Naval Intelligence Directorate with details about the events in Cyprus. The commander of the squadron at that moment was the chief of staff of the squadron, Alexander Petrovich Ushakov, since the squadron commander had gone on vacation. An order was received from the Chief of the Main Headquarters of the Navy: KUG No. 1, consisting of the Grozny RC and the Krasny Kavkaz BOD, urgently weigh anchors and take the patrol line west of Cyprus; EM "Flaming" to stand on the barrel number 03 in the immediate vicinity of the island in the south; minesweeper "Rear Admiral Pershin" - to point No. 55 north of Cyprus; KPUG-2 as part of the BOD "Admiral Nakhimov" and "Admiral Makarov" from the 64th point to go to the eastern 12th; REC "Abakan" from the area of the village of Piraeus go to Cyprus With the purpose of intercepting radio communications, including on VHF. By the end of the day, the situation in Cyprus remained difficult, but according to reports from Budapest, President Makarios survived and went on the radio with a statement to support the legitimate government. At 22.30 on the cruiser "Zhdanov" officers of the headquarters and the political department were gathered, they were informed in detail about the events in Cyprus. The task force began to prepare combat orders. And at 24.00 the ships already weighed anchors for their implementation. Recommendations were given for refueling ships in the new environment. The telegrams were sent to the tankers "Leningrad", "Desna", "Krasnovodsk".
The Americans also built up their forces in the Cyprus area. On July 15, immediately after a successful coup in Cyprus, the aircraft carrier America CV 66, which was in the Spanish port of Rota, waiting to be relieved after a six-month stay in the Mediterranean, was ordered to increase the Sixth Fleet instead of returning to the United States. The aircraft carrier Independence CV 62, which was replacing America, was also rushing there from the United States. In addition, the aircraft carrier Forrestol CV 59 came to Cyprus from the Ionian Sea with its escort ships.
On July 17, President Makarios and the Prime Minister of Turkey arrive in London, where they have meetings with the Prime Minister and the British Foreign Secretary. Since Greece and Turkey were allies in the NATO bloc, the diplomatic departments of Western countries tried to keep the warring parties from clashes, but nothing came of it. Britain and the United States did not want to intervene in the conflict. When on July 17 Türkiye demanded from the British, using military force put down the rebellion with them, under the 1960 Peace Guarantee Agreement, they refused to do so. However, the British Government promised the Turkish Prime Minister to take steps to prevent the Greeks from sending aid to Cyprus. At 22.15 on July 16, 1974, the British aircraft carrier Hermes R12 entered the conflict area with a detachment of marines (41 Commando Group). The advance commando group landed at Larnaca at 4 pm on 20 July 1974. The unit was given the task of securing ESBA and receiving refugees. It is now known from various maps in the recently released files of HMS Hermes that she was not the only British warship in the Cyprus area at the time of the Turkish invasion, but one of the few that actually kept Cyprus "under siege". The positions of some others were known only to the governments of the United States and Great Britain.
On July 17, press reports speak of a massive Turkish military buildup. NATO has expressed broad support for President-elect Makarios and the territorial integrity of the island of Cyprus. On July 19, President Makarios, who arrived in New York on July 18 at the UN Security Council, stated that the successful coup was organized by the Greek Military Regime. Under the pretext of protecting the interests of the Turkish Cypriots, Turkey decided to solve the old problem of control over the island in one blow.
As you can see, Türkiye, according to all data, surpassed Greece. To this it should be added that in May 1973. The Hellenic Navy officer corps was subjected to repression after being accused of trying to oppose the "black colonels" regime. At least 1 destroyer commander, 6 submarine commanders and 7 torpedo boat commanders were arrested. In addition, several officers fled to Italy and asked for political asylum there, including the commander of the EM "Velos" Nikolaos Paaps, the minesweeper "Phaedra" Konstantin Costakis.
At 13.00 four (according to other sources three) Greek submarines of the German type 209/1100 were ordered to go to the island of Rhodes. At the end of the day " Nereus», « Proteus», « Triton", And " Glavkos"on the surface came to the island of Rhodes.
At 17.00 the order was given to start the Turkish invasion. Half an hour later, British television shows the withdrawal of the Turkish fleet to Cyprus. The Turkish invasion fleet left the Turkish port of Mersin. It included 23 landing craft - 1 LST, 2 LSM, 20 LCU, carrying approximately 3,000 soldiers from the 6th Marines and the 50th Infantry Regiment. Landing craft escorted 5 destroyers (including D-351 " MaresalFavziCakmak» , D-353" Adatepe» , D-354" Kocatepe» , D-355" Tinaztepe”) and 2 frigates. On the crossing at night, the invasion detachment was discovered by the Soviet minesweeper Rear Admiral Pershin (K-l Malyshev).
At 21.15 the observation post of the Cypriot National Guard at Cape Andreas reports the discovery of a group of 6 ships coming from Mersin. Vessel traffic was detected again at 21.40, 8-10 vessels were moving from the port of Mersin to the port of Kyrenia. At 20:30, two Cypriot torpedo boats "T-1" and "T-3" are ordered to be ready for battle.
At dawn on July 20, after a long and dangerous flight, Turkish UH-1 helicopters landed detachments of the 1st and 2nd paratrooper brigades near Kyrenia. They were supported by Turkish Air Force aircraft, which, among others, attacked the Nicosia International Airport, where they destroyed several airliners. In addition, Turkish paratroopers landed from C-130 and C-47 transport aircraft in the Nicosia region at 06:07. In total, up to 6 thousand Turkish soldiers with weapons were transferred to the island during the day.
At 01.30 11 Turkish ships were found near Kineria, at 04.30 they were 10-12 miles from the coast of Cyprus.
At 02.00 six Turkish ships were found in the area of the port of Famagusta. Later they would be identified as six civilian merchant ships, accompanied by a small detachment of cover, sent by the Turks to divert attention from the main landing site. The entire area of the Aegean Sea was declared a war zone by the Turkish military authorities.
In the morning, the first naval battle took place near the port of Kyrenia. At 0500 hours two Cypriot torpedo boats T-1" And " T-3"left the port of Kyrenia to meet the Turkish fleet (the boats were with worn-out mechanisms, and could reach a maximum speed of up to 30-31 knots, against the original 50 knots). At 05.15 Turkish planes sank « T-1", and at 05.23 and " T-3" was also sunk by gunfire from two Turkish destroyers and fire from an aircraft. Nine out of ten crew members T-3» died. The rest of the boats based in Bogazi do not take part in the hostilities. Two of them, left intact during the retreat in Boghazi, were subsequently captured by Turkish troops and are now on display in the museum in Istanbul.
At 05.25, Turkish aircraft bombed the positions of the 3rd tactical regiment and the 252nd infantry battalion before landing in the Kyrenia region.
At 0630 Turkish "divers" are sent to Pentemili to investigate the approaches for sea mines, but none have been found.
At 07:00, 3 Greek submarines are ordered to dive after the news of the beginning of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. At 07.15 a Military Council was formed in Athens, and the idea of an alliance with Cyprus was put forward as a method to stop the Turkish invasion. This was not announced, but negotiations about the project were underway.
At 0800, an attempt by the Turkish troops to land Glykiotisa, near the village of Tembos, failed. Five landing craft LCU "s with 600 soldiers on them could not land and moved to Pentemili. At 08.30 in Pentemili, the first landing craft reaches the coast. Turkish paratroopers landed on the coast at two points on the northern coast of Cyprus - “Pladini” and “Karaoglanoglu” - approximately at a distance of ten kilometers.The amphibious assault was commanded by General Suleyman Tuncer (Suleyman Tuncer).The paratroopers met almost no resistance and the landing was completed within three hours: there was only a battle with two jeeps which were destroyed in an hour.At 09.30 Cypriot artillery begins to fire on the Turkish Turkish forces suffered serious losses, some of them as a result of "friendly fire" from the destroyers that support the landing.
The Turkish invasion of Cyprus came as a complete surprise not only to the Greek government, but also to the armed forces - many of the military personnel were on summer vacation. Therefore, time was lost and general mobilization was announced only after noon on July 20, according to which citizens up to 40 years of age as a private and up to 50 years of officers were subject to conscription. The concentration of troops began on the Greek-Turkish border in the area of Alexandroupolis, as well as in the ports of Piraeus and Thessaloniki to form landing forces. The Greek government officially announced that if the Turks continue hostilities in Cyprus, they will declare war on Turkey in 48 hours.
At 09.30 the Greek landing craft L-172 Lesbos» with 450 soldiers of the Greek Army of Cyprus was about 50 miles away from Cyprus, it was carrying soldiers to replace those on the island. In the afternoon at 17.00, it reached the port of Paphos and, having landed soldiers, opened fire on the positions of the Turkish Cypriots. The Turkish command believed that this was the first sign of a larger Greek naval invasion and sent three destroyers from the main invasion force there to conduct reconnaissance. But " Lesbos"At 18.00 he left Paphos and moved south to Egypt. Also in response to Turkish landing operations, at 15.00 Greek submarines « Glavkos" And « Nereus"ordered to begin patrols in the Aegean between Turkey and Cyprus," Triton"received orders to patrol near Rhodes, and « Proteus» in the area between Smyrna and the Dardanelles.
At 17.00 a new detachment of 1400 Turkish paratroopers landed on the island, in the area between Kioneli and Agyrta. By 18.00, having recovered from the first Turkish strike, the Greeks begin the first of the offensives against the Turkish forces. But the superiority of the Turkish Air Force allowed the Turks to inflict serious losses on the armored forces of the Greek Cypriots, but 3 fighters were shot down by enemy fire.
On July 20, the UN Security Council, in its resolution, unanimously calls for a truce between the parties and the withdrawal of all foreign military personnel, as well as the start of negotiations.
On July 20, two US Navy F-4J aircraft taking off from the Forrestol aircraft carrier intercepted two Greek F-5As fighters off the island of Milos and forced them to return to their base. Both sides limited themselves to mock attacks, as they did not have permission to shoot.
From the first days of the conflict, the Soviet government took the side of the legitimate government of Cyprus, speaking first against the putschists, and then against the occupation of the island and its division. But the Americans tried to discredit the Soviet position by publishing a number of articles in the New York Times that claimed that even before the conflict began, the Soviet Union expressed cautious approval of Turkish actions. U.S. Department of Defense officials reported that on July 19, the Soviet Union raised the alert of seven airborne units. Some US officials have claimed that Moscow was trying to show its support for Turkey if it intervenes militarily in Cyprus. According to well-informed officials, there were indications that the Soviet Union suggested to the Ankara government that it could count on Soviet support. Following the Americans, on July 20, Agence France-Presse reported that due to the aggravation of the military-political situation in the eastern Mediterranean, they were put on alert landing troops in the amount of 50 thousand people, and in the afternoon of July 20, both the entire armed forces of the Soviet Union and the Soviet troops are ready to land on Cyprus. To this, TASS stated that this message is a fiction, and the armed forces of the USSR are in a normal state. However, everything was not so simple, according to some reports, the readiness of a number of parts of the armed forces of the USSR really increased, the Bolgrad Airborne Forces was raised on alert (apparently it was also with other airborne divisions). But it was rather a precautionary measure, aimed at the event of a sharp escalation of the conflict in Thrace on the mainland, where both sides alerted their troops, and where the war could affect the USSR's Warsaw Pact ally - Bulgaria. In fact, the Soviet Union tried to distance itself from the conflict as much as possible, since the victory of either side did not give us anything. Greece also tried to use Soviet power in its plans. The leadership of Greece, represented by the Prime Minister, left without guarantees of support from Great Britain and the United States, fearing a further Turkish offensive, tried to enlist support from the USSR. Klerides, a senior Greek official, stated that the only guarantee of Cypriot independence was the involvement of the Soviet Union. According to him, the USSR would never allow the Turks to permanently occupy Cyprus and the Greeks would eventually have to rely on them to stay there. But reality destroyed the plans of the Greeks. Klerides met with a Soviet observer, Victor Menin, and asked if Greece could get Soviet help if Turkey continued hostilities. Menin stated that there would be no unilateral action by the Russian military. His government, Menin said, had reached an agreement with the US precluding unilateral military intervention by either side. US Secretary of State and National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger, at a July 20 press conference in San Clemente, said he had made contact with Soviet representatives and reached an "understanding" to prevent unilateral action by the Soviet Union.
It so happened that the Soviet ships were the first to know about the beginning of the invasion. MTSC "Rear Admiral Pershin" (K-l Malyshev), having discovered the Turkish invasion forces, not only notified the squadron command in time, but also continued to monitor them, despite the high risk. The head of the political department of the 5th squadron P.R. Dubyagin recalls: “ The most responsible task fell on the shoulders of the minesweeper "Pershin", which was ordered to monitor the movement of Turkish ships and aircraft in the northern part of the island. Cyprus, which he honorably fulfilled, practically being in close proximity to the battle formations of the Turks, 130 cables from the coast. He watched as the ships of the OKOP (detachment of fire support ships) of the Turks began shelling the coast, and then the ships with the landing force entered the bay of the port of Kyrenia and began landing. On the minesweeper they heard a firefight, they announced a combat alarm. In general, it must be admitted that the position of our minesweeper was very delicate - any Greek aircraft could confuse it with the Turks and fire missiles". The same danger came from the Turkish side, P.R. Dubyagin recalls: “ The commander of the tschm "Pershin" reported that two Turkish destroyers rushed towards him at full speed. He gave them the proper greetings just in case. Apparently, making sure that the minesweeper was Soviet, the Turks passed from him in close proximity, without taking any hostile actions.».
Early in the morning, as soon as it became known about the invasion, Commander A.P. Ushakov contacted Moscow, and Rear Admiral P.V. Koretsky gave him the order of the Minister of Defense and Commander-in-Chief of the Navy to transfer the squadron to high alert. The Sage signal was transmitted to the ships of the squadron and a combat alert was announced. Ships began to arrive in the conflict area. The cruiser "Zhdanov" and the TFR "Marten" located at point No. 12 in the territorial waters of Egypt, without the consent of the Egyptian authorities, weighed anchor and left the territorial waters of Egypt. We met with the Admiral Nakhimov and Admiral Makarov BODs approaching from the west and headed northeast to connect with KUG No. 1 on the patrol line west of Cyprus. Fearing the intervention of Western countries, the commander-in-chief ordered the squadron to organize a thorough observation of the ships of the US Navy, Great Britain, Greece and Turkey. Fulfilling the order, the squadron commander ordered: EM "Pushing" to organize tracking of the aircraft carrier "Forrestal" and at the same time to observe the helicopter carrier "Incheon", and the destroyer "Flaming" to observe the English aircraft carrier "Hermes". The straits of Kasos, Karpathos and to the north of Rhodes were blocked by auxiliary vessels with the task of monitoring the movement of warships. The captains of what they saw were supposed to report to the command post of the squadron immediately about what they saw, in addition, they were warned about the strict observance of international maritime law. The operational unit received the task of staying on the patrol line in readiness to strike at the AUG, command was entrusted to Captain 1st Rank N.I. Ryabinsky.
Serious fighting continues in Cyprus. At 02.30 Cypriot radar stations detected that 8 ships were moving from the port of Mersin to Kyrenia.
At 13.00 Greek submarines « Glavkos" And « Nereus"on orders approached Cyprus, they were 90 miles west of Paphos. Also the Greek landing craft " Rithemno” (in other publications it is called “Rethymnos”) came from Greece to Cyprus. She carried the 573rd Infantry Battalion and about 550 Cypriot volunteers. But at the end of the day he was ordered to stop moving towards Cyprus and go to the island of Rhodes.
In the afternoon, three Turkish destroyers Adatepe», « Kocatepe", And « Tinaztepe"Sent to Paphos to find out where the Greek troops landed came to that area. Knowing that their transmissions were controlled by the Turks, the Greek intelligence officers in Paphos transmitted a message allegedly thanking the approaching Greek naval forces for their timely arrival. The deception worked, intercepting the message, the Turkish Air Force bombed the destroyers. At 1435 Turkish aircraft spotted these 3 destroyers 10 kilometers west of Paphos and attacked them. The raid involved 28 F-100D Super Sabers, each carrying two 750-pound bombs, and sixteen F-104G Starfighters, each carrying one 750-pound bomb. The planes easily found the targets and immediately attacked them, ignoring the large Turkish flags on the ships. Since the Greek fleet also included similar destroyers transferred from the US Navy, the possibility of identifying them was difficult, and the flags were mistaken for a ploy by the Greeks. All three destroyers were hit by bombs within ten minutes of the air raid. At 14.45 the destroyer Kocatepe"sank as a result of a bomb hitting an ammunition depot. 80 team members Kocatepe died immediately, only 42 sailors were later rescued by an Israeli merchant ship that took them to Haifa. The other two destroyers, having received serious damage, left the combat area and went to Mersin for repairs. During the raid, the destroyers fired barrages and reportedly knocked out one of the F-104s (some reports say two or three aircraft were damaged). Turkey tried to hide the fact of this "friendly fire", and announced a major victory over the Greek fleet, this message was picked up by all news agencies, including the Soviet ones, though it surfaced the next day with Turkish sailors rescued by an Israeli ship.
On the second day of hostilities, all our ships were on the move in their combat positions, but there was a problem with refueling the ships. It was decided to transfer fuel to Desna from the Leningrad tanker, after which it should be urgently sent to Sevastopol for bunkering, and upon completion, it would urgently return. The main detachment, in order to save fuel, reduced the speed to 8 knots, leaving a minimum of boilers in operation. We received an order from Moscow to prepare EM "Flaming" and "SDK-82" for the evacuation of 250 Soviet citizens from Cyprus from Larnaca Bay, to be ready to transfer food for 70 people for 10 days for our embassy.
The fleets of Western countries continued to be drawn into the conflict area. The flagship of the US 6th Fleet, the cruiser URO "Little Rock" (Little Rock CLG 4), according to the intelligence of the Black Sea Fleet, left the port of Gaeta (Italy) and is heading for Cyprus at a speed of 22 knots.
Active air strikes by Turkish aircraft have caused concern about the safety of foreign nationals. 17,000 British citizens lived on the island, in addition, at the time of the conflict, at least 6,000 tourists were resting there, and there was also a UN contingent of 2,188 people on the island. Some of them ended up in the area where the fighting was fought, so it was decided to evacuate them first of all from Nicosia. July 21 at 12:00 Turkey agrees to the British demand to stop the aerial bombardment of Nicosia for 2 hours to allow foreign nationals to leave the city. Escorted by UN forces and British troops, a makeshift convoy of more than 500 private cars and trucks evacuated approximately 4,500 foreign nationals from the besieged capital to the British base at Larnaca, from where most of them were evacuated by Hercules aircraft.
Great Britain pledged to help the subjects of others European countries, as well as the Americans in the evacuation from the island, part of the British subjects and vacationers headed for Kyrenia, hoping to be evacuated by sea. Turkish tanks were already in the city, and the British had to negotiate with the Turks to evacuate them. Large crowds of evacuees gathered on the shore. The British frigate Andromeda (F57) was the first to come to Kyrenia for evacuation from Malta, followed by other ships (frigates Argonaut F56, Brighton F106), while they were pursued by Turkish ships. After that, the British authorities contacted the Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit and announced the provocative behavior of the Turkish fleet, Ecevit admitted that the Turkish Navy had orders to keep the Royal Navy ten kilometers from coastline. The British warned him that they would hold Turkey responsible for any incidents. Turkish Prime Minister Ecevit sought to avoid any action that would lead to an armed confrontation with the United Nations Forces or with the UK. On this, the conflict situation was settled, and on July 22 at 9.15 am the evacuation of foreign nationals from the beach began. They were delivered by boats to British ships, including the missile destroyer Devonshir (D-02), the frigate Andromeda (F57), and they were evacuated by HU-5s helicopters to the British aircraft carrier Hermes. Turkish ships from a distance, only watched the evacuation and did not interfere. 1630 people were evacuated.
At this time, the Greeks decided to intervene directly, on the night of July 21-22, the 354th squadron of Noratlas aircraft carried out an operation to transport Greek paratroopers from the island of Crete to the island - Cyprus. Despite the dilapidation of the aircraft and the unfavorable flight conditions, 12 out of 18 aircraft participating in the NIKI (VICTORY) mission landed at the Nicosia airfield. The Noratlas plane was shot down, as a result of which 4 crew members and 27 paratroopers were killed. But this operation did not play a special role.
The Turkish marines were still stopping at the beachhead. In the morning at 03.30, the second Turkish landing party appeared 10 kilometers from the coast in the Kyrenia region. His mission is to conquer the port of Kyrenia and merge the positions of the coastal foothold with the Turkish Cypriot enclave Agyrta-Lefkosia before the start of the truce. At 10.00, the landing begins, its basis consisted of the 28th Infantry Regiment, which had a large number of M47 and M48 tanks. The Greek Cypriot and Greek forces were unable to contain this new invasion force. At 1100, Turkish destroyers bombarded the Greek positions south of Ag Georgios to break the resistance. At the same time, an attempt by Turkish landing craft to directly enter the harbor of Kyrenia ended in failure.
In the afternoon, the first air battle took place between the Greek and Turkish Air Forces in the Aegean Sea, according to Greek data, they shot down a Turkish fighter, and the second, having lost fuel, crashed itself, the Turks deny these data and say that the plane crashed during takeoff.
At 15.00 2 Greek submarines are still sent to Cyprus.
At 4:00 pm, in accordance with UN Resolution No. 353, a provision for a temporary ceasefire came into force. The Cypriot army ceases fire. The Turks ignore him until their strategic goals are achieved. At 1700, the Turkish forces finally connected their beachhead with the enclave of Agyrta-Lefkosia. Turkish destroyers and aircraft continue to bombard Greek positions near Kyrenia until dusk. By the end of the day, Turkish forces were estimated by the British at 10,000 soldiers, 44 tanks and 88 helicopters.
On July 22, Israeli radio reported that the Turkish destroyer " Kocatepe"The American building of the Gearing type, transferred to Turkey by the Americans in the early 70s, was sunk as a result of an erroneous bombing attack by the Turkish Air Force. The Turkish General Staff confirmed this information only on July 25. After that, the squadron command decided to move the position of the minesweeper "Rear Admiral Pershin" conducting surveillance of the Turkish forces much more seaward. EM "Flaming", catching up with the aircraft carrier "Hermes", northeast of Famagusta in the open sea, found three people on the water, holding onto the sides of a half-sunk boat. As it turned out, the Turkish Cypriots fled from the Greeks, who destroyed their village three days ago, they were at sea for three days, the boat leaked, their fourth comrade drowned. They were taken on board, dried, fed. The Commander-in-Chief ordered to transfer them to the first Turkish ship that came across.
The Americans talked a lot about the fact that there are several thousand American citizens on the island and they are sending an aircraft carrier and a helicopter carrier to Cyprus solely for the evacuation of citizens. The ships arrived, took advantageous combat positions, but the evacuation began only on July 22 from the British base of Larnaca, 466 civilians, of which 384 American citizens were evacuated by helicopters CH-46 and CH-53 of the 6th Fleet to the landing ship "Coronado" (LPD-11 ). The second group was evacuated on 24 July to the USS Inchon and the amphibious assault ship Trenton (LPD 14), the latter taking 286 people. Helicopter cover was provided by F-4 Phantom fighters from the Forrestol aircraft carrier.
On Tuesday, July 23, under pressure from the world community, active hostilities were stopped and a truce was declared. At noon on July 23, seven Greek F-4E fighters flew towards Cyprus, but their movement was detected by US Navy warships, the US immediately put pressure on Athens, and the Greek mission was aborted, they returned to their bases. This conflict, in addition to the military, had significant political results. The failure of the rebellion in Cyprus led to the discrediting of the Greek military junta, and on the evening of July 23, she ceded power to civilians, the government was headed by former Prime Minister Konstantin Karamanlis, who returned from exile. At the same time, negotiations were underway in Geneva between Great Britain, Greece and Turkey with the participation of the USSR and the USA. However, this attempt to resolve the Cyprus issue within the framework of NATO failed due to the demands of the Turkish side to allocate 34% of the island's territory for the creation of the Turkish Cypriot state.
On July 24, Soviet people were evacuated from Cyprus. In early publications, this was the central episode of the participation of Soviet ships in the "Cyprus conflict", it was described something like this. Our sailors acted decisively when it was necessary to urgently withdraw from the country a group of Soviet diplomats and their families, trade representatives, as well as a certain number of tourists. To do this, a large anti-submarine ship "Admiral Nakhimov" rapidly entered the port of Limassol, and was supported and covered by another BOD "Admiral Makarov". Not a single aircraft without identification and identification marks dared to approach or attack our ships . (Aleksishin V. “Notes of the flagship navigator”; j. “Typhoon” No. 2 1998, p. 27.) But in fact, everything was not like that, P.R. Dubyagin recalls: “ The whole day they were engaged in the evacuation of Soviet citizens from Cyprus. For this purpose, the Admiral Nakhimov BPC, SDK-82 and the motor ship MMF Bashkiria were allocated. The complexity of the task was that our people got on the English tanker "Olna". How and why this happened, no one really knew, and where this tanker was, too. In general, as in the war. From the General Staff of the Navy, it was proposed to request the English helicopter carrier Hermes or another English warship about this, in any case, find the Olna and transplant Soviet citizens. Additionally, the Krasny Kavkaz BPC was connected, which managed to contact the English patrol ship Andromeda. The liaison officer from the English skr said that our people had been landed on the British naval base, and handed over a map of the village of Limassol, where Bashkiria eventually entered, having previously landed thirteen communist Cypriots on SDK-82, somewhere she had picked up earlier. It was impossible to enter the port with them.
"Bashkiria" loaded Soviet citizens, through the British handed over food for the Soviet embassy and went to sea. But it was not possible to transplant the Cypriot communists back because of the weather; BPC "Admiral Nakhimov", SDK-82 and "Bashkiria" went to the east to look for weather for transplanting people.
An English liaison officer, handing over a map and information about the whereabouts of our citizens, handed a bottle of whiskey and the emblem of his ship to the senior officer of the Krasny Kavkaz as a souvenir, to which he received a bottle of vodka and a matryoshka in response. A precedent, and what a! We were strictly forbidden to enter into any contacts with NATO members, let alone accept gifts from them. And what was left for us to do if the commander-in-chief himself ordered to establish contact with the British?
In the morning, SDK-82 managed to transfer the Cypriots to the ship "Bashkiria", and she, with passengers on board, headed for the Aegean Sea, and then to Odessa". Although the BODs were in readiness for the landing. The landing platoon on the Admiral Makarov was led and seriously trained by the battalion commander of the 4th battery (MZA), Senior Lieutenant of Glukhover Alexander Petrovich, on whom the epigram was instantly born: "There is no beast in Cyprus more terrible than the paratrooper of Glukhover." On the same day, by order of the General Staff of the Navy, three Turkish Cypriots, rescued by the Plamenny EM, were transferred to the SDK-82, and he made the transition to Marmaris Bay and there transferred them to a Turkish military boat. The Turkish officer thanked our sailors for saving their compatriots.
At the end of July, the situation in Cyprus stabilized, but the Turks continue to transfer their forces to the island, their number was increased to 25 thousand people and 200 armored vehicles. By order of the Commander-in-Chief, ships not involved in tracking aircraft carriers were allowed to anchor at points No. 5 off Crete and No. 15. TFR "Marten", MTSCH "Rear Admiral Pershin", tanker "Grozny", "MB-130" and RFS "Lama" were drifting off the island of Koufonisi. Minister of Defense Marshal of the Soviet Union A.A. Grechko sent a telegram to the command of the squadron with gratitude for skillful actions during the conflict
But do not think that the ships were simply anchored idle. There has always been work. This is how information was received that the Greeks on the island of Rhodes were preparing a landing force for landing on Cyprus. And although this was doubtful, given the change in leadership in Greece, the General Staff of the Navy ordered the ships of the squadron to conduct reconnaissance. Having received an order from the TFR, "Marten" went around the island clockwise, and the MTShch "Rear Admiral Pershin" (K-l Malyshev) - counterclockwise. They inspected all the bays, and made sure that there were no preparations for the landing.
On August 5, at 22.50, the commander-in-chief sent a telegram that the Minister of Defense had transferred the 5th squadron to daily readiness. Connections of Americans and British also returned to civilian life. As early as July 28, after the arrival of the aircraft carrier Independence in the Mediterranean Sea, the aircraft carrier America set off for the United States. Until 6 August, the ships of the 6th Fleet remained on high alert in the area as the situation remained tense on the island. But then the Americans and the British began to withdraw their ships from the Cyprus area. AUG with the aircraft carrier Forrestal moved west, apparently going to Naples. The Incheon helicopter carrier also headed for the Italian coast. British aircraft carrier "Hermes" - to Malta. AUG with the Independence aircraft carrier that came to the Mediterranean Sea was engaged in combat training south of the island Cyprus.
The second conference on Cyprus between the Greeks and the Turks, which began on August 10 in Geneva, ended without results, and on August 14 the fighting resumed, at 8.00 the Turks began to bomb the Cypriot capital, international Airport. They fired at Famagusta from the sea and launched an offensive from the bridgehead in Kyrenia along the road to Nicosia and further to Famagusta. The Turks moved quickly without encountering much resistance. They captured the international airfield near Nicosia, and two days later, Turkish troops reached the border of the division of Cyprus (the Attila line) proposed earlier by the Turkish government. At the same time, they established control over the ports of Famagusta, Bogaz, Morphou and others. On August 14, Greece announced that it was withdrawing from NATO. On August 17, the Cypriot government announced that Turkish troops occupied up to 40% of the entire territory of the island. On August 18, the fire between the warring parties was ceased.
The squadron again set in motion, the Panther and SKR-77 RCs planned to return from Sevastopol were left in place, and the Grozny RC that came from Sevastopol with escort ships was transferred to point No. 15. But this time there was no high readiness introduced.
No sooner had the fighting died down than the situation escalated again. On August 19, protests began in Nicosia, accusing the Americans that they were to blame for the situation on the island, at the US Embassy, the Marines used tear gas grenades to disperse the demonstrators, and American Ambassador Davis was killed from the crowd in response. On August 19, the US 6th Fleet again rushed to eastern part Mediterranean Sea. The squadron headquarters organized tracking of all groups, EM "Assertive" for the aircraft carrier "Independence", BOD "Red Caucasus" for the aircraft carrier "Forrestal", EM "Flaming" for the helicopter carrier "Incheon". Almost three/quarters of the 6th fleet, led by the flagship Little Rock, maneuvered north of Crete. The squadron moved its cruisers with escort ships to the same area. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said at a press conference that the United States cannot bring claims to the Cypriot government for the assassination of the ambassador. This continued until September 2, after which the last ships of the 6th Fleet resumed their daily tasks.
As a result, 40,000 Turkish troops captured and occupied 40 percent of the island's territory. The invaders expelled more than 200 thousand Greek Cypriots from their homes in the north of the country, more than a thousand to this day are considered missing. On February 13, 1975, the leadership of the Turkish community on the island of Cyprus unilaterally proclaimed a separate Turkish state entity in the northern part of the island. Thus, the country was actually divided into 2 parts. Thirty years have passed since then, but all the numerous attempts to solve the Cyprus problem have not yielded any results. On the contrary, a self-proclaimed puppet state entity appeared in the occupied territory - the so-called Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC)
26.12.2017 19:25:02
For more than four decades, the division of Cyprus into Greek and Turkish parts has been going on. In early December, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan paid an official visit to Greece for the first time in 65 years. And, of course, the issue of Cyprus became one of the central topics of the talks. “I am 43 years old, and all these 43 years the question of Cyprus has remained open,” said Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, “for as long as I can remember, one side has always blamed the other for the failure of negotiations. But we must not forget that this is because 43 years ago Turkey carried out an illegal invasion and occupation of Cyprus.” To which the Turkish leader, in turn, noted that, due to his age, he is, perhaps, more knowledgeable in the intricacies of the Cyprus issue. Commenting on the situation of Turkish troops on the island, Erdogan said that no foreign troops would be stationed in Cyprus today if the Greek Cypriots had voted for the Annan Plan in 2004. When making such statements, it is necessary to understand two fundamentally important points: 1) is it really the responsibility for the failure of the "Annan plan" lies only with the Greek Cypriots? 2) Was this plan a viable solution to finally unite the island? Not so long ago, the only English-language publication in Cyprus, Cyprus-Mail, published an article by economist and sociologist George Cumullis under the loud title "If only we accepted the Annan plan." And, although history does not know the subjunctive mood, really, what if? According to Kumullis, the adoption of the albeit not so perfect “Annan plan” would ensure the existence of a bi-zone internationally recognized state, would return to the Greek Cypriots part of their legal territory and property, and, perhaps most importantly, would eventually save the already united state from a permanent foreign military presence. The so-called Annan plan is still considered the most advanced and comprehensive document on the settlement of the Cyprus conflict. His foreign policy support was carried out with the active support of not only Turkey and Greece, but also Great Britain and the United States. May 2004, the date of the admission of the Republic of Cyprus to the European Union, was appointed as the end point for completing the procedure for the settlement of the Cyprus conflict. The unification of the island, according to the assessments prevailing at that time, opened a “window of opportunity”, which was simply unacceptable not to use. The accession to the EU of the United Cyprus Republic would solve a number of major international political problems. First, one of the longest and sharpest ethnic conflicts in world history would end, which in itself would significantly increase the level of regional security in the Mediterranean. Secondly, to one degree or another, the issue of the European perspective of Turkey, an important Euro-Atlantic ally and the largest regional power, would be resolved, which, in turn, would solve a number of problems related to cooperation both through the Common European Defense and Security Policy (CSDP), and along the EU-NATO line. The author of the first, and so far the only comprehensive plan for a comprehensive settlement in Cyprus, was the then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, a Ghanaian diplomat. The plan was first presented to the Cypriot communities on November 11, 2002, but both sides refused to accept the document in its original form. There was catastrophically little time for the development and implementation of a plan to resolve the conflict, since the signing of the Agreement with the EU was already scheduled for April 16, 2003, but at that time it could well play into the hands of the two Cypriot communities in the unification of the island. And so, the plan in its third edition was submitted for discussion by the two parties in The Hague in 2003. While the Greek Cypriots, rushing to secure their EU membership, agreed, albeit with reservations, to accept the document, the Turkish Cypriot side, supported by Turkey, strongly rejected the plan, seeking to raise the demand bar in negotiations with a fixed deadline. As a result, the international community blamed the failure of the UN plan on the leader of the TRNC, and therefore on Turkey. Relevant statements were made by representatives of the UK, the US, the EU and Russia, as well as the UN Secretary General himself. As a result, the agreement on the accession of Cyprus to the EU was signed without additional conditions, and the issue of Turkey's membership had to be postponed indefinitely. Then the “European dimension” of the Cyprus issue began to work. The report of the European Commission dated November 5, 2003 for the first time contained the wording that the unresolved Cyprus problem could be a "serious obstacle" on Turkey's path to the EU, although formally the settlement of the Cyprus conflict has never been a criterion for Ankara's compliance with EU legal norms. Subsequently, only a successful combination of internal political factors in Cyprus and Greece made it possible to continue negotiations. In 2003, the adamant leader of the TRNC, Rauf Denktas, was replaced by Mahmet Ali Talat, who has an image of a moderate and flexible politician, which gave the Turkish Cypriot side the opportunity to stand out from the background of the Greek Cypriot leader Tassos Papadopoulos, who was elected President of the Republic of Cyprus in February 2003 and had reputation as a tough politician. With the agreement in principle of the Greek Cypriots in hand, Kofi Annan decided to resume his "good offices" in order to complete the process of unification of the island before the formal admission of Cyprus to the EU. It is curious that, in view of the acute lack of time, with the equally urgent need to make a decision, the UN has endowed the Secretary General with arbitration powers. That is, in fact, in the absence of a compromise between the parties, Annan had the right to independently propose final outcomes on all controversial aspects of the settlement. And in this form, the plan would be directly submitted to a referendum, without any discussion. The situation was absolutely unprecedented, since, being the chief administrative officer of the UN, the Secretary General de facto assumed functions comparable to the tasks of the UN Security Council, which hardly contributed to strengthening the authority and significance of the latter as the main body of support international peace and security. The ultimatum nature of the negotiation scheme already then raised a number of questions, not to mention the fact that the conditions offered to the Cypriots posed an open danger to the political existence of Cyprus. First of all, the final draft of the "Annan Plan", in its fifth and last edition, provided for the maintenance of Turkish and Greek military contingents on the island, moreover, on a completely legal and permanent basis. The Zurich-London Treaty of Guarantees of 1959 became an integral part of the Annan Plan, thus securing the possibility of unilateral intervention of the guarantor countries in the internal politics of Cyprus and legalizing the 1974 Turkish invasion in the eyes of the Greek Cypriots. This raises the question, given that the legitimate right to violence is one of the signs of a state, how sovereign and viable can a state really be if it has foreign troops on its territory and does not have its own armed forces? The sovereignty and viability of the main state authorities were also called into question. The Turkish Cypriots, for example, being an ethnic minority of the population and at the same time possessing a half of the seats established by law in parliament, actually received the right to "veto" by voting unanimously. In practice, this meant that no decision in Parliament could be made without the consent of the Turkish Cypriots. The independence of the judiciary from this perspective is also seen as very doubtful. The composition of the Supreme Court of the united Cyprus was to include three representatives from each of the communities, as well as three representatives from foreign states (Turkey, Greece, Great Britain). Accordingly, there would be a high probability of a situation in which the final verdict would be based on the will of the foreign citizens. The constituent parts of the future federation could independently regulate a range of issues on their territory, including the right to freedom of movement, settlement and ownership of property, as well as the regulation economic life. In particular, it was planned to establish three central banks, two of which were given issuing functions, and the third (federal) - control. According to experts, the stabilization of monetary circulation in such conditions would be unlikely. And yet, the main danger for ensuring stability in the region was that the model of post-conflict settlement introduced from outside did not eliminate, but only preserved inter-ethnic contradictions on the island, and most importantly, legalized significant, and, therefore, unacceptable, in the opinion of the Greek Cypriots, advantages, which the Turks received after 1974-1975. Among other things, the "Annan plan" was initially based on a significant counterproductive inter-ethnic toolkit. Despite the fact that the territorial possessions of the TRNC were reduced from 37% to 28.5%, a number of the most attractive territories, including the Karpasia Peninsula, remained with the Turks. Opportunities for the return of refugees were also unequal. In areas under the control of the Turkish Cypriot administration, fewer Greek refugees than Turkish Cypriots were expected to return for a longer period, not to mention the economic difficulties associated with the return of real property to its former owners. The fears of the Greek Cypriots were also caused by the "pro-Turkish" model of citizenship of the future United Cyprus Republic. A significant number of Turkish immigrants who arrived on the island after 1974-1975. and non-citizens of the Republic of Cyprus, it was supposed to grant the right to stay in the North of the island, and later the right to acquire citizenship of a common state. As a result, fears began to brew within the Greek Cypriot community that ultimately the differences in birth rates and the close proximity of Turkey would eventually lead to the dominance of the Turkish community on the island. There is no certainty among experts that if the Annan Plan succeeded, there would be no increase in conflict potential in the strategically important “nerve node” of the Eastern Mediterranean. On the contrary, most experts agree that such a semi-confederal state would soon prove its unviability and inevitably give rise to new ethno-political and socio-economic conflicts. Despite this, following the results of negotiations in Bürgenstock (Switzerland), the TRNC and Turkey approved latest version "Annan plan", in contrast to the leadership of the Greek Cypriots, headed by Papadopoulos, in connection with which the arbitration mechanism of the UN Secretary General was activated. A few days before the referendum scheduled for April 24, 2004, Great Britain and the United States tried to influence the decision of the Greek Cypriots and submitted a draft resolution in the Security Council, according to which the role of guarantor of all agreements was transferred to the Security Council. However, these attempts also ended in failure: Washington and London managed to enlist neutrality rather than the support of all members of the Security Council, with the exception of Russia. Moscow, at that time for the first time in ten years, used its right of "veto". Russia's objections concerned not so much the content of the plan itself or the guarantees offered, but rather attempts to exert external pressure on the Cypriots and predetermine the outcome of their will. And there really was pressure, both external and internal. The international media launched a large-scale campaign ahead of the referendum under the slogan "now or never." The Greek Cypriots themselves note that local bishops played a significant role in creating an unfavorable socio-political climate within the community on the eve of the referendum. So, for example, the Bishop of Kyrenia said that anyone who votes "yes" "will burn in hell." Under these conditions, in the referenda held on April 24, 2004, about 65% of Turkish Cypriots voted in support of the Annan plan. But, despite the strongest international and informational pressure, more than 75% of the Greek Cypriots rejected the “plan”. In the future, the principle of anti-interventionism, as well as the prevention of artificially created time frames that reduce the quality of the negotiation process, and external arbitration functions formed the basis of not only the Cyprus settlement, but also the resolution of regional and ethnic conflicts in general. Now the international community has given Cyprus carte blanche, in other words, "the solution of the Cyprus problem belongs to the Cypriots themselves." Even under these conditions, however, the peace process is far from going so smoothly. Even after 13 years, the issue of guarantees remains the most serious stumbling block in the issue of the unification of the island. In 2009, the European Parliament, in a resolution adopted on Turkey's European Integration Progress Report, called on Ankara to withdraw its troops in order to create a favorable climate for negotiations, allowing the leaders of the two communities to "negotiate freely about the future of their country." However, one should not forget that in order to “negotiate freely”, there should not be any foreign troops on the island, given that the Greek armed forces of ELDIK are permanently located on the territory of Cyprus. The message of the Greek side to this moment is: preparation is needed, a dialogue between the two sides on the issue of safeguards and security, in order to decide whether there are grounds for the resumption of the work of the Cyprus Conference and a real chance for its successful conclusion. So far, it is only obvious that if both sides enter into negotiations, standing on the same positions, then the new conference is doomed to failure.
35 years of the Cyprus conflict: who will "glue" the island?In the very middle of summer, exactly 35 years have passed since the official start of the Cyprus conflict: on July 15, 1974, officers of the Greek military junta organized a military coup on the island of Aphrodite and overthrew the then president of the country, Archbishop Makarios. Turkey immediately felt that things were moving towards the annexation of the island to Greece, and already on July 20 landed its 40,000th army contingent on its northern part. The island split into Turkish and Greek parts and continues to be split to this day.
Cyprus is a paradox and a "headache" of the European Union, where it was admitted in 2004, and NATO, where it is not a member. Its capital Nicosia remains the only divided city in the world. Previously, there were five of them: in addition to Nicosia - Berlin, Jerusalem, Beirut and Belfast. Berlin went to the destruction of the wall for exactly 42 years. There are hopes that Cyprus will need a little less for this. Brussels and the UN hope that agreements on the creation of balanced Greek and Turkish federations on the island and the formation of a federal state will be reached this fall or next spring. There are prerequisites for this, but this has already happened in Cyprus: there were prerequisites, but everything fell apart at the very last moment.
However, now the situation is somewhat different. The new president of Cyprus, Dimitris Christofias, elected in the spring of 2008, immediately kept his main election promise - immediately after the election, to return to the "marriage contract" with the Turkish half of the island: less than a month after the election, he already met with the leader of the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic Northern Cyprus Mehmet Ali Talat. The last round of negotiations on a Cyprus settlement took place in early July of this year.
But there are too many problems in Cyprus to be able to immediately hope that the signatures of the two politicians will immediately return peace and tranquility to the island. Today it is already divided territorially, nationally and on the basis of faith.
At present, there is the Republic of Cyprus proper (approximately 60% of the territory and 770 thousand of the population) and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (approximately 38% of the island and about 300 thousand of the population). Another 2% of Cyprus is made up of British exclaves, where British military bases are located. The Republic of Cyprus is recognized by almost everyone, with the exception of Turkey. Northern Cyprus is recognized only by Turkey. Unless, of course, we do not consider the anecdotal "official recognition" of the TRNC by the Azerbaijani Autonomous Region of Nakhichevan.
It must be said that since our Russian Slavic sympathies have always gravitated towards Greece, we have usually been inclined to blame all Cypriot troubles exclusively on the unhealthy genes of Ottoman Turkey. Although this is not entirely true. The Turks brought their troops to the island on completely legal grounds, in accordance with the Treaty of 1960 (the year the island gained independence from Britain) on guarantees for the existence of an independent Cyprus between Britain, Greece and Turkey. It gave the right to protection of representatives of the communities living on the island. Moreover, if they had not done this, then President Makarios might not have returned to power in a few months and not have been president until 1977.
In fact, the Cyprus crisis began to emerge in the second half of the 50s and almost reached the civil war in the very beginning of the 60s, after independence. Then the Greek majority began to carry out what is now commonly called soft genocide against the Turkish minority. They simply tried to squeeze them out of the island. Makarios, by the way, was a supporter of the so-called enosis - from the Greek union, unity - the reunification of the island with mother Greece. Incidentally, neither the USSR nor Russia has ever supported such a reunification.
The whole trouble is that the island of Aphrodite was cut into two unequal parts for too long. Even if a political agreement is reached, it will by no means be a complete solution to the problem. Especially when you consider what exactly is preventing you from "gluing the island together" now. They are trying to make a two-zone, two-communal federation of Turks and Greek Cypriots out of it. No one seems to argue with the federal structure. Moreover, it seems that there is already an agreement on the division of power between the communities. But if only that were the case.
The chronic causes of the "Cyprus disease" are much deeper. So far, the problem of the return of the Greek Cypriots to their homes and lands, from where they were expelled by the Turks, has not been resolved in any way (not even moved forward). The issue of compensation for the confiscated property has not been resolved. It is not clear what to do with the Turkish settlers from Anatolia. Indeed, after the invasion of 1974, more than 100 thousand people were resettled to the island from Turkey in order to strengthen the "Turkish component". In general, there are a lot of problems on the way to reunification.
But there are also incentives to do so. According to the calculations of the Peace Research Institute in Oslo, a united Cyprus can get additional income from opening direct trade with Turkey (the south does not trade with Anatolia) and with the EU (northern Cyprus still cannot sell its goods to the European Union) by about 2 .8 billion dollars a year.
The new president, Dimitris Christofias, by the way, speaks Russian almost the same as his native Greek. In Soviet times, in the very late 60s - early 70s, Christofias graduated from the Institute of Social Sciences, and then postgraduate studies at the Academy of Social Sciences in Moscow. He knows and loves Russian history and culture very well. Although Christofias has been the permanent secretary general of the allegedly communist AKEL, the Progressive Party of the Working People of Cyprus, since 1988, in fact, nothing communist has remained in it for a long time. AKEL now owns several large commercial and industrial companies of the island, including one very solid investment firm. Dimitris himself prefers to call himself a left-wing social democrat or a progressive socialist. He also hopes very much that already this year he will again be able to safely travel to the homeland of his ancestors, to the village of Dimko in the north of the island, which is still occupied by Turkish troops. True, for this it is still necessary to arrange a not quite equal marriage between the Greek Kupros and the Turkish Kibris.
July 1974: how it all happened
It all started much earlier and not even as far back as 1960. In fact, a land mine called the "Cyprus problem" was laid many centuries ago.Formed during the Ottoman Empire, the two communities in Cyprus at the beginning of their existence did not conflict with each other. There was a significant number of intercommunal marriages on the island, the population converted to Islam and Orthodoxy relatively easily. And yet, alas! For 400 years, they have not become a single people. The reason for this, first of all, was religious differences, the system of "millets". According to it, each community enjoyed separate rights in the field of self-government, education, courts, etc.
It was then that the idea of creating an independent Greek state on the lands of the Ottoman Empire inhabited by Greeks first arose among Greek intellectuals. It was called "enosis".
RECENT PAST
When, in 1960, Great Britain, the last metropolis of the island, granted independence to Cyprus, it found itself in a similar situation, using not at all advanced Ottoman experience. Adopted on the basis of the Zurich-London agreements signed by Great Britain, Greece and Turkey, the Constitution of the new state legitimized the existence of two self-governing communities - with ethnic quotas for filling positions in the state apparatus, army, police, etc. The balance of power, established according to the Lebanese model, was maintained by the guarantor powers.
Despite good intentions, the extremists of each side stuck to their national idea. The Greeks were supporters of the same "enosis", and the Turks put forward in response the doctrine of "taksim" - the division of the island between Greece and Turkey.
The newly formed state lived peacefully for a very short time. Outbreaks of interethnic strife began already at the very beginning of the 1960s, and the situation on the island remained quite tense. The growing tension led to the formation of ethnic armed formations, which actually fell under the control of Greece and Turkey, respectively.
CHRONICLE OF OPPOSITION
First wave
November 1963 The President of Cyprus, Archbishop Makarios III, proposed a series of amendments designed to restore the constitution to work. They were completely rejected by the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community, Vice President Dr. Kuchuk. Turkish Cypriots refused to participate in any government.
On December 21, 1963, Turkish Cypriots clashed with the police in the Turkish quarter of Nicosia. Kuchuk comes up with a proposal to divide the island along the 35th parallel.
On February 15, 1964, Great Britain raised the issue of Cyprus at the UN Security Council, and on the same day, Archbishop Makarios III informed the Security Council of the clear preparation of the Turkish troops for an invasion.
On March 4, 1964, the UN Security Council adopts resolution No. 186, according to which UN peacekeeping forces arrived on the island. They remain here to this day.
Second wave
Spring 1974. A new outbreak of terror and violence in Cyprus. By that time, there were about 650 Greek officers at the command posts of the National Guard, coordinating their actions with the EOKA-2 organization, known for its extremism and anti-Turkish activity. Funded by the Greek "black colonels" EOKA-2 repeatedly tried to remove President Archbishop Makarios III.
July 2, 1974 The Cypriot government demanded that Greece withdraw its officers from the island. In response to this…
On July 15, 1974, a mutiny broke out and a civil war began. Archbishop Makarios III was removed from power, and control of the island passed to a group of radicals led by Nikos Sampson, a representative of E * KA-2. The main forces of the conspirators were the National Guard of 11 thousand people, commanded by Greek officers. In addition, on the side of the rebels were: the Greek regiment stationed on the island, several units deployed from Greece by transport aircraft the day before, as well as the EOKA-2 terrorist groups. Bloody battles began with security forces loyal to the Government, police and volunteer detachments. The rebels seized the airport, the radio station, the Presidential Palace and a number of other government offices in Nicosia.
On July 20, 1974, Operation Atilla began. Under the pretext of the impossibility of a peaceful settlement of the conflict and the protection of the Turkish community, the Turkish government sent its troops to Cyprus. The occupation began with an amphibious landing at dawn on July 20, 5-7 km west of Kerinia. At the same time, airborne assault forces were dropped south of Kerinia and at Nicosia Airport. The Turkish Navy blocked the ports of Limassol and Paphos and prevented the transfer of Greek troops by sea.
On July 21, 1974, a naval battle took place between the Turkish and Greek navies in the Paphos region, during which the Greek fleet suffered heavy losses. During tense bloody battles, Turkish troops captured Kerinia, Nicosia airport and established control over the road between the capital and the seaport.
On July 22, 1974, in accordance with UN Resolution No. 353, a provision for a temporary ceasefire came into force. At the same time, negotiations were underway in Geneva between Great Britain, Greece and Turkey with the participation of the USSR and the USA. However, this attempt to resolve the Cyprus issue within the framework of NATO failed due to the demands of the Turkish side to allocate 34% of the island's territory for the creation of the Turkish Cypriot state.
On August 14, 1974, fighting resumed. Two days later, Turkish troops reached the border between Cyprus (the Attila line) proposed earlier by the Turkish government and established control over the ports of Famagusta, Bogaz, Morphou and others.
On August 17, 1974, the Government of Cyprus announced that Turkish troops occupied up to 40% of the entire territory of the island. The next day, Glafkos Cleridis, who temporarily headed the country, accepted the Turkish proposal, which consisted in dividing the territory along the Lefka-Famagusta line. The fire between the warring parties was ceased. It was supposed that a federation would be created in Cyprus, but nothing of the kind happened.
1975 The "administration" of the occupied territories unilaterally proclaimed Cyprus a Turkish federal state.
1983 The so-called "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" was proclaimed, but only Turkey recognized this state. Under international law, the Republic of Cyprus retains sovereignty over the entire territory that was part of it until 1974. The EU also recognizes its sovereignty over the entire territory, considering that the north of the island is temporarily beyond the control of the legitimate Government.
2003 On the Attila line, in the presence of peacekeepers, the unarmed Solomos Solomou, who tried to rip off the Turkish flag, was shot point-blank by the Turks.
April 26, 2004. The failure of the Annan Plan. In the referendum on the solution of the Cyprus problem, held under the auspices of the UN, 75.8% of the Greek Cypriots voted against, believing that this plan does not provide for the unification of the island, but the recognition of the results of intervention and occupation.
2008 Resumption of negotiations on the Cyprus problem between President of the Republic of Cyprus Dimitris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat.
CONSEQUENCES
Legally, Turkey justified its actions by the Treaty on Guarantees of the Independence of Cyprus of 1960, according to which Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom acted as guarantors. In fact, Turkey had been hatching a plan for dividing the island for a long time, and the coup itself was needed to give legitimacy to the Turkish intervention. Although Turkey used the removal of Archbishop Makarios III as a pretext for intervention, after the landing, it ceased to recognize him as President of Cyprus. The European Court of Human Rights found Turkey responsible for violations of the rights of Greek Cypriots.
Now the "green line" dividing Cyprus is guarded by the contingent of the United Nations Peacekeeping Forces in Cyprus (UNFICYP). The hostilities had tragic consequences for the island: hundreds were killed and wounded, thousands of inhabitants lost their homes, about 200 thousand refugees left their homes and went south. The life of the country was paralyzed. Nicosia is the only divided capital on the planet, however, both the Cypriots and the world community are very hopeful that this sad attraction will soon cease to exist.
