The Turks did indeed invade Cyprus 50 years ago, say Greek Cypriots

​On July 20 1974 Turkish forces landed on the north of the Mediterranean island, an event that Turkish Cypriots say was an intervention – not an invasion – after a Greek coup d’etat there.

Last week Lord Kilclooney (the former Ulster Unionist MP John Taylor) denounced our use of the word invasion in the headline of the previous week, on the anniversary of the landings. He bought a holiday home there in 1972 and that Turkey “had little option to send in Turkish troops to rescue the Turkish Cypriots” who were being murdered by “their fellow Greek Cypriots”.

Click here to read our report on the half century of the 1974 Turkish landings and click here to read our story about unionists who support the Turkish Cypriot north of the island.

In this article we look at the Greek view of what happened in 1974, since which the island has been divided.

On last month’s anniversary, 200 or so Greek Cypriots held a protest outside the Turkish Embassy in central London. Amid chants of ‘No more Turkish occupation’ and ‘Turkish troops out of Cyprus’, members of the National Federation of Cypriots (NFC) handed in a letter of resolution to the embassy, which was guarded by armed police.

Police also separated the NFC demonstrators from a smaller contingent of around 40 counter-protesters who waved the Turkish flag and that of self-styled Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).

The president of the NFC in the UK, Christos Karaolis, said: “We want to send a really clear message that after 50 years of Turkish occupation in Cyprus, we don’t forget, and actually, we still want to see the island reunited.”

He also said: “Let’s get the troops out of the island and let’s reunite the island.”

Mr Karaolis described the NFC as the acknowledged voice of the 300,000 citizens of Cypriot origin in the UK. He told the News Letter: “You were indeed correct in your article of Saturday 20 July to describe it as an invasion – it is a settled matter of international law and UK law. Several High Court judgements, as recently as 2010 have referred to the Turkish invasion.”

Mr Karaolis added: “I understand the need for political balance so can appreciate why you published the views of John Taylor, although I disagree with the narrative he portrays. As a third generation Cypriot myself, the continued occupation remains a sore wound for the Cypriot diaspora in the UK across generations.”

The web version of this article will include a video of Lydia Demetriou, a Greek Cypriot, who spoke to a News Letter journalist from a protest at the harbour in Paphos, Cyprus, on 50th anniversary. Her family lost its home.

Many such homes have long ago been given over to new owners, some of the British expats or holiday home owners. For decades, it was not possible to cross from the Republic of Cyprus (the EU-recognised south) to the TRNC. Now it is, and former owners or descendants of former owners of homes that transferred ownership sometimes travel to the north of the island and confront the people who now live in such properties.

Mr Karaolis says: “My grandparents and parents lost their homes in the north of the island as a result of the Turkish invasion.”

He believes that the UK has a “very special obligation to Cyprus” because of its historic ties with the island: “The new Labour government needs to be taking steps to get Turkey back to the negotiating table on the agreed UN framework of a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation. We have a good relationship with Turkey as the UK – let’s use that to figure out how we get Turkey back to the table on the agreed UN framework.”

In 2004, however, it was Greek Cypriots who in a referendum rejected a UN proposal to reunite the island, while Turkish Cypriots endorsed the plan.

The bitter division in perceptions was evident at the anniversary gathering at the embassy. Counter-protesters chanted “Thank you Turkey for saving us” and “50 years of peace”.

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• Later this month: Ben Lowry on Cyprus and NI