Today, 15th July, commemorates fifty-one years since the tragic events on this Eastern Mediterranean island that ultimately led to its division and occupation by Turkey. The Greek military junta, ruling Greece at the time, overthrew the democratically elected President of Cyprus, the late Archbishop Makarios III.
Sirens are set to sound at 0820 local time (0520 GMT) as a solemn reminder of the moment the coup d’état took place.
The President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, along with government Ministers, will attend the traditional memorial service honoring those who sacrificed their lives to defend legality and democracy, at the Holy Church of Saints Constantine and Helen at 08:00 in the morning. The House of Representatives will also convene a special session at 1030 condemn the coup and the Turkish invasion, paying tribute to those who lost their lives.
The military junta took control of Greece in 1967. On the morning of 15 July 1974, the Greek military regime, together with their Greek Cypriot collaborators (EOKA B), launched a coup against the legitimately elected President of Cyprus, Makarios III. At the time, he had just returned to the Presidential Palace from a weekend retreat in the Troodos Mountains. While the coup was underway in central Nicosia, the President was receiving a group of Greek children from Egypt.
As the shooting intensified and the Presidential Palace was bombarded by the National Guard, Makarios protected the children and then escaped through an unguarded passage on the west side of the Palace. He fled to Kykkos Monastery and later to Paphos. While state radio announced his death, Makarios addressed the nation from a local radio station, reassuring the people that he was alive and urging them to resist the military junta. As the coup forces took control, he fled the country, traveling to London and the United States, where he called on the international community to support Cyprus’s independence.
The coup gave Turkey a justification to launch an invasion of the defenceless island. In a two-phase military operation in July and August, despite UN Security Council Resolution 353 (1974), which called for the swift restoration of constitutional order, Turkish troops advanced and occupied 36.2% of the Republic’s territory, forcibly expelling around 200,000 Greek Cypriots from their homes. To this day, Cyprus remains divided.
Repeated attempts at UN-led peace negotiations have so far failed to produce results. The latest round of talks in July 2017, held at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana, ended without an agreement. The UN Secretary-General announced in early May the appointment of María Angela Holguin Cuellar of Colombia as his Personal Envoy on Cyprus, who is tasked to reengage with the parties in order to work on next steps on the Cyprus issue and advise him. Holguin completed a previous assignment as Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General on Cyprus from January to July 2024.
The UN Secretary General announced that an informal meeting on Cyprus in a broader format will be held on 16-17 July in New York, following a similar meeting in Geneva, on March 17-18. The two sides agreed to proceed with a number of initiatives, involving the opening of crossing points, the creation of a Technical Committee on Youth and other initiatives in the buffer zone and throughout the island. The meeting is taking place on July 16-17.
The European Commission designated Johannes Hahn, a former European Commissioner, as Special Envoy for Cyprus to contribute to the settlement process, in close cooperation with Holguin.
