41 years have passed since the operation "Atilla" - the invasion of the Turkish army in response to the coup d'état in Cyprus, supported by the Greek military. The invasion took place in last days rule in Greece by the regime of "black colonels".
The invasion led to the death and disappearance of thousands of people, the mass deportation of Greek Cypriots from the occupied northern part of the island and the resettlement of Turkish Cypriots from south to north.
Since then, the island has been divided into two parts by the "green line". In 1983, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) declared its independence, but was only recognized by Turkey.
Both sides celebrate the anniversary of this event as both a gloomy day and a holiday. Every year moods and events are reflected in social media.

In 1964 and 1967, outbreaks of inter-ethnic strife between Turks and Greeks were observed on the island of Cyprus, 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 over the island passed to representatives of the Greek underground organization EOKA-B, which advocated the annexation of Cyprus to Greece.
Despite the assurances of the new leadership of loyalty to the Turkish population of the island, as a response, on July 20, 1974, Turkey sent its army to the island.
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 Greek division that was behind the scenes on the island and the intervention of the United States, in order to avoid a military clash between the allies. After the departure of the Greek division from the island, the Turkish invasion was only a matter of time.

The actions of the Turkish troops began with a landing amphibious assault(about 30 landing ships and boats covered by destroyers) at dawn on July 20, 5-7 km west of Kyrenia.
At the same time, airborne assault forces were parachuted south of Kyrenia and at Nicosia airport and landed from helicopters. Thus, during the day, up to 6 thousand people with weapons were transferred to the island of Cyprus. After some time, the total number of the Turkish expeditionary force reached 40 thousand people.
The initial task of the Turkish troops was to create a bridgehead, to capture the port of Kyrenia and develop an offensive in the direction of Nicosia to connect with airborne assault forces. At the same time, the Turkish Navy blocked the southern ports of Cyprus (Limassol, Paphos) and prevented the transfer of Greek troops by sea.
This confrontation led to a naval battle on July 21 between the Turkish and Greek navies in the Paphos region, in which the latter suffered heavy losses.
During intense bloody battles, Turkish troops captured Kyrenia, Nicosia airport and established control over the road between the capital and the seaport.

On July 22, 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, the fighting resumed, 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 17, the Cypriot government announced that Turkish troops occupied up to 40% of the entire territory of the island. The next day, the fire between the warring parties was ceased.
The result of the war was the split of the island into two parts: Greek (Republic of Cyprus) and Turkish (Republic of Northern Cyprus). UN peacekeeping forces are stationed on the island.

Turkey very competently defined the boundaries of the new state in Cyprus: only a third of the island's territory covered about 80% of tourist facilities, 70% of industry and mineral deposits, more than half of the cultivated land.
However, due to the status of an unrecognized state and the "boycott" of the world community, the northern territories lost the main flow of tourists.
During the hostilities, according to various sources, up to 4.5 thousand Greek Cypriots and about 500 Turkish soldiers were killed and went missing. About 200 thousand people became refugees.

In 2004 the Republic of Cyprus ( southern part islands controlled by the Greek Cypriots) became a member of the EU. The search for a solution to the Cyprus problem continues, but neither side comes to an agreement.
In the same 2004, at the initiative of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, a plan was developed to unify the island. The new state of the United Republic of Cyprus would consist of two autonomies, Greek and Turkish.
It was supposed to reduce the Turkish part from 37 to 28.5%, the return of Greek Cypriots to their homes (mainly in the Famagusta region) and quotas national composition government.
According to the results of the referendum, the plan was accepted by the Turkish side, but rejected by the Greek Cypriots, since it did not involve the withdrawal of Turkish troops from the island, and the houses promised to the Cypriots have long been occupied by new settlers from Turkey (with the exception of the buildings of Varosha that are no longer habitable).

Army of Cyprus:

The origins of the conflict - the confrontation between Cyprus, Greece and Turkey

The Cyprus issue is one of the most complex phenomena in the modern system of international relations. This conflict has a rather high degree of tension, and the likelihood of a military solution scenario makes it very relevant in the field of ensuring regional security. The Cypriot issue is the division of the island into two parts between the Greek and Turkish communities. This section took place in 1974 as a result of military intervention on, which tried to prevent the process of joining Cyprus to.

The complexity of this issue also lies in the fact that the international community, despite repeated intentions to resolve this conflict, has not yet found a universal model for resolving it. Almost all European states, including Ukraine, do not recognize the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus as an independent subject of international relations.

During the campaigns of Alexander the Great in India, as the island opened lines of communication to Asia. This position, which provided Cyprus with advantages in trade and international politics, also strengthened the importance of the island in the geopolitical context and lasted until the 21st century.

Geopolitical and economic factors of tension in the region

The issue became especially relevant after the discovery of energy deposits in the Middle East region and in North Africa, as well as the commissioning of the Suez Canal.

Russian researcher A. Bredikhin in this context states that the Cyprus issue contributed to the emergence of a stable subsystem of international relations with its philosophy, logic of functioning and unique structure, which is distinguished by a special bouquet of internal and external factors. It clearly defines three levels of interaction: local conflict between two communities on the island itself; regional, which is superimposed on internal relations on the island between Greece and Turkey; global - a combination of the first two levels, on which interests are superimposed major states, international organizations and blocs. Features of the current situation in the Middle East region and North Africa significantly destabilize the modern system of international relations. The situation is complicated by the fact that the processes of interaction between the regions have become very dynamic and this development of the situation leads to the spread of tension to other adjacent regions.

In the situation with Cyprus, one of the key aspects of geopolitics is the geographical factor; in this particular case, we are talking about the geographical proximity of the island to the countries of the Middle East. Thus, the events that arise or will arise in the countries of the Middle East will have a powerful influence on the internal political situation in Cyprus and will be able to activate destructive processes.
A striking example of this is the events that took place in the fall of 2011 around gas fields located in the Eastern Mediterranean region. Large field "Leviathan", located in the territorial waters mediterranean sea, between the coasts of Cyprus, Israel and Lebanon. According to many experts, this deposit is the largest found in the last decade.

In response, Turkey announced the start of its own actions on geological exploration of deposits and challenged the right of Cyprus to produce gas in its own economic zone until the Cyprus issue is resolved. In my opinion, such a position of Turkey is explained by the intentions of the latter to make it impossible to develop gas and oil fields in the Eastern Mediterranean. The energy policy of the EU is aimed at diversifying energy supplies to European consumers. Based on this, the process of developing deposits by Cyprus, Israel and Lebanon is considered expedient and promising. On the other hand, this process reduces the transit possibilities of Turkey, which can also use its territory for the transportation of energy resources. Relations between Turkey and Cyprus in this context can be seen as an act of curbing the development of gas fields in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Based on the foregoing, it can be stated that Cyprus, being at the junction of several geopolitical regions, is influenced by the processes that occur within these limits. This is especially manifested primarily in destructive processes that experience a more dynamic impact.

Another aspect that is of significant importance in the context of ensuring European security and is directly related to the Cyprus issue is the trilateral relations between Cyprus, Greece and Turkey. This factor has a system-forming character, since the Cyprus issue is essentially an inter-ethnic factor in the relationship between the two communities - Greek and Turkish.

The role of Cyprus in relations between Turkey and Greece

The peculiarity of the relationship between Greece and Turkey is very controversial. In the 1970s Turkish researcher S. Soniel wrote about Greek-Turkish relations: "The history of relations between the two countries is the history of continuous conflict." Turkey and Greece are related to the same geopolitical region, the domestic and foreign policies of both countries directly affect each other.

The Cyprus issue is one of the most pressing foreign policy factors in relations between the two countries. Cyprus in different historical epochs has experienced the influence of both Greece and Turkey, which is reflected in the cultural, political and demographic spheres. There are various problems in relations between Greece and Turkey: delimitation and demarcation maritime borders, issues of European integration of Turkey, etc.

After the September events related to energy issues, many experts began to talk about a military scenario for the development of the situation. Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Beshir Atay made a statement that if the EU transfers the right of transitional presidency to Cyprus, relations with the EU may be frozen. In response, EU High Representative for Foreign Policy Catherine Ashton noted that the EU does not intend to reverse its decision and Cyprus will take over its duties in July 2012.

Particular attention in the given context should be given to the process of European integration as the main factor in the existence of the EU. The Cyprus issue, according to many experts, is one of the main obstacles to Turkey's accession to the EU. It should be noted that Turkey, in addition to this issue, has other problems that prevent its entry: non-observance of human rights, socio-regional differentiation, the religious factor, and the like.

Turkey used the Cyprus issue in its relations with the EU. This issue was especially acute for the EU at the time of the entry of Cyprus into the European community. At that time, three projects for Cyprus membership in the EU were under consideration: the accession of a united Cyprus, the accession of the Republic of Cyprus only, or the process of freezing income. As a result, only Cyprus joined the EU, which still remains unrecognized by the international community. Moreover, the process of freezing Cyprus' accession to the EU could lead to the disruption of the EU enlargement process in 2004 and the complication of relations with Greece.

Cyprus as a source of confrontation between the USSR and the USA

In the years" cold war"Cyprus became part of the intra-bloc confrontation. The United States under no circumstances could even allow the thought of a war between NATO partners, Turkey and Greece because of the contradictions over Cyprus, since a new conflict could seriously undermine the eastern borders of the Western collective security system. The Soviet Union, in its turn, he saw Cyprus as a source of instability within NATO and could use it to his advantage in the region.The conflict in Cyprus was a significant threat to both peace and security, in the global sense, which resulted in the intentions of international organizations to resolve this conflict.On Cyprus, more than 135 The necessary balance was also found between the military-political, economic and diplomatic instruments to ensure stability in the region.A special foreign policy climate has been formed, which greatly complicates the use of this problem by other international players for their own purposes.

Thus, it can be concluded that the Cyprus issue has a significant impact on the security system of several regions. A special place here is played by the geopolitical position of Cyprus, which is located on the border of several geopolitical regions. A probable military solution to this problem could lead to significant and negative changes in the system of international relations.

History shows that the solution of interethnic problems cannot be quick and easy.

Many optimistic forecasts about the prospects for settling the Cyprus problem have appeared in the world media. However, how justified is such optimism, because the entire history of the conflict in Cyprus shows that its solution cannot be quick and easy.

Dimitris Christofias, Secretary General of the Progressive Party of the Working People (AKEL), Chairman of the House of Representatives of Cyprus, won the presidential elections in the Republic of Cyprus (RK). For the first time in the history of the European Union and this island nation A member of the Communist Party was elected president of Cyprus. AKEL is the successor of the Communist Party of Cyprus, its representatives were present at all congresses of the CPSU. D. Christofias was educated in Moscow, where he met his wife and where his party career began.

AKEL leaders emphasize that pragmatism, not ideology, is the main thing for them, their party also participates in commercial enterprises and has nothing against a market economy. Such pragmatism provided the party with a broad social base: according to opinion polls, 43% of the population of the Republic of Cyprus are members of the party or its supporters.

On February 28, D. Christofias officially took office as head of state. During the inauguration ceremony, he stated: "the dream of my life is to achieve a just and effective solution to the problem of the unification of the island." The presidents of internationally recognized Cyprus and the unrecognized TRNC have already expressed their readiness to immediately resume negotiations in order to make real progress towards the peaceful reunification of the island.

Turkey has been occupying the north of the island for 34 years, but the Cyprus problem has a much longer history.

The Ottoman Empire conquered Greek-populated Cyprus in the 16th century. Since that time, the migration of the Turkish population to the island began. Turkish villages gradually appeared in various areas, becoming Muslim islands in a Christian environment. Communities continued to live in isolation, cultural rapprochement did not occur, and mixed marriages were extremely rare.

The Ottoman authorities considered the Orthodox population of Cyprus as second-class people and therefore taxed significantly more taxes than the Turkish settlers. The endless exactions and arbitrariness of Muslim rulers served as a constant source of discontent. During the pacification of the armed uprising of the Greeks that broke out in 1821, a massacre of Christians in Nicosia and other cities was carried out, the archbishop of Kypriapos and many other representatives of the clergy were executed.

In 1878 the ethnopolitical situation in Cyprus changed radically. The island came under the rule of the British, the local Turks lost their dominant position and became a minority in relation to the economically strong and numerous Greek community (about 80% of the population).

The confrontation that remained between the two communities did not allow them to unite in the struggle to rid the island of British colonial rule. The main obstacle was the slogan of enosis, that is, the annexation of all territories inhabited by Greeks, including Cyprus, to Greece. This slogan was put forward as early as the 1830s, when Greece itself was freed from the power of the Porte, and it prompted the Turkish Cypriots to get closer to the British authorities. By the mid-1950s, the struggle for enosis reached its climax, the Greeks saw it as the only possible form of decolonization of Cyprus. In response, the British increased the number of Turkish Cypriots and the police (up to 70%). These police dispersed anti-colonial demonstrations, carried out searches and arrests in Greek neighborhoods, which led to even greater hostility between communities.

Realizing that sooner or later the status of Cyprus would have to be changed, the British decided to maintain their military presence there at all costs.

For the sake of its own geopolitical interests, the British government rejected the idea of ​​enosis as a way to decolonize Cyprus. Turkey was its ally in counteracting enosis. In 1955, she declared that the enosis of Cyprus, located only 60 km from the coast of Anatolia, was unacceptable for reasons of Turkish national security.

In the period between the world wars, the leaders of the Turkish Cypriots, in response to the slogan of enosis, demanded that British rule be maintained in Cyprus or that the island be returned to Turkey. After the Second World War, they put forward the slogan of Taksim - the division of the island with the subsequent annexation of its parts to Greece and Turkey, which was supported by the Turkish authorities. Greece and the Greek Cypriots, who tend to look at the Turkish Cypriots as temporary "migrants" and who hoped to achieve the annexation of the entire island to Greece, reacted sharply negatively to the idea of ​​Taksim. The absence of mono-ethnic regions and the active opposition of the Greek Cypriot community to Taksim made partition an extremely difficult task. Therefore, the Turkish Cypriots favorably reacted to the idea put forward by the British of granting independence to the island while respecting the interests of the Turkish minority.

In 1959, under pressure from Great Britain (which threatened to transfer part of Cyprus to Turkey), Greece was forced to declare its renunciation of enosis and conclude an agreement with Turkey on the future status of Cyprus. According to the Zurich-London agreements, the creation of a single and independent Cypriot state was envisaged, in which the rights of both communities were guaranteed by the introduction of a fixed representation in government. England, Greece and Turkey became guarantors of the invariability of the status of the island and the rights of both communities. Based on these agreements, the constitution of the Republic of Cyprus was developed, which gained independence in 1960.

Representatives of the communities of Cyprus did not participate in the drafting of the constitution.

England, Greece and Turkey proceeded primarily from their own interests: extraterritorial British military bases were preserved on the island, occupying about 3% of the island (more than 150 square kilometers), Greek and Turkish troops were stationed. The Cypriot constitution forbade the activities of organizations of supporters of both enosis and taksim.

The developed form of the constitutional structure of Cyprus limited the activities of his government in the field of foreign policy and made the situation on the island itself difficult to manage. The mechanism for the coexistence of communities was based on a disproportionately high representation of Turkish Cypriots in government, vesting the vice-president (Turkish by nationality) with the right of veto, creating separate community courts, municipalities, chambers of parliament, etc. All this not only provided the Turkish Cypriots with a guarantee to avoid future economic and political subjugation to the local Greeks, but also gave them the opportunity to paralyze the activities of the government of the republic in response to possible actions to implement enosis. This form of intercommunal compromise was welcomed by the Turkish Cypriots and supported by Turkey.

The period of existence of Cyprus on the basis of the Zurich-London agreements (1950-1963) demonstrated that the developed method of regulating intercommunal relations is not able to resolve the existing ethno-confessional contradictions and ensure the normal functioning of the state. The proposals made by President Makarios in November 1963 to reform the state mechanism provided for the abolition of the veto power of the president and vice president, the abolition of the principle of a split majority in voting in the House of Representatives, the creation of united municipalities, courts, the introduction of representation in government proportional to the number of Greek and Turkish population , liquidation of the communal chambers of parliament. These proposals were regarded by the Turkish Cypriots as a direct attack on their interests. An explosion of inter-communal clashes followed, escalating into battles involving Greek and Turkish troops stationed on the island. Since that time, the leaders of the Turkish Cypriots and Turkey, which supported them, returned to the idea of ​​taksim, began to consider the division of the territory of the island along communal lines as their main task.

In 1964, the leaders of the Turkish Cypriots managed to concentrate a significant part of their community - about 50 thousand people in a limited area of ​​\u200b\u200benclaves (which then occupied only 1.5% of the island's territory). At the same time, an acceptable proportion of the future division of the island was determined, according to which 38% of the territory of Cyprus was to go to the Turkish Cypriots. The Turkish Cypriots created their own military units, numbering 12 thousand people. Thus, long before the island was divided by the green line, parallel administrative apparatus and the Turkish Cypriot armed forces began to function on it, completely independent of the central government, controlling, albeit insignificant in area, but densely populated areas. Formally, the island continued to be considered united for another ten years, and the leader of the Turkish Cypriots, F. Kuchuk, was also formally considered the vice-president of the republic.

In May 1964, in response to the creation of fortified Turkish enclaves and the formation of military units in them, the government of Cyprus introduced military service.

24 thousand Greek Cypriots, as well as 650 officers of the Greek army, were called up to the National Guard (army). G. Grivas, a supporter of enosis, became the commander of the National Guard. He completely identified the National Guard with the Greek army, introduced Greek military insignia into it and took an oath of allegiance to Greece from recruits. Under the command of Grivas was also secretly transferred to the island in the early 1960s. division of the Greek army.

The transformation of the National Guard into a stronghold of supporters of enosis took place against the background of a noticeable change in the position of the Greek Cypriots on the issue of joining Greece. Chronic political instability and the difficult economic situation in Greece undermined the popularity of the idea of ​​enosis among local Greeks. In the Turkish Cypriot community, the trend was the opposite: under the influence of the threat of being "thrown into the sea," Taksim gained more and more supporters.

After the junta of "black colonels" came to power in Greece in 1967, General Grivas gave the order to launch an offensive against the Turkish enclaves. However, the supporters of enosis, despite the large numerical superiority, failed to overcome the resistance of the Turkish Cypriots and Turkish troops. The conflict dragged on, and there was a real threat of war between Greece and Turkey. At the beginning of 1968, Greece was forced to withdraw troops illegally transferred to Cyprus, General Grivas was expelled from the country. Greece and Turkey have reduced the military contingents stationed in Cyprus to the scale determined by the agreements concluded on the eve of independence.

The failure of the military adventure of G. Grivas and the forced withdrawal of the Greek troops caused a crisis among the adherents of enosis. But by the early 1970s. enosis supporters have become active again. Their main weapon was terror, carried out by the underground organization EOKA-2. An attempt by President Makarios to stop the Greek junta from interfering in the internal affairs of Cyprus, to prohibit the activities of enosis supporters in the armed forces and thus prevent both the capture of the island by Greece and the progressive split of the state, led to an Athens-inspired putsch of the National Guard. On June 15, 1974, one of the leaders of the putschists, a fascist and a fanatical enemy of the Turkish Cypriots, Nicholas Sampson, was declared president of Cyprus.

After the coup, massacres began against the Greeks, who opposed the establishment of domination of the Greek military junta in Cyprus, for the independence of the island.

At the same time, hundreds of Turkish Cypriots were killed in the southern part of Cyprus, and most of the survivors fled in panic to the north - under the protection of fortified enclaves.

Turkey took advantage of the crisis in Cyprus and on July 20, 1974 landed its troops on the island. The real threat of a military confrontation between Greece and Turkey has reappeared.

The landing of Turkish troops, the unfavorable international situation for the putschists and the growing crisis of the Greek military junta, as well as the lack of tangible support from the Greek Cypriots, forced Sampson to resign.

The failure of the putsch in Cyprus hastened the withdrawal from the political arena of the Greek military junta. Power in the country passed to a civilian government, but despite the ceasefire agreement reached, Turkey continued to build up its troops in Cyprus. The Greek-Turkish talks in Geneva on the Cyprus problem within the framework of NATO ended without results, and Turkey resumed hostilities. In August 1974, its troops reached the line of division of Cyprus that had been planned back in the mid-1960s. Under Turkish control was 37% of the island. Wire fences, minefields and checkpoints were urgently installed on the new border, and a mass expulsion of Greeks from the areas that had become Turkish began. In total, during the conflict, about 200 thousand Greeks were moved to the south of Cyprus, about 40 thousand Turks moved to the north.

The Turkish offensive destroyed hopes for a peaceful settlement of the conflict. The Turkish government and the Turkish Cypriots sought to use their military superiority to annex the northern part of the island to Turkey. But the official rejection of enosis by Greece complicated the implementation of the idea of ​​taksim: there was no longer a convenient pretext - the threat of Greek intervention. Formally, the slogan of Taksim was removed and replaced by the demand to create a federal state in Cyprus. In fact, the old policy was maintained, aimed at the full integration of the occupied regions with Turkey.

In 1975, the leaders of the Turkish Cypriots unilaterally proclaimed the Turkish Federal State of Cyprus (TFGK) on the territory they controlled. The leader of the Turkish community, R. Denktash, who was formally (since 1973) Vice-President of Cyprus, was declared its president. The legislative assembly and the government of the TFGC were created, their own administrative divisions began to operate, duplicating the activities of the departments and services of the Republic of Cyprus.

The demagogic nature of the federalism of the Turkish Cypriots was evidenced by the TFGK constitution adopted in 1975, which emphasized that they were "an integral part of the great Turkish nation", and the Greek Cypriots remaining in the north were declared foreign citizens whose property was subject to confiscation in favor of persons of Turkish nationality. On the territory of the TFGK, all Greek names were replaced by Turkish ones. The economic policy was aimed at the full integration of the northern part of Cyprus with Turkey: the Turkish lira was put into circulation, all types of communications (post, telephone, telegraph), sea and air communications came under Turkish control, mixed enterprises became widespread. Turkey took over the payment of approximately half of the community budget.

Ending to be

Special for the Centenary

Tags: Northern Cyprus, Turkey, war
Last updated 11/27/2015.

conflict and Civil War in Cyprus, provoked in no small measure by the junta in Greece, which led to the invasion of the Turkish island, the creation of Northern Cyprus and the de facto partition of the island, were due to long-standing historical reasons, not least the behavior of individual community leaders. Each subsequent conflict provoked an aggravation of the situation, and the resulting division of Cyprus into Turkish (actually, the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus") and Greek parts is a direct logical consequence of how conflict situation developed.

After the insurrectionary war in Cyprus, which ended with the island's independence, and the election of a new leadership, friction along ethnic lines began almost immediately in the government, staffed in accordance with the principle of ethnic quotas; the first noticeable focus of disagreement was the issue of manning the army, the Turks stood for mono-ethnic units, the Greeks for integrated ones. Political system, founded by the agreements of 1960, began to act up, thus, right from the start. At the household level, everything was also unfavorable, and the Turks after the fact complained about constant harassment, both from neighbors and from the authorities, who, without any compensation or notification, took away land for the construction of roads and barracks, and only from the Turks, who stopped attempts to sell real estate to the Turks, for all crimes and robberies did not punish anyone and did not intend to, and even preached from the ambos that “what is taken away through blood cannot be returned.” Already in 1961, the remobilization of both EOKA and TMT began. On December 21, 1963, a flash broke out in Nicosia: a Greek patrol stopped a Turkish couple to check tugaments, a huge crowd gathered in defense of fellow believers, shooting began, two Turks and a policeman died. Both communes immediately resorted to violence against their opponents. Only thanks to the formidable warnings of the USSR and the frank threats of Lyndon Johnson, who announced that in the event of a conflict, NATO does not intend to automatically intercede for Turkey and will not give consent to the use of equipment and military equipment supplied by the alliance in actions against Cyprus, Inonu canceled the planned invasion. According to the official version, 133 Greeks died and 41 were missing, for the Turks the figures were 191 and 173, respectively; according to unofficial data, about 200 and 350 were killed. After the events of 1963, a lot of Turks moved from their traditional habitats to enclaves or to the Turkish zone. In fact, since 194, the Turks have not participated in the work of the government.

In 1967 a new aggravation followed; Greek nationalists, led by Grivas, undertook to patrol the Turkish villages and enclaves, 26 were killed, and in response, Turkey began to concentrate the army in Thrace and the amphibious group in the south, after which it presented an ultimatum - the removal of Grivas from the island, the payment of compensation to the victims of the "patrols", the dissolution of the National Guard, the withdrawal of Greek troops from the island, the cessation of persecution of the Turkish commune. In November, war seemed almost inevitable to observers, but in the end they managed to do without extremes: Greece cut its contingent to the size stated in the 1960 agreements, Grivas was removed and removed from the island at the request of the Turks, but Makarios refused to disband the national guard. After 7 years, he probably regretted it very much. Turkish journalism accused him of a penchant for enosis, because otherwise he would have been better off cooperating with the Turks who did not want enosis, however, judging by his policy, he considered independence the best way out and politically the most beneficial for himself. GNP doubling in 1958-67 and GNP per capita quadrupled in 1967-73, improved living conditions, advantages of a system of political pluralism and administration based on it compared to the regime of colonels in Greece, the threat of a Turkish invasion, against which there are no reliable means of protection it was evident that in the event of an aggravation of pan-Hellenism - all this weakened the positions of enosis lovers, of which already in 1965 there were only 18%. Politically, the Enosists did not fare very well either. In the early 70s, with the active help of the Greek “regime of colonels”, EOKA-V arose as a counterweight to the betrayal of the ideas of enosis, imputed to Makarios, which, until his death in January 1974, was supervised by Grivas, once again transported to Cyprus. With the support of the hardliner General Ioannidis, who came to power in Greece, who served in Cyprus in the 60s and considered Makarios a dangerous type prone to allying with the communists, the anti-communists on the island began to consolidate their positions, taking over all the Enosist organizations.

On July 2, 1974, Makarios demanded the recall of 650 Greek officers assigned to the Cypriot army on the grounds that they were subversive. The answer was a coup led by the organizers of which was Nikos Sampson, known for his deeds in the fight against the British, on July 15th. EOKA-V began arresting the unreliable, the massacre of the communists from AKEL and supporters of Makarios led to about 2000 dead, Makarios barely escaped murder, and fled to Paphos, from there to the base in Akrotiri and to London. The excesses of the EOKA, famous for its ultra-nationalist views, towards the Turks and simply settling scores on the sly led to a natural reaction. Although Sampson officially stated that the Turks had nothing to fear, the coup itself was only aimed at removing Makarios and elections would be held soon, Ankara, apparently having in mind the reputation of the new leader as an enemy of the Turks, immediately condemned the putsch, adding that such actions of the Greek government , apparently indicate a desire to annex Cyprus in violation of the 1960 agreements, and the Turkish leadership intends to take action in this regard. Britain tried diplomatically to install some less odious government in Cyprus, but was firm that the treaty did not entitle her to military intervention; The United States did not express its position accurately and clearly, although the Turks looked back at them, recalling the Suez-56, and in the UN Security Council vetoed the Soviet proposal to condemn the "actions of Greece"; other NATO allies "called for calm", "expressed concern", etc. In addition to helping fellow tribesmen, what is the motive usually in political life in itself never plays any role, from the point of view of Turkey, attempts at enosis with the connivance of Britain meant the possibility of future irredenta in relation to Thrace and Asia Minor - and Greek Cyprus meant a constant strategic threat. Actions in accordance with the plans agreed back in 1960 and Article 4 of the treaty guaranteeing the status of Cyprus began on 20 July. Officially, Turkey qualified what is happening as “bariş harekâti” (= “peacekeeping operations”). At 8:30 on July 19, the Turkish fleet, consisting of 5 destroyers and 31 landing ships with 3,000 paratroopers on board, departed towards Cyprus, intending to arrive on its shores the next morning, and although there were full of alarming signs, such as the early closure of ministries, an information blackout in the coastal zone and the imposition of restrictions on the movement of tourists, in Greece they reacted calmly to the message, suggesting that this was an ordinary exercise, and the US 6th Fleet was not instructed to intervene. What was happening, on the other hand, aroused the interest of another player in world politics: not far from Kyrenia, the invasion forces met a Soviet minesweeper, which then was constantly nearby, but outside the landing zone.
At night, airborne units were landed at different points on the island. At 0630 the frogmen set out to reconcile without finding obstacles, and at 0830 a major landing began during which two landing craft ran aground, but there was no resistance. The capture of Kyrenia, adjacent to the landing site, the next day cost the Turks only 21 killed, and then the Turkish army quite confidently developed the first success, simultaneously increasing the grouping: by July 27, there were about 30 thousand Turkish soldiers, 240 tanks, 400 armored vehicles on the island with air and navy support. By the time of the UN-lobbied truce, the Turks occupied a fragment of territory along the 20-kilometer Nicosia-Kyrenia road up to about 30 km wide.

In the interval between the armistice and the start of negotiations (July 30, Geneva), the Turks continued to strengthen their positions. The Greeks during the discussion proposed a common Cyprus with federal system, and the Turks autonomy in the north and five small islands, which were to cover a total of 34% of the territory, 70% of industry and minerals, 80% of tourist sites, 65% of cultivated land. Hours after the unsuccessful end of the negotiations, on August 1, the Turks launched an offensive, taking advantage of the presence of aircraft and tanks, which the Greek Cypriots could not oppose; confusion reigned in the ranks of the defenders: the participants in the battles complained that while they were fighting, in Limassol the people continued to go to the beach and lead a carefree life, they blamed both the USA and the USSR for inaction, for conflicts between the socialists and the EOKA right in the course of hostilities with the Turks, so that some of the others were shot along the way, for poor training of personnel (“well, what use can be from soldiers who received a two-month training course 11 years ago ?!”), for passivity, stupidity, or even the absence at the right time of seconded Greek officers, they asked why the landing in Kyrenia was easy and calm. On the second day of the offensive, the Turks occupied 37% of the island, north of the "Attila Line", almost exactly repeating the border proposed in 1965 to separate the communes, which ran from Morfou Bay to Famagusta / Gazimagusta. On the next day of hostilities, the leader of the Greek Cypriots, Clerides, accepted the Turkish proposal, which consisted in dividing the territory along the Lefka-Famagusta line. It was supposed that the two communes would become constituents of the federation, but nothing of the kind happened.

During the conflict, up to 4,500 Greek Cypriots and 300 Turkish troops died (of which 50 were on a ship sunk by mistake by their own aircraft). The division of Cyprus made a third of the population of the island (200 out of 600 thousand) refugees, but both sides denied any excesses on their part and blamed the excesses of their opponents. During the division, 50 thousand Turks moved to the north and about 180 thousand citizens were forced to move from the Turkish zone to the south, Turkish extremists from the "gray wolves" played a significant role in their expulsion. In total, 29% of the Greeks of the island and 44% of the Turks moved from their place. It is curious that 80% of the tourism industry got into the Turkish part of the island, and now the Greek part serving the needs of tourists has never been considered promising in this regard. However, the Greek half of the island appears to be more prosperous economically: in 1981 the Greek half had $4,400 per capita and the Turkish half $1,100; in 1991 the ratio was 12,000 and 4,000.