Turkish invasion of Cyprus

The Turkish invasion of Cyprus was a small conflict between July - August 1974.

The invasion came after intercommunal conflict between the island's Greek Cypriot majority and Turkish Cypriot minority, resulting from the constitutional breakdown of 1963.

Between 1963 - 1974, intercommunal strife that preceded the invasion had brought Greece and Turkey, two NATO allies, to the brink of total war in a number of occasions between 1963 and 1974; the most serious clash was prevented through the last minute mediation of the U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson on June 5, 1964.

Turkish Invasion
On 20 July 1974, Turkey invaded Cyprus in response to a Greek military junta backed coup in Cyprus which had been staged by the Cypriot National Guard, whose leaders deposed the Cypriot president and archbishop Makarios III and installed Nikos Sampson in his place.

The Turkish invasion took place in two stages and ended in August 1974, when Turkish troops occupied 37% of the island's territory, which was followed by the establishment of the de facto Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) that only Turkey recognizes, in contradiction of the terms of the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee.

Today a ceasefire line, known as the Green Line, seperates the two Cypriots communities in Cyprus, and is full of UN peacekeepers. Turkey's military occupation of north Cyprus is thought to be one of the reasons why the country is not accessed into the European Union.