Turkey Intervenes in Cyprus and Splits the Island
A Greek-backed coup against Makarios brings Turkish troops ashore, and the island has been divided ever since
Quick facts
- Coup against Makarios
- 15 July 1974
- Turkish operation begins
- 20 July 1974
- Second phase
- 14 August 1974
- Ceasefire / buffer zone established
- 16 August 1974
What happened
On 15 July 1974, the Cypriot National Guard, backed by Greece's ruling military junta, ousted President Makarios III in a coup aimed at uniting Cyprus with Greece. Five days later, on 20 July 1974, Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit announced a military operation, and Turkish forces landed on the island, citing Turkey's rights under the 1960 treaty of guarantee that had accompanied Cypriot independence. A second phase of the operation began on 14 August 1974, after which Turkish forces held roughly a third of the island. A ceasefire took effect on 16 August 1974, and the front lines recorded that day by the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus became the still-standing buffer zone, popularly called the Green Line, that divides the island's Greek Cypriot south from its Turkish Cypriot north.
Why it matters
The 1974 intervention displaced roughly a quarter of the island's population and produced a de facto partition that has lasted more than fifty years: the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, declared in 1983, is recognized only by Turkey, while the Republic of Cyprus in the south is an EU member state. The unresolved division remains a live obstacle in Turkey's own relations with the European Union and NATO to this day.
How we know
The July 1974 coup against Makarios, the Turkish military operation that followed, and the August 1974 ceasefire are documented in Turkey's own state news agency's retrospective coverage of the operation and independently in the United Nations peacekeeping mission's own record of the buffer zone it has patrolled since the ceasefire.
Sources
- Anadolu Agency. 45 Years On, Turkey's Peace Operation in Cyprus Still Echoes · Reputable sourceaa.com.tr · The domain "aa.com.tr" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP). About the Buffer Zone · General sourceunficyp.unmissions.org · Cited as a "reference" source (no stronger domain match). · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
See something wrong? . Corrections with a source get fixed fastest.
Part of a timelineHistory of Turkey27 events · A land bridge fought over by Hittites, Greeks, Romans, and Turks, and the republic that Mustafa Kemal built on its ashes in a single decadeView all →