Cyprus marks 52 years since invasion as UN renews peace push


Scouts lay flowers on graves of soldiers killed in the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus, during a memorial service at the Tymvos Macedonitissas military cemetery in Nicosia, Cyprus, July 20, 2026. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou

(Corrects first bullet point ⁠to change "Southern" to "southern".)

NICOSIA, July 20 (Reuters) - Cyprus marked the 52-year ⁠anniversary of Turkey's 1974 invasion on Monday as ‌the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities prepared for a renewed effort from the United Nations to break years of deadlock in peace talks.

• Air raid ​sirens sounded over the southern Greek ⁠Cypriot government-controlled areas of Cyprus ⁠on Monday morning to commemorate the hour Turkish forces landed ⁠in ‌1974, days after a short-lived Greek-inspired coup.

• Military celebrations were planned on Monday in the Turkish Cypriot ⁠north, a breakaway state recognised only by Ankara.

• ​U.N Secretary-General Antonio ‌Guterres will visit from July 27 to 29 in ⁠an attempt ​to revive a peace process that has produced no substantive negotiations for years.

• "We hope the conditions will be created for the resumption ⁠of negotiations," Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides ​said.

• Peace efforts are hampered by disagreement over its intended outcome. Greek Cypriots seek reunification as a federation, while Turkey and ⁠the Turkish Cypriot leadership seek two sovereign states.

• The dispute is a source of tension between NATO partners Greece and Turkey, and is an obstacle to Ankara's ambitions of joining the ​European Union, of which Cyprus has ⁠been a member since 2004.

• The 1974 invasion followed years of ​intercommunal friction and violence shortly after ‌Cyprus won independence from Britain. ​Turkey describes the invasion as a 'peace operation' undertaken to protect Turkish Cypriots.

(Writing by Michele Kambas; Editor Neil Fullick)

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