NICOSIA (Reuters) -Greek and Turkish Cypriots on Sunday marked the 51st anniversary of Turkey’s 1974 invasion of Cyprus, an event that split the island and continues to shape geopolitics in the region.
Air raid sirens wailed across the southern Greek Cypriot populated parts of Cyprus at 0530 local time (0230 GMT), the hour Turkish troops landed on the northern coast in a military intervention triggered by a brief Greece-inspired coup.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan was due to attend celebrations in north Cyprus, a breakaway state recognised only by Ankara. Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides attended a memorial service in the south for people who died.
Efforts to reunify Cyprus as a bizonal, bicommunal federation have repeatedly failed amid deep-rooted mistrust and competing visions for the island’s future.
The simmering conflict is a source of tension between NATO partners Greece and Turkey and complicates Turkey’s ambitions to foster closer ties with the European Union, of which both Cyprus and Greece are members.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Thursday the two sides would continue discussions on trust-building measures. “There is a long road ahead,” he said.
(Writing by Michele Kambas; Editing by Aidan Lewis)
