Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday commemorated the 52nd anniversary of the Cyprus Peace Operation, paying tribute to the "heroic martyrs" and expressing gratitude to veterans.
He also congratulated the Turkish Cypriot people on Peace and Freedom Day, observed on July 20, and extended his greetings to the "Turkish Cypriot brothers and sisters" in a post on the Turkish social media platform NSosyal.
"As the motherland and guarantor country, we will never leave the Turkish Cypriot people alone in their just struggle," Erdogan said.
Meanwhile, commemorations continued across the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), where Turkish naval vessels were opened for public visits at Girne (Kyrenia)Tourism Harbour to mark the anniversary of the July 20 1974, Cyprus Peace Operation, according to the TRNC Security Forces Command.
The 1974 Cyprus Peace Operation
Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the UN to achieve a comprehensive settlement.
Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety.
In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece’s annexation of the island led to Türkiye’s military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the TRNC was founded in 1983.
The Greek Cypriot administration, which joined the European Union in 2004, has rejected various UN-backed proposals, including the Annan Plan for reunification, which Turkish Cypriots overwhelmingly endorsed in a referendum.
It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Türkiye, Greece, and the UK.
The Turkish Cypriot side has since advocated a solution based on the sovereign equality of the island's two sides, while UN-led negotiations have yet to produce a lasting settlement.
