NICOSIA – Another sad day in the modern history of Cyprus. On August 14, 1974, exactly 50 years ago, the Turkish invasion entered its second phase. The Turkish invasion forces, despite the truce that had been agreed upon, launched a general attack advancing from Morphou to Famagusta, cutting off the entire northern part of the island.

The continuation of Turkish expansionist plans and the repeated violation of every rule of international legitimacy by Turkey, caused the new fait accompli that Cyprus has been experiencing for half a century.

50 years of pain, uprooting and refugees.

The second phase of the Turkish invasion began as soon as the Geneva talks broke down. From August 8-14, 1974, a real diplomatic battle was taking place with the Turks having the upper hand. They demanded the acceptance of the proposal of the Turkish foreign minister Gunes, to grant 34% of the territory of the Republic of Cyprus to the Turkish Cypriots, but not in a uniform way. They wanted the creation of cantons which would be scattered throughout Cyprus.

The Turkish minister had demanded an answer within 36 hours knowing that the Greek side would reject the proposal and meanwhile the preparations for ‘Attila 2’ had begun.

Glafcos Clerides, who represented the Republic of Cyprus as President, and George Mavros, then Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs, in the national unity government of Konstantinos Karamanlis, rejected the Turkish ultimatum, which angered even the British, who, however, swallowed their anger and did absolutely nothing within the framework of their contractual obligations, as guarantors of Cypriot independence.

The foreign minister of Greece seems to have tried to bluff, declaring that “Greece prefers war to dishonor.” In the end, as Clerides put it at the time, there was no war and we were left with dishonor…

The invasion of ‘Attila 2’

On August 14th, the Turks bombarded Famagusta, marking the beginning of ‘Attila 2.’

The inhabitants left the city, hearing the bombardments, and Famagusta was occupied without substantial resistance. After being looted, it was cordoned off by Turkish troops and no one was allowed to enter, gradually turning into a ghost town.

By the afternoon of August 16, the Turks had occupied 37% of Cypriot territory. In less than three days they completed the capture of the Pentadaktilo mountain range. They also occupied the plain of Mesaoria, Morphou, and Karpasia.

Thus ended the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, which had started on July 20, 1974, with the result that hundreds of thousands of people were expelled from their homes and became refugees in their own homeland.

The federation is a painful compromise

The federation solution, immediately after the 1974 invasion, was not even a possibility for discussion for the Greek side, which sought a return to the pre-invasion situation. Since then, a lot of water has flowed in the Cypriot ditch and the federation, which was an advanced demand of the Turks, has now become a banner for the Greek Cypriot side.

Despite the claims that the Turkish side now insistently puts forward and promotes a ‘two-state’ solution, the EU side emphasizes that the only option is the solution of the Cyprus issue according to the parameters of the UN and that it remains committed to efforts to find a sustainable solution for Cyprus, on the basis of the agreed framework of the bi-zonal, bi-communal federation with political equality, as provided for in the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council.

The Turks, however, having consolidated their presence in the northern part of Cyprus, were never in a hurry to find a solution or enter into a process of “normalizing” the situation. Since then, the former occupying leader Rauf Denktash has been saying that the Cyprus problem was solved with the invasion. In this way, it indirectly revealed that the Turkish side was using the talks as a pretext to kill time and consolidate the achievements of the invasion-occupation.