EST3ECC Ethnic and Civil Conflict in Southern Europe and Cyprus

Running head: ETHNIC AND CIVIL CONFLICT
Ethnic and Civil Conflict
-The Turkish Invasion of Cyprus and Greek Civil War
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Author Note

1ETHNIC AND CIVIL CONFLICT
Section A: Impact of the 1974 Turkish invasion on both the Greek and Turkish-Cypriot
communities.
Introduction:
On 20th July 1974 the Turkish military invaded the island of Cyprus, an operation that
was code named ‘Operation Attila’ by the Turkish Military. The invasion occurred 5 days
after a coup d’etat in Cyprus (15th July) ordered by the military Junta of Greece with the aim
to annex the island by the Greek Government. The Turkish forces, during the 1974 invasion
were able to capture 3% of the island before the ceasefire was called and the military junta
dissolved after which a democratic government was set up in the region (Stylianou 2016). On
August, the same year, Turkey mounted a second offensive on the island, capturing 40% of
its land this time before a ceasefire was called again and the United Nations Buffer Zone was
set up in Cyprus, which is also called the Green Line. According to some estimates about
80% of the population of Cyprus, consisting of Greek Cypriots were expelled from ythe
island during the invasion followed by the displacement of almost 60,000 Turkish Cypriots
from the south to north of the island (Stylianou 2017; Mallinson and Fouskas 2017).
The aim of this essay is to discuss the impact of the Turkish invasion on the Greek
and Turkish Cypriot Communities in Cyprus.
Discussion:
The Turkish Invasion impacted both the Greek as well as Turkish Cypriot
communities, and resulted in the displacement of thousands of people from both these
communities from their homes. According to the European Commission of Human Rights
found Turkey Guilty of violating the European Convention of Human Rights by preventing
the return of the Greek Cypriot refugees to return to their properties in the Turkish Held

2ETHNIC AND CIVIL CONFLICT
regions if Cyprus. It has been estimated that approximately 20,000 Greek Cypriots in the
Karpass Peninsula were subjected to human rights abuses by the Turkish Authorities during
1975, breaking almost 14 articles of the European Convention of Human Rights as well as
viaolated the Human Rights of several Turkish Cypriots by authorizing a military court to
hold trials for the civilians (Zantides and Zapiti 2017). These reports clearly shows that both
the Turkish as well as the Greek communities in the island were affected by the invasion, and
Turkey played a significant role in the contribution to the misery faced by the people in the
region. The European Court of Human Rights also found the Republic of Cyprus to be guilty
of preventing the Turkish Cyprus citizens from voting, thereby preventing them to exercise
their constitutional rights as a citizen of a democratic country (Binder 2017). At the same
time, almost 70,000 Turkish Cypriots were forced to resettle from the south to the north of
the island in order to take over the homes of the Greek Cypriot Refugees in the North of the
Island, displacing them from their properties and homes and forcing them to face hardships in
the north. The displaced Greek Cypriots soon became very isolated and started facing
hostilities from the remaining Turkish Cypriot refugees in the region who were trying to
resist the occupation (Stiansen and Voeten 2018).
Later investigations on the missing persons also revealed that thousands of Greek and
Turkish Cypriot remains buried beneath the ground. The excavations and DNA analysis
revealed that several riots broke out throughout the island which pitted the Greek Cypriots
against the Turkish Cypriots as a result of which there have been several deaths from both the
communities and several individuals being reported missing, their bodies never found till date
(Erdem and Greer 2018). During these riots several acts of vandalism and looting also started
occurring in the afflicted regions and mutual acquisitions were made for the destruction of the
cultural heritages like old mosques and churches being destroyed on both the sides of Cyprus.
Rare artifacts such as sixth century Byzantine mosaics and twelfth to fifteenth century frescos