the strategic location of Cyprus meant that it saw constant invasions throughout its history the Greeks the Romans the Arabs the Franks and the Turks all vied for it in the second half of the 20th century the island erupted into another war with the local and mainland Greeks and Turks fighting a full-scale war in 1974 welcome to our video on the Turkish invasion of Cyprus also called the Cyprus peace operation voted for by our patrons and YouTube members if you're interested in the history of this era don't forget to check out our second channel for Cold War the link is in the top-right corner shout out to wargaming and world of tanks for sponsoring this video this free-to-play team-based game features over 500 historically accurate tanks and more than 180 million players worldwide and although world of tanks is free to play it is very different from mobile titles and is a legitimate PC game with regular updates and new features the game rewards skillful gameplay and the skill to master more than 500 historically accurate mid 20th century tanks the game has five diverse vehicle types including light medium and heavy tanks as well as tank destroyers and artillery which means that there is always something new to try and experience start playing the game today to support our channel register for the game via the link in the description so you can get a free premium tank and a load of other in-game goodies cypress a strategic island in the Mediterranean Sea inhabited by a majority Greek and minority Turkish population had been ruled by the Ottoman Empire since 1571 up until 1878 when Britain took control over it and formally annexed it in 1914 Cyprus was under British control until 1960 when the island proclaimed its independence but the process leading to the independence of Cyprus was far from peaceful Greek and Turkish communities had different plans for the island and the British had to find a solution which would keep both sides content Greek Cypriots wanted to unification with Greece enosis their strongest organization was a oka which sought to achieve independence from Britain first and then to unify with Greece Turkish Cypriots wanted the partition of Cyprus between Greece and Turkey the plan which was called toxemia the most prominent organisation of Turkish Cypriots was TMT inter-communal Greek Turkish violence in Cyprus was regular in the 1950s to 70s and the constitution of Cyprus approved by the Zurich agreement between Turkey Greece and the UK did not bring peace to the island according to the Constitution the president of Cyprus was to be a Greek elected by the Greek community and the vice president would be a Turk elected by the Turks both of them would have veto power 30 percent of the cabinet ministers and state officials would be Turks and both communities would have high autonomy from each other the Turkish Greek and British armies had military bases on the island and were the guarantors of its independence Greek Cypriots were unhappy with the privileges provided to turn cypriots and a number of times in the 1960s violence erupted in 1963 the violence resulted in the death of 364 Turkish and 174 Greek Cypriots the destruction of 109 Turkish Cypriot or mixed villages and the displacement of 25 to 30 thousand Turkish Cypriots as the time turkey was on the brink of invading Cyprus to protect the Turkish population but a u. s. diplomatic intervention and direct talks between Turkey and Greece calms tension down a bit by 1974 the Greek Cypriot leadership under Makarios cooled down on the necessity of enosis but Greece ruled by a military hunter promoted enosis and cooperated with local pro enosis forces such as Ayoka in 1974 the Macarius government was overthrown by Cypriot National Guard elements led by Greek officers a vehemently Pro enosis anti Turkish member of EOKA Nico Sampson was declared the president turkey issued a list of demands to Greece via the u.
s. negotiator these demands included the immediate removal of Nico Sampson the withdrawal of 650 Greek officers from the Cypriot National Guard the admission of Turkish troops to protect their population equal rights for both populations and access to the sea from the northern coast for Turkish Cypriots they called on Britain to ensure the neutrality of Cyprus as one of the guarantor Britain refused and turkey started planning an invasion of Cyprus at the time 117,000 Turks were living on the island mainly in the enclaves in Nicosia Famagusta Larnaca and Limassol the Turkish Cypriots had a 10 to 13 thousand man standing army and were able to mobilize up to 20,000 they had control of the strategic Nicosia Chaeronea highway which made communication for Greek Cypriots with the north of the island more difficult the main force of Greek Cypriots on the island was the National Guard headed by Greek officers with a standing army of 12,000 men and 32 tanks having the potential to mobilize up to 40,000 men along with that a oka had 5000 men and the elite Greek Regiment elphic had 1200 men the plan of the Turkish army a tiller one was to land in Karenia and secure territories including the Turkish enclave near Nicosia Gianelli that would be a demonstration of force and there was hope that a diplomatic solution would be possible after that if not the Turks would press on to secure the northern part of Cyprus up until famagusta the Turkish army was confident of success since they considered themselves to be dominant in the Mediterranean on sea and in the air a naval Armada of five destroyers and 31 landing ships would carry the amphibious forces while the Air Force would drop the paratroopers and supplies and provide air support for the entire Turkey deployed 40,000 men and 180 tanks during the confrontation in Cyprus Greek Cypriots had the Aphrodite plan which aims to swiftly attack Turkish enclaves in Cyprus as soon as information about a Turkish invasion arrived in an attempt to prevent them from connecting with these enclaves on the 20th of July 1974 The Keg max special strike force landing Brigade one battalion of the Sikh faith fibia Infantry Regiment the 50th Infantry Regiment and one company of the 39th division of tank battalion 39th Infantry Division the whole force consisting of around 3,000 troops and 12 m47 tanks landed unopposed in penta milli a few miles from the main port of Caronia two Greek Cypriot motor torpedo boats the t1 and t3 attempted to make the landing more difficult for the Turks but were destroyed the first land attack by Greek Cypriots was made at 10 a. m.
