Today, Tuesday, marks 51 years since the treacherous coup of 15 July 1974, which was orchestrated by the Athens-based junta regime and carried out with the involvement of EOKA B in Cyprus.
With the Hellenism of Cyprus in a weakened defensive state—due to the withdrawal of the Hellenic Division and internal destabilisation between 1971 and 1974—the junta of the colonels and their collaborators in Cyprus set as their primary objective the overthrow of the legitimate President of the Republic, Archbishop Makarios III, taking military action in the early hours of 15 July.
However, their plans ultimately failed, as Makarios escaped and, after months abroad, returned to Cyprus to resume his presidential duties. Nonetheless, the heinous actions against constitutional order and democracy led, five days later, to the second crime against the Cypriot people: Turkey seized the coup as a pretext and invaded the island on 20 July 1974, causing death, displacement, and widespread destruction.
The countdown to the tragedy of Cyprus began in 1967, when the military dictatorship took power in Greece. The relationship between this brutal regime and President Makarios of the Republic of Cyprus was tense, as Makarios refused to be a puppet president under guardianship.
With the coded message “Alexander has entered the hospital,” the head of the Greek military forces in Cyprus, Brigadier M. Georgitsis, announced to the Greek junta leadership the launch of the coup against the democratically elected President of Cyprus on the morning of 15 July 1974.
Early on Monday morning, 15 July 1974, Makarios was returning to the Presidential Palace in Nicosia from his weekend residence in the Troodos mountains. At the moment the coup began, Makarios was hosting a group of Greek Cypriot children from Egypt.
As gunfire intensified and the Presidential Palace came under heavy shelling from National Guard tanks, Makarios, after ensuring the safety of his young guests, escaped through the only unguarded exit on the western side of the palace. He fled to Kykkos Monastery and later to Paphos. While the coup plotters declared Makarios dead and repeatedly broadcast this false claim on state broadcaster RIK, Makarios was very much alive and addressed the people via an improvised radio station in Paphos, declaring:
“Greek Cypriot People! The voice you hear is familiar. You know who speaks to you. I am Makarios. I am who you elected to be your leader. I am not dead. I am alive. And I stand with you—as a comrade and standard-bearer in our common struggle.
The junta’s coup has failed. I was its target, and as long as I live, the junta will not prevail in Cyprus.
The junta has decided to destroy Cyprus. To divide it. But it will not succeed.
Resist the junta by every means. Do not be afraid. Join the legal forces of the state.
The junta must not pass, and it will not pass.
Now is the time for the ultimate fight.”
Makarios boarded a British military aircraft and, via Malta, travelled to London, where on 17 July he met with British Prime Minister Harold Wilson and Foreign Secretary James Callaghan.
The United States called for support of Cyprus’s independence and urged all countries to do the same, while Secretary of State Henry Kissinger rejected a proposal to support the overthrown Makarios government.
Using the coup as a pretext, Turkey invaded Cyprus five days later. In a two-phase invasion, in July and August 1974—and despite the UN Security Council’s calls in Resolution 353 (1974) for a swift restoration of constitutional order—Turkey occupied 36.2% of the territory of the Republic of Cyprus and forcibly displaced approximately 200,000 Greek Cypriots from their homes.
A further 20,000 Greek Cypriots who remained in the occupied areas were also eventually forced to flee to government-controlled regions.
Thousands of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots remain missing from the intercommunal clashes of 1963–64 and the Turkish invasion of 1974.
As part of commemorations marking the dark anniversaries of the coup and the Turkish invasion, air raid sirens will sound in all cities to symbolise the outbreak of emergency. Sirens sounded today at 8:20 a.m., the exact time the coup was launched, and again on 20 July.
President Nikos Christodoulides, accompanied by Ministers, will attend the traditional memorial service for those who fell defending legality and democracy during the coup. The service will take place at the Church of Saints Constantine and Helen on 15 July, the anniversary of the coup, at 8:00 a.m.
Additionally, at 10:30 a.m., the President of the House of Representatives will convene a special plenary session for the “Condemnation of the Coup and the Turkish Invasion.”
Political parties and organisations are issuing statements condemning the coup staged by the junta and are organising various commemorative and honourary events.
Also read: Mari explosion anniversary marked 14 years later
Source: CNA
