Cyprus marks anniversary of 1974 coup d’état

Wednesday marked 52 years since a Greek military junta-sponsored coup d’état overthrew the Cypriot government of the day, which was led by Archbishop Makarios III. The coup was led by rebel factions of the National guard and the Eoka-B paramilitary organisation, and had been ordered by Dimitrios Ioannidis, one of the leading figures in Greece’s ruling military junta of the day. On July 15, 1974, Greek officers led National guard members to capture Cyprus’ presidential palace, with Makarios fleeing via its rear entrance and travelling to Paphos, before being flown from the British Royal Air Force base in Akrotiri to Malta the following day. With Makarios gone, Nikos Sampson was installed as president and the Hellenic Republic of Cyprus was proclaimed. The coup leaders proclaimed their victory via public broadcaster CyBC, saying that “the National guard intervened in order to solve the problematic situation” and that Makarios was dead. Thereafter, the press was heavily censored, with only three right-wing Greek Cypriot newspapers – Machi, Ethiniki, and Agon – continuing to publish on the island during the short period in which Sampson held power. At the time, Turkish Cypriot leader of the day Rauf Denktash said he believed the events were “among Greek Cypriots”, though he did warn Turkish Cypriots not to go outside and call on the United Nations peacekeeping force in Cyprus (Unficyp), to take extra measures to ensure Turkish Cypriots’ safety. The presidential palace after the failed coup in 1974 EPA/CYPRIOT PRESS OFFICE Five days after the coup was staged, Turkey staged an invasion of the island’s north, saying this action was in line with its responsibilities as a guarantor power of Cyprus. Sampson was forced to resign on July 23, with Glafcos Clerides leading the Republic of Cyprus’ government until Makarios returned on December 7. Clerides later served as president in his own right between 1993 and 2003. Turkey had by the end of the summer taken control of nearly a third of the island’s territory, with Denktash leading a provisional administration which became the Turkish Cypriot federated state in 1975. He would go on to declare the unrecognised ‘Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’ in 1983. In Greece, the fiasco in Cyprus led senior military officers to withdraw their support for Ioannidis, with junta-appointed president Phaedon Gizikis calling a meeting of old-guard politicians with the aim of appointing a national unity government with the aim of leading the country to democratic elections. On July 23, 1974, Gizikis invited Kostas Karamanlis to lead the government, with democratic elections being held on November 17. Those elections were won by Karamanlis’ New Democracy party. The archbishopric damaged in the coup Political parties commemorated the anniversary on Wednesday, with Disy saying said that the coup “paved the way for the Turkish invasion and the ongoing occupation of our homeland”. It added that “the occupation, the uprooting, the missing, and the division of our homeland continue to remind us of the heavy price of division, fanaticism, and political violence”. Looking ahead, it said that “we must safeguard democracy, strengthen unity, and reject any form of extremist behaviour which undermines democratic institutions and social cohesion”. “Disy remains fully committed to the principles of democracy, the rule of law, and the Republic of Cyprus’ European path. With a sense of responsibility, we reaffirm our commitment to continue the fight, with unity and in earnest, for a sustainable and functional solution to the Cyprus problem,” it said. Akel, meanwhile, described the coup as “the greatest betrayal suffered by Cyprus and its people”, and said that “the fascist coup by the Athens junta and Eoka-B gave the baton to Turkey to invade our island”. “The Cypriot people remember today the tanks which, on the orders of the junta, turned against the presidential palace, the archbishopric, and other state buildings to overthrow democratic legitimacy and assassinate the democratically elected president of the country,” it said. It added that people on Wednesday would “remember the hordes of the grisly Eoka-B which invaded every village and neighbourhood of Cyprus, murdering, torturing, and arresting leftist and democratic Cypriots”. “The coup to overthrow the Makarios government was not ‘foolish’, but conscious complicity in the Nato plan to dismember our homeland, and that is why it was followed by the Turkish invasion and the de facto partition of the island and our people,” it said. It stressed that the coup was “an illegal terrorist action undertaken by a sad minority which, with the dollars of betrayal, turned against the entire people and the legitimate government of the country”. “Their betrayal continued as, with the outbreak of the invasion, the coup plotters abandoned the battlefields, hid in the rear, and engaged in the murders of leftists, Makarios supporters, and civilian Turkish Cypriots, leaving the children of our people left to be unfairly confronted by Attila,” it said. It added that “the shame of betrayal will forever accompany the fascists in Greece and Cyprus who brought our homeland and its people to bloodshed”. Diko said that the day constitutes an “active warning of what can happen when fanaticism, political blindness, betrayal, and contempt for democratic legitimacy are turned into action”. “The coup against the legitimate government of Archbishop Makarios was treason and an organised attack against the Republic of Cyprus, the constitutional order, and the Cypriot people’s democratic will,” it said. It added that it “unequivocally condemns the treacherous coup” and “honours those who resisted to defend the Republic, legality, and freedom”. “The coup weakened the Republic of Cyprus, divided the people, and paved the way for the Turkish invasion of July 20, 1974. The consequences of the twin crimes remain to this day: occupation, refugees, missing persons, enclaved persons, usurpation of property, and systematic violations of human rights,” it said. As such, it added, “history cannot be rewritten to serve political expediency”, and said that “defending historical truth is a responsibility we have towards younger generations and an essential condition for safeguarding democratic normality”.