This is how jihad has worked throughout history: “Turkey’s 1974 invasion took more than a third of the island and expelled more than 160,000 Greek Cypriots to the south.”
The seizure of territory and expulsion or forced conversion of its inhabitants, along with the dhimmitude imposed on the rest, created what we know today as the Islamic world. It’s still happening, but the West refuses to see it for what it is.
“One part mourns, another celebrates as Cyprus marks 50 years since split,” Reuters, July 20, 2024:
Air raid sirens wailed across Cyprus’s ethnically-split capital Nicosia at dawn on Saturday as Greek Cypriots mourned, and Turkish Cypriots celebrated 50 years since Turkey invaded part of the island in response to a brief Greek-inspired coup.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis were due to separately attend events on either side of the split island, showing their respective support for the rival sides.
The NATO allies have a series of disputes including Cyprus. Though relations have recently thawed between Turkey and Greece, Cyprus remains an emotional trigger.
Erdogan was to observe a celebratory military parade in north Nicosia marking what Turkey describes as a “peace and freedom operation.”
In the south, church memorial services mourned the dead, and Mitsotakis was due to attend an event on Saturday evening marking what Greek Cypriots call a “black anniversary.”…
Turkey’s 1974 invasion took more than a third of the island and expelled more than 160,000 Greek Cypriots to the south….
SC says
I’ll guarantee when the EU stole money from Cypriot bank accounts they didnt dare touch the banks in the north.
GE says
Thank you very much for the article. As someone with family members in Limassol, their safety is a constant worry. Between Hezbollah’s recent threats and the snake Erdogan right next door waiting to make a move on the rest of Cyprus, we are very concerned.
I hope someday we’ll see the Turkish squatters kicked out—
࿗Infidel࿘ says
It’s a shame that neither NATO nor the EU has forced Turkey out of Cyprus
Larry Alvarado says
I don’t get it, what stops the Greek gov from from expelling the Turkeys? War? Is the Greek gov afraid? What has happened to the strength of Greece?
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Don’t want to offend any Greeks here, but I think militarily, Greece is a weaker country. Not the country of Achilles or Leonidas. If there were any actual war b/w Turkey & Greece, Turkey would win
GE says
No offense taken, Infidel!
I agree with you. Turkey holds a definite advantage militarily, not to mention Turkey has a population of about 85 million
and Greece only has 10 million.
MAKE GREECE GREAT AGAIN!!!
gravenimage says
I think your analysis is sadly correct, Infidel, I wish it were not, of course. But the rest of Europe–and NATO–should have come to Greece’s aid. That they did not is shameful.
gravenimage says
Me too, GreekEmpress.
Jack Reynolds says
Moldova and Armenia have both stated their intent to join NATO. When they do NATO will have far less use for Turkey and its days as a member will be numbered.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Armenia is pretty inaccessible to NATO if Turkey ain’t a part of it, and I think Russia could be as hostile to Georgia joining NATO – although maybe not as much as Ukraine. Their 2 big problems w/ Ukraine joining NATO would have been:
➤ NATO gaining control of Sevastopol, the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, which was previously shared w/ Ukraine. The annexation of Crimea pretty much thwarted that
➤ NATO missiles in Ukraine would have had Moscow within range. The US threw a hissy fit in 1964 when the Soviets had missiles in Cuba. Those would have been farther from DC than NATO missiles near, say Belgorod, would be from Moscow
Moldova joining NATO doesn’t add a thing to NATO, since Romania is already a member. All it would do is rile up the Transnistrian Republic, which runs a de-facto separatist Russian state b/w Moldova and Ukraine, somewhat similar to South Ossetia, Donetsk and Luhansk, and potentially plunge that country into civil war
Like I noted yesterday, the only way to make Turkey useless to NATO and end their bargaining advantage for good is resolving issues w/ Russia. Unfortunately, the mishandling of their relationship by the Western foreign policy establishments has driven them into the arms of Beijing, and neutered every sanction that we could have had against not just Beijing, but also Pyongyang & Teheran. For instance, Iran is now a part of SCO, & could join BRICS, making their international isolation impossible this time around
Mick says
The US held joint military exercises with Armenia the month and the EU has just started to fund their military – €10m.
France supplied weapons early this year.
Too late to save Nagorno Karabakh, but maybe enough to deter the Azerbaikan – Turkey – Israel axis.
Condor says
This article fails to tell what led up to Turkey dividing Cyprus. I was USAF stationed at Incirlik Common Defense Installation, Turkey, which was under Turkish martial law, during this incident. Prior to the Turk invasion, Greek senior military officers were reported to have arrive in Cyprus wearing civilian clothes and an overthrow of the Cyprus government commenced in a Greek-sponsored-coup along with the Cypriot National Guard, on July 15, 1974. Archbishop Makarios, the first President of Cyprus between 1960 and July 1974, managed to escape the island and traveled straight to the United Nations to plead his case.
The Turks flew old F-100 fighter jets to Incirlik, loaded them with napalm, their favorite weapon, and gave Greece two weeks to restore the original government. The USAF evacuated its F-4 Phantom fighter aircraft back to their home base at Torrejon Air Base, Spain. The F-4s were always TDY to Incirlik because Incirlik was not a NATO base and the Turks could order the USAF to pack up and leave in 72-hours any time the Turks chose. Greece and Turkey were openly threatening to go to war with each other over Cyprus.
The Air Force painted vehicle headlights with blue water color paint to dim them at night and when passing a Turkish perimeter guard at night in a vehicle, we had to shine a flashlight with a specified color-of-the-day lens to verify we were friendly.
I was working midnight shift on the flight line and at 6:00 AM on the deadline day, the Turks launched their attack with F-100 fighter jets and C-47 aircraft carrying paratroopers. No NATO supplied weapons were used. The distance from Incirlik to the capital of Cyprus, Nicosia, is about 150 air miles. Later that night we could see the orange glow on the horizon from the fires on Cyprus.
The United States worked together with Glafcos Clerides, a Cypriot statesman, who served as President of Cyprus in 1974 and from 1993 to 2003, to prevent Makarios’ return as the island’s legitimate president. Turkey had the lawful right to intervene in accordance with the rights granted to it by Cyprus’ independence treaties.
JS says
The question should be why were the Turks in Cypress to begin with. How many nations do they are their co- religionists illegally occupy today?
gravenimage says
Condor–with all respect–the claim that Turkey sized norhtern Cyrus and turned her Cathedrals into Mosques was because they wanted to restore democracy is just risible.
Condor says
What democracy. Turkey claimed full Turkish control over the northern portion of Cyprus. Greeks can do what ever they want in the southern portion of Cyprus.
Like I said above, mainland Turkey was under military martial law at that time. Military checkpoints along major roads. Any surprise they treated Northern Cyprus the same?
Chandra Rangnath says
The island of Cyprus was and should be a European Christian (mainly Greek Orthodox but also a few other denominations) nation. As such, the Turkish Muslims of the island cannot claim any piece of the territory but can live peacefully as citizens of the Republic of Cyprus. There are so many Christian nations in Europe that have a significant Muslim population. Are the Muslims going to claim their own independent territory out of each one of these nations ?
The Turkish military invasion was driven by purely Islamic religious sentiments — a Muslim cannot be ruled by a non-Muslim.
Well, Turkiye’s hand was strengthened by US’s support for it as an ally and, by Turkiye’s membership of the NATO, as well as by Greece’s relatively weaker military capability. If only other European Christian nations had come to Greece’s rescue, Turkey would be dirt. The pity is, European nations have Christianity on their tongue, hedonism in their heart and Wokism on their spine.
There was an item in the past week on Jihad watch regarding should Turkiye be a member of NATO at all, and, I thought that’s the moot question NATO, EU and United States should be asking right now.
I couldn’t believe when I read on the news that Turkiye were opposing Sweden’s application to join NATO !! Hello…?
Billy Corr says
“Each man is author of all that the Sovereign doth” wrote Thomas Hobbes, a man who had lived
through a bloody civil war, and this grim aphorism is undeniably true of the
politically-suicidal Greek Cypriots.
Right up to the time of the Turkish invasion, the appallingly duplicitous and mendacious Makarios did
everything in his power to undermine the “utopian” Cypriot constitution so painfully negotiated
by the British, the Greeks and the Turks; then the unapologetically murderous Nikos Sampson won
an election with the simply-grasped slogan “Kill the Turks” and then the Greek plotters tried their best
to slay Makarios (who was rescued at the last moment by the ever-forgiving British, his old foes.)
Only then did the Turks invade and only then did the really widespread killings begin..
A minor detail is that LBJ, a President whom few Americans remember with much fondness, tried his
very best to cajole and bully the Greeks into agreeing to a bloodless partition of Cyprus. His efforts
were, sadly, in vain.
Partition came soon afterwards, of course, but at a hideous price.
These, days, both parts of Cyprus are excellent places to vacation or to buy a villa.
Greek Cyprus has plenty of dodgy banks and Russian oligarchic money sloshing around.
Turkish Cyprus is amply provided with “universities” issuing gullible Third World students
with internationally-unrecognized and therefore-worthless “degrees”.
Billy Corr says
Even the Turkish Cypriots feel that they have to draw a line somewhere:
https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/fake-diploma-scandal-rocks-turkish-cypriot-universities-191589
Billy Corr says
https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/fake-diploma-scandal-rocks-turkish-cypriot-universities-191589
gravenimage says
Cyprus: Turks celebrate, Greeks mourn 50th anniversary of illegal occupation of northern part of country
…………………………….
It is appalling that Europe did nothing about this Jihad savagery 50 years ago. At the *very least* Turkey should have been kicked out of NATO.