Turkish invasion of Cyprus

The Turkish invasion of Cyprus was the military operation that Turkey launched on 20 July 1974 and carried out in two phases over the following month. Turkey calls it the Cyprus Peace Operation or Operation Atilla, presenting it as a peacekeeping action under the 1960 treaty arrangements. It followed a coup by the Cypriot National Guard and EOKA B, sponsored by the military junta in Greece, which deposed President Makarios III five days earlier. Turkish forces first captured about 3 percent of the island before a ceasefire, then enlarged their beachhead in August 1974 and took roughly 36 percent. The ceasefire line became the United Nations buffer zone, often called the Green Line, and still divides the island. About 150,000 people were displaced from the north, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus declared independence in 1983, recognised only by Turkey.