1974 Cypriot coup d'état: Difference between revisions

| partof = the [[Cyprus disputeproblem]]

| result = Coup Successfulsuccessful

| commander2 = {{flagicon image|EOKA_flagFlag of the Cypriot National Guard General Staff.svg}} [[NikosBrigadier SampsonGeneral]] Michalis Georgitsis <br>

The '''1974 Cypriot coup d'état''' in [[Cyprus]] was a military [[coup d'état]] executed by the [[Greek Army]] in Cyprus, the [[Cypriot National Guard]] and sponsored by the [[Greek junta|Greek military junta of 1967–1974]]. On 15 July 1974 the coup plotters removed the sitting President of Cyprus, Archbishop [[Makarios III]], from office and replaced him with theinstalled pro-[[Enosis]] (Greek [[Irredentism|irredentist]]) nationalist [[Nikos Sampson]].<ref name=Mallinson/><ref name="TIME">{{Cite journalmagazine |title=CYPRUS: Big Troubles over a Small Island |date=July 29, 1974 |journalmagazine=[[TIME]] |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,911440,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307152514/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,911440,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 7, 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Cook | first = Chris |author2= Diccon Bewes | title = What Happened Where: A Guide to Places and Events in Twentieth-century History | publisher = Routledge | year = 1997 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=FuGrcgcOiXoC | isbn = 978-1-85728-533-8| page = 65 }}</ref> The Sampson regime was described as a [[puppet state]], whose ultimate aim was the annexation of the island by Greece;<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Papadakis|first1=Yiannis|title=Nation, narrative and commemoration: political ritual in divided Cyprus|journal=History and Anthropology|date=2003|volume=14|issue=3|pages=253–270|doi=10.1080/0275720032000136642|s2cid=143231403|quote="[...] culminating in the 1974 coup aimed at the annexation of Cyprus to Greece"}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Atkin|first1=Nicholas|last2=Biddiss|first2=Michael|last3=Tallett|first3=Frank|title=The Wiley-Blackwell Dictionary of Modern European History Since 1789|isbn=9781444390728|page=184|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1QyXCTW_MCQC|date=2011-05-23}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Journal of international law and practice, Volume 5|date=1996|publisher=Detroit College of Law at Michigan State University|pages=204}}</ref> in the short term, the coupists proclaimed the establishment of the "Hellenic Republic of Cyprus".<ref>''Strategic review, Volume 5'' (1977), United States Strategic Institute, [https://books.google.com/books?id=hCfcAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Hellenic+Republic+of+Cyprus%22&dq=%22Hellenic+Republic+of+Cyprus%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=-L3VT_WBEMHKsgbL8rj3Ag&redir_esc=y p. 48].</ref><ref>Allcock, John B. ''Border and territorial disputes'' (1992), Longman Group, [https://books.google.com/books?id=6pztAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Hellenic+Republic+of+Cyprus%22&dq=%22Hellenic+Republic+of+Cyprus%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=-L3VT_WBEMHKsgbL8rj3Ag&redir_esc=y p. 55].</ref> The coup was viewed as illegal by the [[United Nations]].

Greece had established a national policy of ''[[enosis]]'' to achieve the island's union with Greece since the 1950s.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Huth|first1=Paul|title=Standing Your Ground: Territorial Disputes and International Conflict|date=2009|publisher=University of Michigan Press|isbn=9780472022045|page=206|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NIAc-R5fgQoC|quote=From early 1950s onward Greece has favored union with Cyprus through a policy of enosis}}</ref> After 1964, the Greek government tried to control Makarios' policies, and following his unwillingness to obey Athens, attempted to destabilize his government. While the Greek policy shifted to a more cooperative one after 1967, when an extremist military junta [[Greek military junta of 1967–1974|took power in Greece]], it supported the far-right [[EOKA-B]] group against Makarios.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Doyle|first1=Michael W.|last2=Sambanis|first2=Nicholas|title=Making War and Building Peace: United Nations Peace Operations|date=2011|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=9781400837694|pages=263–4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aiU--drvaxgC&q=1967+ultranationalist+greece&pg=PA265}}</ref> [[Dimitrios Ioannidis]], the ''de facto'' leader of the junta, believed that Makarios was no longer a true supporter of enosis, and suspected him of being a communist sympathizer.<ref name="TIME"/> Between 1971 and 1974, five plans were prepared by the Greek government to overthrow Makarios' government.<ref>Athanasopulos 2001, [https://books.google.com/books?id=QnlyjuKJa8YC&dq=1974+cypriot+coup&q=1967#v=onepage&q=EOKA-B&f=false p. 152].</ref>

In response, [[Rauf Denktaş]], the leader of the Turkish Cypriot AdministrationCypriots, stated that he believed that the events were among Greek Cypriots and called for Turkish Cypriots not to go out, as well as for [[UNFICYP]] to take extensive security measures for Turkish Cypriots.<ref>{{cite news|title=Türk Birliği Alarma Geçti|publisher=Milliyet|date=16 July 1974|page=7|language=tr}}</ref> The Cypriot National Guard made no attempts to enter the [[Turkish Cypriot enclaves]], but raided Greek and Turkish Cypriot homes alike in mixed villages to confiscate weapons. The Turkish government brought claims that ammunition was being carried to Cyprus by [[Olympic Air]] to the attention of UNFICYP.<ref name=milara/> Whether the Turkish Cypriots suffered as a direct result of the coup remains controversial, but Sampson was seen as an untrustworthy figure due to his pro-enosis policies and "brutal" role against Turkish Cypriots in 1963.<ref name=hoff/>

Following the coup, the newly established junta started a crackdown on Makarios supporters, resulting in a number of deaths and a "significant number", according to Frank Hoffmeister, being detained. The number of deaths from the coup remains a disputed issue,<ref name=hoff/> as the Republic of Cyprus lists the deaths due to the coup among the missing due to the Turkish invasion. According to Haralambos Athanasopulos, at least 500 Greek Cypriots have been placed on the list of 1617 Greek Cypriot missing people and their deaths blamed on the Turks and Turkish Cypriots.<ref name="McFarland">{{cite book|last1=Athanasopulos|first1=Haralambos|title=Greece, Turkey and the Aegean Sea: A Case Study in International Law|date=2001|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786450039|page=15|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QnlyjuKJa8YC&q=1974+cypriot+coup&pg=PA15}}</ref> According to ''[[Milliyet]]'' on 19 July 1974, violent clashes had broken out in [[Paphos]], and even excluding Paphos, the death toll due to Greek Cypriot infighting was about 300 civilians and 30 Greek soldiers, whose bodies were brought to Athens.<ref name=milara>{{cite news|title=Kıbrıs'ta Türk Evlerinin Aranmasını Protesto Ettik|publisher=Milliyet|date=19 July 1974|page=7|language=tr}}</ref>

In response to the coup, on 20 July 1974 [[Turkey]] [[Turkish invasion of Cyprus|invaded the island]] claimingsaying that the action was compliant with the [[Treaty of Guarantee (1960)|1960 Treaty of Guarantee]],<ref name="Mirbagheri2010">{{cite book|author=Farid Mirbagheri|title=Historical Dictionary of Cyprus|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f82Jn_H4VukC&pg=PA83|access-date=27 July 2012|year=2010|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-5526-7|page=83}}</ref><ref name="Frucht2004">{{cite book|author=Richard C. Frucht|title=Eastern Europe: An Introduction to the People, Lands, and Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lVBB1a0rC70C&pg=PA880|access-date=27 July 2012|date=31 December 2004|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-57607-800-6|page=880|quote=The process reached a critical threshold in 1974 when a botched nationalist coup instigated by the Greek junta against the Cypriot government was used as a pretext by Turkey to invade and occupy the northern part of the island. Greece and ...}}</ref> taking control of the north and dividing Cyprus along what became known as the [[United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus|Green Line]], cutting off about a third of the total territory. Sampson resigned, the military regime that had appointed him collapsed, and Makarios returned. The Turkish Cypriots established an independent government for what they called the ''[[Turkish Federated State of Cyprus]]'' (TFSC), with [[Rauf Denktaş]] as president. In 1983 they would proclaim the [[Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus]] on the northern part of the island, which remains a ''[[de facto]]'' state.<ref>A{{Cite ''deweb facto''|title=Northern stateCyprus but not a ''de jure'' one; TRNC has been recognised only by Turkey itself|url=https://www.nationalia.info/profile/63/northern-cyprus Airlines|access-date=2023-04-14 wishing|website=Nationalia to fly to the TRNC must first land in Turkey and then take off again to Northern Cyprus.|language=}}</ref>