Greeks condemn, Turks honor Cyprus anniversary

Greeks condemn, Turks honor Cyprus anniversary

NICOSIA (Reuters): While Turkish Cypriots celebrated on Friday
what they call "Peace and Freedom Day", Greek Cypriots condemned
the anniversary of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus which divided
the island 27 years ago.

Church bells tolled and Greek Cypriot air-raid sirens wailed
over the divided capital Nicosia at 5:20 a.m. (9:20 a.m. in
Jakarta), marking the hour Turkish forces landed on the beach at
the northern town of Kyrenia on July 20, 1974.

Turkish Cypriots marked the anniversary with celebrations, a
military parade and an air display in northern Cyprus.

Turkey invaded Cyprus five days after a coup by Greek Cypriot
extremists, urged on by the military junta then ruling Greece,
toppled the government of Archbishop Makarios.

The heavily-militarized island, at odds with its better known,
hip image of a clubbers' paradise for young Europeans, is a
constant irritant between NATO allies Greece and Turkey.

Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, who was also premier at
the time of the 1974 invasion known in Turkey as the "Peace
Operation", said the presence of Turkish armed forces on the
island had guaranteed peace and security for 27 years.

"Turkey will go on supporting the Turkish Cypriot people in
full strength in its struggle to preserve its legitimate rights
and interests and to take the place it deserves within the
world," Ecevit said in a statement from Ankara.

Sweltering heat kept the crowd smaller than in recent years as
Turkish tanks, troops and aircraft put on a show of might.

"Turkey will never allow the return of the island to the day
of July 19, 1974," said Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash.

Greek Cypriots planned memorial services and protests along an
occasionally tense "green line" dividing the island.

Northern Cyprus is a breakaway state recognized only by
Ankara, which supports the enclave militarily and economically.

The 1974 crisis in Cyprus brought Greece and Turkey to the
brink of war and was instrumental in the collapse of the
military's seven-year grip in Athens.

The need to settle the division has gained importance in
recent years as Cyprus prepares for European Union membership.

Turkey, also an EU aspirant, has been told its chances of
joining partly hinge on progress over Cyprus.

United Nations-led "proximity talks" were abruptly interrupted
last November after the Turkish Cypriot side pulled out,
complaining about the process.

Denktash has said he would return to negotiations once his
demand for equal sovereign status with the Greek Cypriots is
addressed. The Greek Cypriots administer the island's only
internationally recognized government.

Ecevit said Turkey would continue to support Denktash and he
hoped dialogue could restart under "more realistic" conditions.

"Denktash will decide, after talking to us of course. To the
best of my knowledge, he is first to meet UN Secretary General
Kofi Annan and they might make a program together. Dialogue
should prevail despite everything," Ecevit told reporters.

In a public address on Friday, Cypriot President Glafcos
Clerides said, "It is my conviction that the overwhelming
majority of ordinary citizens, Greek and Turkish Cypriots,
believe in the need to reunite our island."

Denktash reiterated his defiant stance against unification.

"Let us negotiate together as good neighbors under the
auspices of the United Nations and the European Union and seek a
solution as two separate states, not as a unitary state."