Turkish Armed Forces organize parade in Northern Cyprus

By Can Efesoy

GIRNE, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (AA) - The Turkish Armed Forces on Saturday organized a parade in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Cyprus Peace Operation.

A parade, held in the Girne province, involved 50 ships, including the TCG Anadolu ship, three maritime patrol planes, nine helicopters, a Bayraktar TB-3 unmanned aerial vehicle and a Bayraktar Kizilelma unmanned aerial vehicle.

Turkish Stars Aerobatic Team also made a demonstration flight in the skies of Girne as part of the commemoration.

The island of Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts to achieve a comprehensive settlement.

Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety.

In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece’s annexation of the island led to Türkiye’s military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the TRNC was founded in 1983.

The Greek Cypriot administration was admitted to the EU in 2004, the same year Greek Cypriots thwarted a UN plan to end the longstanding dispute.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar