Nicosia: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday marked Peace and Freedom Day in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), celebrating the 51st anniversary of the 1974 Cyprus Peace Operation. Erdogan is visiting the TRNC to attend events commemorating the military operation that Trkiye launched in response to a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at annexing the island to Greece.

According to Anadolu Agency, Erdogan extended his congratulations to the Turkish Cypriot people through a message on X, stating: "On the 51st anniversary of the Cyprus Peace Operation, I remember with respect our martyrs who gave their lives for the Turkish Cypriot people's struggle for existence, and I offer my gratitude to our heroic veterans."

Cyprus has been embroiled in a longstanding conflict between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, despite several diplomatic initiatives by the UN to achieve a comprehensive settlement. Ethnic tensions that began in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to seek refuge in enclaves for safety.

In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup intended for Greece's annexation of the island prompted Trkiye's military intervention as a guarantor power, aimed at protecting Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. This intervention eventually led to the establishment of the TRNC in 1983.

The island has experienced an intermittent peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the supervision of guarantor countries Trkiye, Greece, and the UK. The Greek Cypriot Administration joined the EU in 2004, in the same year that Greek Cypriots unilaterally blocked a UN plan meant to resolve the enduring dispute.