Sanaa: Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus / ISTANBUL: The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) held a ceremony Monday to mark the 52nd anniversary of Trkiye's 1974 Cyprus Peace Operation and July 20, Peace and Freedom Day. The ceremony at the Ataturk Monument in the capital Lefkosa was attended by TRNC President Tufan Erhurman, Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz, TRNC Parliament Speaker Ziya Ozturkler, Prime Minister Unal Ustel, other top officials from both countries, and members of the public.

According to Anadolu Agency, the event began with a moment of silence and the Turkish national anthem, followed by the laying of wreaths at the monument. The ceremony concluded after Erhurman and Yilmaz signed the memorial book at the monument.

Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, despite diplomatic efforts by the UN 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 Trkiye's military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the TRNC was founded in 1983. It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Trkiye, Greece and the UK.

The Greek Cypriot Administration entered the EU in 2004, the same year Greek Cypriots single-handedly blocked a UN plan to end the longstanding dispute.