Today, Cyprus honors the memory of those who fell heroically during the coup d’état of July 15, 1974.

Today marks 52 years since that dark day of the treacherous coup d’état carried out by the Athens Junta and EOKA-B.

The Cypriot people, the Government, the House of Representatives, and various organizations pay tribute to all those who lost their lives defending democracy and the rule of law. Today, for yet another year, we commemorate the heroic resistance of the legitimate forces of the state and hundreds of civilian volunteers who defended democracy against the tanks of treason.

READ ALSO: “Alexander Entered the Hospital”: The chronicle of July 15, 1974, and the beginning of the Cypriot tragedy | AlphaNews

At 8:20 a.m., the time the coup broke out, sirens will sound in all cities to signal the start of the alert.

The President of the Republic, Nicos Christodoulides, accompanied by ministers, will attend the traditional memorial service for those who fell during the coup while defending the rule of law and democracy, which will be held at the Church of Saints Constantine and Helen at 8:30 a.m.

Commemorative events are also being organized by political parties, municipalities, and organizations.

The History of the Coup

On the morning of July 15, 1974, the actions of the military junta in Athens and its collaborators in Cyprus (EOKA B) reached its peak against the elected President of the Republic of Cyprus, Archbishop Makarios III, with the aim of overthrowing the legitimate government. This action it opened the back door to the Turkish “Attila” operation and gave Turkey the pretext and opportunity it had been seeking for years to advance its expansionist policy at Cyprus’s expense.

The tanks of the colonels’ junta and their puppets in Cyprus carried out the coup, whose slogan was “Alexander has entered the hospital,” with two tank columns entering the road network with the aim of neutralizing the presidential guard. The attack on the Presidential Palace was not the only one, as many other key locations in the capital were also targeted.

Attacks were also carried out in other cities and many villages across Cyprus to crush the resistance. Blood was shed, with dozens killed and hundreds wounded. Blood that would be shed with even more tragic consequences just a few days later when the Turks invaded the island.

That morning, Makarios was at the Presidential Palace welcoming a group of Greek schoolchildren from Egypt. When the attack became apparent, his aides escorted him to safety through the only unguarded passageway, located to the west of the Presidential Palace, while the Presidential Palace, the Archbishopric, and other targets were struck by armored vehicles and tanks.

Makarios fled to the Kykkos Monastery and then to Paphos.

The “news” of Makarios’s death and his address from Paphos

While the coup plotters declared Makarios dead and repeatedly announced it on RIK, he himself was alive and delivered a message via a makeshift radio station in Paphos.

RIK was seized by the coup plotters, who falsely announced that Makarios was dead and that Nikolaos Sampson was being sworn in as President.

“Greeks, the National Guard intervened today to stop the fratricidal war among the Greeks. All resistance on the island has ceased. Makarios is dead. The main purpose of the National Guard is to restore order. “This is an internal matter among the Greeks and the Greeks alone. The National Guard is currently in control of the situation,” the coup leaders announced.

However, Makarios was not dead and delivered a broadcast from a radio station in Paphos.

“Greek Cypriot people, the voice you hear is familiar. You know who is speaking to you. I am Makarios. I am the one you elected to be your leader. I am not dead, as the junta in Athens and its representatives here would like. I am alive. And I am with you, a comrade-in-arms and standard-bearer in our common struggle. The junta’s coup failed. I was the junta’s target, and as long as I live, the junta in Cyprus will not prevail. The Greek people of Cyprus do not tolerate coups or dictatorships. The junta used armored vehicles and tanks to stage a coup, but the resistance of the men of the Presidential Guard, the resistance of our people stopped the armored vehicles; it stopped the tanks. The junta’s only achievement was the seizure of the Radio Foundation so it could broadcast lies over the radio and purportedly speak of a change in government.”

Five days later, Turkey invaded Cyprus in two phases, sowing death, destruction, and unbearable suffering.

Source: CNA