52 years later… The sirens sounded again this morning at 8:20 a.m. in all the cities and villages of free Cyprus, as yet another dramatic reminder of the “darkest” chapter in the modern history of the Republic of Cyprus.

Citizens awoke to the harrowing sounds of the state of emergency that had been declared on the island following the treacherous coup d’état of July 15, 1974.

More than half a century later, the wounds of that catastrophe remain open for the Cypriot people, who see the Attila flag draped over Pentadaktylos, ignoring the fate of the missing and enduring the consequences of displacement.

The moment the sirens sound