Cyprus 1974: Conflict in The Mediterranean: No Control, No Conspiracy

A gripping account of the 1974 Cyprus coup and invasion, revealing political missteps, foreign meddling, and lasting division.

On 15 July 1974, Archbishop Makarios III, the democratically elected president of Cyprus, narrowly escaped death when the Cyprus National Guard shelled the presidential palace in Nicosia. Makarios and his bodyguards fled just as the assault was delayed by a broken tank. The coup was backed by the Greek military dictatorship, or Junta, which had taken power in 1967 an...