A “Flag Procession” event was organized in the capital Lefkoşa in line with the July 20 Peace and Freedom Day celebrations.

The event was organized jointly by the Archers Foundation and the Yunus Emre Institute.

President Ersin Tatar, Parliamentary Speaker Zorlu Töre, the head of the Archers Foundation Haydar Ali Yıldız, Vice President of the Yunus Emre Institute Kutalmış Yalçın, as well as representatives from non-governmental organizations and citizens took part in the procession which began in front of the Turkish Embassy and ended at the Sarayönü Square.

The participants carried giant Turkish and TRNC flags and were accompanied by the janissary band.

Delivering a short speech at the event Parliamentary Speaker Zorlu Töre stated that the Turkish Cypriot people will never forget the arrival of the Turkish Armed Forces in Cyprus on the morning of July 20, 1974.

“What a day the morning of July 20, 1974 was. Just days earlier, the Greek Junta and the EOKA terrorist organization had staged a coup. We were waiting to see if Turkish troops would arrive. On the morning of July 20, Turkish planes were flying over Lefkoşa,” said Töre.

Töre said that the 1974 Turkish Peace Operation had ended the Turkish Cypriots’ 96 year wait for the return of Turkish troops to Cyprus.

He added that the Turkish forces had crushed all Greek-Greek Cypriot aspirations to transform Cyprus into a Greek island, just as they had done with other islands in the Aegean.