Turkish warships to visit port in Northern Cyprus to mark Peace and Freedom Day

By Mehmet Kemal Firik

LEFKOSA, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (AA) - Turkish warships will visit a port in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) as part of the 49th anniversary of the latter’s 20 July Peace and Freedom Day.

Combatant elements of the Turkish Naval Forces Command, including TCG Gaziantep (F-490) and TCG Zipkin (P-336), will visit Girne Port, the Security Forces Command of the TRNC said in a statement.

The TCG Gaziantep (F-490) Frigate will be off the coast of the Girne Tourism Port and the TCG Zipkin (P-336) Assault Boat will be opened to the public in Girne Harbor at 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. local time on Thursday.

Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of 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 aiming at Greece's annexation led to Türkiye's military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence.

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 Türkiye, Greece, and the UK.

The Greek Cypriot administration entered the European Union in 2004, the same year that Greek Cypriots thwarted a plan by then-UN chief Kofi Anan to end the dispute.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar