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Turkish warships open to public in TRNC for 50th anniversary celebrations

Patrol boats, rescue ships, frigates on display Sunday at Kyrenia, Gazimagusa ports

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Bayraktar AKINCI UAVs successfully land at the Lefkoniko Airport (Gecitkale Air Base) to mark the 50th anniversary of Turkish Armed Forces' Cyprus Peace Operation on July 17, 2024, in Lefkoniko, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. / Photo: AA

Turkish Naval Forces Command warships will anchor at Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) ports as part of the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of July 20 Peace and Freedom Day.

Patrol boats, rescue ships and frigates will be open to the public at the Girne (Kyrenia) Tourism Port and Gazimagusa Port on Sunday from 1000 AM to 0500 PM local time, the TRNC Security Forces Command announced.

TRNC will host grand celebrations July 20 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Cyprus Peace Operation.

The island of Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts 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 aimed at Greece’s annexation of the island led to Türkiye’s military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the TRNC was founded in 1983.

The Greek Cypriot administration was admitted to the EU in 2004, the same year Greek Cypriots thwarted a UN plan to end the longstanding dispute.