Coup d'état and War

On July 15, 1974, the Greek Cypriot army called the National Guard, and Greek Cypriot extremists made a coup d'état against the elected president Makarios. The then military junta of Greece supported the coup d'état. After some days of fighting the troops supporting Makarios and killing the Greek Cypriot leftists the perpetrators turned their weapons against the Turk Cypriot minority. The Turk Cypriot district Old City in Famagusta became under siege. Turkey decided to intervene and on July 20 their aircraft bombed the city of Kyrenia on the north coast. Air- and seaborne Turkish troops landed on the island. The Turkish army conquered Famagusta one month later and the island's division was a fact.