Partition of Cyprus

Following the Greek-backed, EOKA-B overthrow of the Cypriot government of Archbishop Makarios on 15 Jul 1974 when the hard-line unificationist Nicos Sampson took control, Turkey launched an invasion from the north coast 5 days later and pushed southwards; this was known as Operation Attila by the Turks.

While the British government sent a Task Force to the area to protect the Sovereign Bases (known in the UK as Operation Platypus), evacuate British nationals if necessary and aid in security stabilisation. The USA detached USS Forrestal and USS Inchon from the 6th Fleet for support of its nationals and helicopters from HMM-162 and HMH-362 conducted an evacuation of c 500 US citizens from the British base at Dhekelia.

The British sponsored talks between the two communities in Geneva had broken down and on 14 Aug, the Turks re-inforced their forces and pushed further south, across the north of Cyprus, to a position known as the Atilla Line, effectively partitioning the island. The situation had stabilised enough to allow the Task Force to be withdrawn at the end of Sep 1974.