On this day, July 15 1974, a military coup overthrew President Makarios in Cyprus.
Presidential Palace, Cyprus, following the EOKA coup, July 1974.
This was the significant event that led to the eventual Turkish invasion of Cyprus, five days later.
Turkish airdrop over Cyprus, 1974
The 1974 invasion against Cyprus was no sideshow: the invasion cost Turkey more than 3,000 dead soldiers, 14 military planes, and 1 warship. Hellenic casualties included 397 killed, 1,269 wounded, 992 missing.
Turkish Armored Personnel Carrier during the invasion of Cyprus, 1974
Also on this day in 1099 - in a distantly related event - Christian soldiers of the First Crusade took the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem after the final assault of a difficult siege.
In accordance with the military customs of the era, a massacre ensued; tens of thousands of Muslims and Jews perished.
Cyprus was a key piece of terrain during the Crusader Era, between 1095 and 1291.
Big Wheel Keeps on Turnin' . . .
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