1974 Cyprus Peace Operation and memories of veterans participating in the operation from Kadirli

This study, named "Memories of the Veterans who participated in the 1974 Cyprus Peace Operation and the Operation from Kadirli", is an oral history study. The aim of the study is to record the memories of the war veterans before they die and thus prevent them from being forgotten. In this context, cooperation was made with the Kadirli Military Service Branch and the Kadirli Martyrs' Families and Veterans Association. A total of 51 veterans from Kadirli were identified as participating in the 1974 Cyprus Peace Operation, and nine of them were interviewed face-to-face and their memories of the war were recorded. The first settlements in Cyprus, the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea after Sicily and Sardinia with a surface area of 9,251 km2, date back to 7000-3900 BC. Cyprus, which is part of Persia, Egypt, Rome, Byzantium, Venice, Ottoman and British Empires, has changed hands many times in the historical process due to its geographical location and strategic importance. The British administration on the Island, which began in 1878, ended with the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus on August 16, 1960. However, the Greek Cypriots organized a number of bloody events from 1963 to 1974 in order to connect the island with Greece. This situation has acquired a separate dimension with the coup d'état against Makarios, who became the President of the Republic of Cyprus on July 15, 1974. Because the real purpose of this coup, organized by the Military Junta Government in Greece, was to link Cyprus to Greece. August July 20, 1974 and August 14, 1974, Turkey, reacting to this situation, carried out two separate military operations on Cyprus. With this study, the Cyprus Peace Operation was evaluated in the light of the information provided by the veterans who participated in the war from Kadirli and the gaps thought to exist in the field of research on this issue were tried to be filled. Keywords: Cyprus, Peace Operation, Kadirli, Memoirs of Veterans