Cyprus Peace Operation and Cyprus veterans of Igdır

The Cyprus question is a longstanding issue dating back to the Ottoman empire until today. It was the sovereign area where the Ottoman state dominated the Mediterranean trade and politics. Although Cyprus was left to England in 1878 as part of an agreement, it could not be taken back later. After Turkish Republic was founded, she became involved with the events in the island in order to ensure the safety of life and property of her compatriots when the Greek Cypriot attempted to create a sovereignty over the Turkish population in Cyprus which was then a British colony. Even though this involvement was occasionally seen to be a show of military power between 1950 and 1974, it was mostly tried to be achieved through international negotiations. However, the Greek and Cypriot government representatives' persistent demand for ENOSIS and continuing atrocious and brutal politics waged over Turkish population have led to Turkish military operation. The idea of the Greek Cypriot ENOSIS would have been achieved and the Turkish Cypriots completely banished from Cyprus, if they had not received support from Turkey. Therefore, it could be claimed that the Cyprus Peace Operation enabled the Turkish Cypriots to exist and survive on the island. In this context, this study, titled 'Cyprus Peace Operation and Cyprus Veterans of Igdir' aims to examine the general situation experienced by the Turkish Cypriots until the Cyprus Peace Operation and to present the reasons for the landing in an order to make it easier to understand them. The objective of the study is to examine the inception and development stages of the landing as well as the legal battle on the rights of the Turkish Cypriots in the international arena. In the light of the memories of Cyprus veterans of Igdir who took part in the Cyprus Peace Operation, it is to help to understand the landing through their eyes. In conducting this study, archive documents, local and national newspapers and copyrighted materials were used, interviews held with 20 Cyprus veterans from Igdir through the Association of Igdir and Korea Veterans. Finally, this is a qualitative study and the data was obtained by using document analysis methodology.