The Turkish Armed Forces in Northern Cyprus[1] officially the Cyprus Turkish Peace Force (Turkish: Kıbrıs Türk Barış Kuvvetleri or KTBK) is the Turkish military garrison on Cyprus. In 1974 Turkish troops invaded Cyprus following a Greek Cypriot coup (organized and supported by the Greek government, which was still in the hands of a military junta) which wanted to enforce union with Greece, occupying the northern third of the island. The invasion force, which consisted of about 40,000 soldiers and 200 tanks, subsequently was reduced to a garrison of 17,000 troops. It outnumbers the Greek military contingent on the island, which is supplemented by the Greek Cypriot National Guard of 12,000 active and 75,000 reserves. Air reinforcement of the Turkish troops can be effected, if necessary, within hours.[2] Nevertheless, the unresolved dispute over Cyprus complicates Turkish participation in NATO and remains an obstacle to NATO's effectiveness in the region. [3]
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Turkey sent the Cyprus Turkish Brigade (Kıbrıs Türk Alayı) to Cyprus in accordance with terms of the Zürich and London Agreement. On 16 August 1960, the brigade was organized as follows:
In July 1974, Turkey landed forces on the northern part of Cyprus after the military coup of July 15, 1974. Turkish forces involved in operations were as follows:
It has been on Cyprus since the Turkish invasion of 1974, and initially consisted of the following Turkish Army units:
The corps reserve was at Kythrea (Değirmenlik) to the northeast of Nicosia.
| Turkish Land Forces Türk Kara Kuvvetleri |
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The original force of 40,000 troops was reduced with Turkish authorities claiming that the Turkish force in Cyprus had been reduced to 17,500 in the 1990s.[5] However, according to the UN Secretary-General “It is estimated that in recent years there have been in the northern part of the island a little under 30,000 armed forces of the Republic of Turkey (Turkish Forces) making it one of the most militarized areas in the world in terms of numbers of troops and numbers of civilian population. Recently moreover there have been indications that the total numbers of Turkish forces on the island may have increased” S994/680 7.6.1994.par.28.
Turkish forces in Cyprus are part of the Turkish Aegean Army which is headquartered at Izmir in Turkey. However, the commander of the Turkish troops reports directly to the Turkish General Staff in the capital, Ankara. The force is responsible for all security and is not directly involved in political matters of northern Cyprus.[6]
Since 16 August 1974, the Turkish Army has retained control of the northern 37% of Cyprus.
It is not possible to give an exactly accurate number of military personnel serving in northern Cyprus, due to conflicting public sources of information.
There are an estimated 30,000 regular troops of the Turkish Army serving in northern Cyprus at any given time are:
This is an estimate of the inventory of military equipment in northern Cyprus due to conflicting published sources.
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Library of Congress Country Studies.