1974 Cypriot coup d'état

1974 Cypriot coup d'état
Part of the Cyprus problem
Date15 July 1974
Location
Result

Coup successful

Belligerents

Cypriot Government

Pro-government militias

Pro-Enosis rebels

Supported by:
Greek junta
Commanders and leaders
Makarios III
Vassos Lyssarides
Pantelakis Pantatzis
Brigadier General Michalis Georgitsis
Colonel Konstantinos Kombokis
Athanasios Sklavenitis
Nikos Sampson
Casualties and losses
1,617 Cypriots missing, 300 civilians among them killed Unknown

The 1974 Cypriot coup d'état was a military coup d'état executed by the Cypriot National Guard and sponsored by the Greek military junta. On 15 July 1974 the coup plotters removed the sitting President of Cyprus, Archbishop Makarios III, from office and installed pro-Enosis nationalist Nikos Sampson. The Sampson regime was described as a puppet state, whose ultimate aim was the annexation of the island by Greece; in the short term, the coupists proclaimed the establishment of the "Hellenic Republic of Cyprus". The coup was viewed as illegal by the United Nations and led immediately to the Turkish invasion and ongoing occupation of Cyprus.