Nicosia--The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) is a breakaway enclave covering the northern third of the eastern Mediterranean island, considered by the international community to be the sovereign territory of Cyprus.
The Republic of Cyprus gained independence from Britain in 1960 and was home to both ethnic Greek and Turkish Cypriots, as well as other minority communities.
In 1974, in response to an Athens-led coup attempt seeking to unite Cyprus with Greece, Turkish troops invaded the north of the island, later seizing control of the area known today as the TRNC.
More than 200,000 Greek Cypriots in the north and Turkish Cypriots in the south fled their homes in an exchange of populations, with the island's majority Greek Cypriots accounting for around three-quarters of the internally displaced.
Hundreds of people were killed, mainly soldiers, and hundreds more are still listed as missing.
A UN ceasefire line exists today, cutting through the heart of the capital Nicosia and monitored by about 1,000 peacekeepers.
AFP
