Events calendar Cyprus

In remembrance of the beginning of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus on 20 July 1974. In the eyes of the Turks, the aim of Operation "Peace for Cyprus" or "Attila" was to protect the Turkish Cypriot minority against the threat of a takeover of the island by the Greek army. Numerous demonstrations took place in the northern part of the island, including a military parade in the morning in Nicosia North and demonstrations by the Turkish Air Force at the end of the day (or the next day) in the skies over Kyrenia.

This religious festival marks the breaking of the fast of the month of Ramadan (Ramazan Bayramı in Turkish). Turkish-speaking Muslims in Cyprus eat with family, visit friends and neighbours and offer each other sweets. The festival is often called Şeker Bayramı ("sweets festival"). It is also an opportunity to honour the dead in the cemeteries, which are filled with small markets. Considered the most important, the first day of Eid el-Fitr is marked by a special early morning prayer, followed by a preaching by the imam.

First of all, May 19, 1919 is celebrated: Mustafa Kemal Atatürk started the Turkish War of Independence (1919-1922) against the Greeks, the French and the British who had occupied Turkey since the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I. The birth of Atatürk is also commemorated, supposedly on 19 May 1881. Finally, since 1938, celebrations in Turkey have been associated with Youth and Sports Day.

Celebration of the birth of the Prophet (Mevlid Kandili in Turkish). The faithful gather to pray in the mosques and poems are read in public. The most rigorous consider this celebration as non canonical. In Cyprus, the malwid is the occasion for two pilgrimages. About 1,000 Muslims from the northern part cross the buffer zone to the Hala Sutan teaké near Larnaka. It is also an important day for the Sufi brotherhood of the Naqshbandi, with worshippers from all over the world gathering in Lefka to listen to the speeches of the dervishes.

Turkish Republic Day commemorates the proclamation of the Turkish Republic by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk on October 29, 1923, abolishing the Ottoman Empire founded in 1299 and transferring the capital from Constantinople (renamed Istanbul in 1933) to Ankara. The holiday is marked by various demonstrations, almost exclusively in the northern part of Cyprus, starting on 28 October, and a parade of Turkish occupying forces in North Nicosia on 29 October.