Cyprus and Turkey marked 50 years of occupation of the northern part of the island by Turkey recently, with President Erdogan presenting an uncompromising position that challenges the UN envoy's attempts to bring the sides back to the negotiating table.
On July 20, 1974, Turkey, led by Bülent Ecevit, invaded the sovereign territory of Cyprus, fought it, and conquered extensive areas in the north of the country, which are still held by Turkey today.
In total, about a third of Cyprus's territory is occupied by Turks, who to this day refer to the war as a "peace operation".
The warring sides were Turkey, which invaded on the pretext of protecting the Muslim minority in the country, and Cyprus, backed by Greece.
Current Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited Cyprus to mark 50 years of occupation and clarified that for Greece, the conflict will only end with the Turkish withdrawal from the territories it occupied.
Cyprus wishes to reunite the country's territories into one republic, a solution supported by Greece, but Turkey wants an official division of the territory.
"Greece has one goal - a Republic of Cyprus with one sovereignty, one executive personality, one nation in a single bi-zonal federation where all citizens will be without a foreign occupying army," Mitsotakis said.
Erdogan said in the divided capital of Nicosia that Turkey is "ready for long negotiations, to meet and establish long-term peace."