Turkey ordered to pay damages for 1974 Cyprus invasion

STRASBOURG , France, May 13 (UPI) -- Turkey was ordered by the European Court of Human Rights to pay $123 million in compensation for damages over its 1974 invasion of Cyprus.

The judgment Monday of 90 million Euros ($123 million) was among the largest ever handed down by the court. It is for losses during the military incursion and the Mediterranean island nation's partition into Greek and Turkish sides.

Turkey invaded northern Cyprus after a 1974 coup of the government, supported by Greece. The country has since been divided between Turkish Cypriots on the northern part of the island and Greek Cypriots, who control about two-thirds of the territory.

The court ruled Turkey must pay 30 million Euros ($41 million) as compensation to relatives of those missing during and after the war, and a further 60 million Euros ($82 million) for the suffering of Greek Cypriots of the Karpas peninsula, a Greek enclave in northern Cyprus.

Turkey still has 30,000 troops in Cyprus, and is the only country that recognizes Northern Cyprus as a separate nation.