NICOSIA, July 20 (AFP) - Sirens and church bells rang out in Nicosia Tuesday as Greek Cypriots marked 30 years since Turkey invaded Cyprus, with a call for the divided island to be reunited and Turkish troops removed from its soil.
A three-minute silence was observed across the internationally recognised Greek Cypriot south of the island as wreaths were laid and memorial services held for soldiers and civilians who died during the 1974 invasion.
"No to occupation. Yes to reunification," was the slogan as Greek Cypriots remember what they call the "black anniversary."
Sirens wailed at 5:30 am (0230 GMT) to mark the exact time Turkish troops landed in the northern holiday resort of Kyrenia while a special session was held in parliament to condemn the "national tragedy" which left a third of the Greek Cypriot population homeless.
The 30th anniversary comes three months after Greek Cypriots overwhelmingly rejected a UN reunification plan proposed by UN chief Kofi Annan, although it was backed by Turkish Cypriots in the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
"The Cypriot people decided the Annan plan was not acceptable but they did not vote against a Cyprus settlement," President Tassos Papadopoulos told reporters.
"On the contrary, we want to find a settlement as soon as possible," he added.
Papadopoulos has taken most of the criticism from the international community for orchestrating the "no" vote against the plan drawn up by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
"We hope that Turkey will begin to understand that it doesn`t need thousands of troops to secure, as they say, the safety of Turkish Cypriots. More than that, we don`t need occupation," said parliamentary speaker Demetris Christofias.
Turkey maintains about 35,000 troops in the northern third of Cyprus.