Happy belated birthday...

...to the bogus administration of Turkish Cyprus.

It was thirty years ago yesterday, July 20, 1974, that thousands of Turkish troops invaded Cyprus, producing the illegal division of the island that continues to this day.

The 30th anniversary yesterday of the Turkish invasion which divided Cyprus was marked by strikingly different ceremonies and moods on the two sides of the island. Greek Cypriots held memorial services for the dead and prayers for the return of refugees to their homes and the recovery of missing troops and civilians, while Turkish Cypriots celebrated with a military parade,

reported the Greek daily Kathimerini on Wednesday.

And well they might celebrate, as the US and the EU, both more concerned with connecting Turkey to Europe for military and economic gain than they are with justice, turn their backs on the stand they've maintained for three decades that so-called Northern Cyprus is an illegal breakaway state existing only by virtue of an occupying army and undeserving of international recognition.

The excuse for this was that Greek Cypriots rejected a supposed compromise proposed by Kofi Annan which would have "reunited" the island as two federated states under a weak central government, thus creating a de facto, if not de jure, independent northern Cyprus. Showing just how deep their commitment to the democratic process is when geopolitics step in, the US and the EU are now proposing various packages of aid of, and trade with, northern Cyprus, creating by fiat and money what they could not create by votes. From Kathimerini for July 10:

The United States said yesterday that it would provide $30.5 million in aid to Turkish Cypriots this year, saying it wanted to ease their isolation. This came a few days after the European Commission announced plans to provide 259 million euros in aid and initiate direct trade with the breakaway state on northern Cyprus....

Yesterday, a State Department official said the aid was the first "financial move" by the United States as part of measures to lift decades-long economic sanctions....

"We’ve announced a series of steps already, and we'll continue to announce things as appropriate," [State Department spokesman Richard Boucher] said. Among the previous steps was an easing of visa procedures.

For its part, last week Nicosia announced several "confidence building" measures, including proposals for a mutual pullback of forces from the "Green Line" and the establishment of a military-free zone along the line and the opening of additional checkpoints, easing transit from one area to the other.

Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat dismissed the proposals as "a diversion," but someone speaking on Annan's behalf said the UN always welcomed any such efforts.