This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus and the fall of the military dictatorship in Greece.

1 October 1960 is celebrated as the day of the liberation of Cyprus and its emergence as a free and independent state. However, the liberation had been preceded by the departure of the last British governor from the island on 16 August 1960. The struggle for the liberation of Cyprus was a multi-year, armed and diplomatic struggle. On the one hand, the importance of Cyprus for Cyprus , on the other hand, the differences and conflicts between the two communities made the process of declaring an independent Cypriot state extremely complex.

Today, Cyprus has managed to become one of the most advanced countries in the world, a member of the European Union and a participant in important international organisations. Nevertheless, the trauma of the Turkish occupation remains, as does the unquenchable desire of Cypriots to return to their homes and see their island united once again.

The Hellenic Parliament Foundation for Parliamentarism and Democracy and the House of Representatives of the Republic of Cyprus co-organise the exhibition “Cyprus, 1974. Memory is the only homeland of humanity” and present it simultaneously in Athens and Nicosia.

The exhibition follows and depicts the invasion and the miracle of Cyprus over the last half century.

• What is the experience of 1974?
• How are the invasion and the refugee recorded in public life, in everyday life, in history, in art and in literature?
• How is the collective and individual identity of people who were uprooted, who experienced loss, but who found the strength to create again, constituted?
• The narrative axis of the exhibition follows the historical line: life before 1974, the coup d’état, the invasion, the refugees, the trapped, the prisoners and the missing.
• At the same time, the exhibition tells the story of the anti-occupation struggle, reconstruction, care for cultural heritage and education, creation and looking to the future.

The complex history of Cyprus and the memory of its people is traced through an extremely large number of exhibits that have been sought and provided by many institutions and individuals: images of Cypriot topography, photographs, government documents, books, posters, stamps, objects and relics, historical, literary and musical narratives, works of art, cinematic representations, as well as testimonies of people who experienced the events.

Venue: Greek Public Tobacco Factory

Lenorman 218, Kolonos 10443

Duration: 1/10/2024 – 18/6/2025

Working hours: Monday– Friday 9:00 – 16:00, Saturday 10:00 – 15:00

Free entrance with proof of identity card