On July 20, 1974, a peacekeeping operation was conducted on the island in order to stop ethnic cleansing and other crimes against Turkish Muslims living on the island of Cyprus. This operation, code-named "Operation Atilla", began with the Turkish armed forces throwing troops (initially 10,000, later their number was increased to 40,000) to the north of the island. An intense battle takes place in the area of Pentemili Beach.

President of the Turkish Republic of Cyprus Ersin Tatar, who participated in the summit of the Organization of Turkic States for the first time, said that if the "Cypriot Peace Movement" had not been implemented in 1974, the military junta had completely destroyed the Muslims from the island, and today there would be no Turks living there.