Back in 1974, Turkey invaded Cyprus and took control of the North of the island.

The 50th anniversary of the invasion comes up this year on July 20th and we should expect some disorder in Cyprus about this territory grab that took place without any pushback from the West, especially the UK with all its Sovereign Base Areas (SBAs) on the island.

It still rankles with Cypriots today that Britain did nothing to stop the invasion that displaced some 250,000 people (both Turkish and Greek Cypriots), merely appeasing the Turks in exchange for keeping away from our precious SBAs.

So much for the 'international rules-based order' which seems to be highly selective in its application in reality and cared little for the 'territorial integrity' of Cyprus at that time.

How is this relevant to the Ukraine?

Well, the Turkish invasion was also an 'SMO' in response to a nationalist coup in Greece calling for Cyprus to be united with Greece.

Sound familiar?

The Spectator recently claimed:

For many international diplomats, the path towards a ceasefire is clear. ‘It’s devastatingly obvious how this war will end,’ says one former western senior statesman who travels frequently to Kyiv. ‘Ceasefire along the line of control, plus security guarantees for Kyiv short of full Nato membership. No formal ceding of territory. Ukraine becomes like Cyprus – an EU member which does not recognise that it’s been partitioned.’

We've done it once so what's the harm in doing it again?