What was the 'Operation Attila' associated with?

The Turkish invasion of Cyprus, code-named by Turkey as 'Operation Atilla', was a Turkish military invasion of the island country of Cyprus. It was launched on 20 July 1974, following the Cypriot coup d'état on 15 July 1974.

The coup had been ordered by the military Junta in Greece and staged by the Cypriot National Guard in conjunction with the paramilitary organisation EOKA-B. It deposed the Cypriot president Archbishop Makarios III and installed Nikos Sampson. The aim of the coup was the union of Cyprus with Greece, and the Hellenic Republic of Cyprus to be declared.

Around 150,000 people (amounting to more than 25% of the total population of Cyprus, and to 33% of its Greek Cypriot population) were expelled from the occupied northern part of the island, where Greek Cypriots constituted 80% of the population. The Turkish invasion ended in the partition of Cyprus along the UN-monitored Green Line, which still divides Cyprus.

As of 2015 an estimate of 1000–1100 persons were still missing, as a result of the invasion. At least 55 churches have been converted into mosques and another 50 churches and monasteries have been converted into stables, stores, hostels, or museums, or have been demolished.

Rodger Davies, the US Ambassador to Cyprus at the time, was killed on August 19, 1974, allegedly by Greek Cypriot gunmen during an anti-American demonstration outside the U.S. Embassy in Nicosia, sparked by the U.S's perceived failure to stop the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.