Stavros Mauresis recounts 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus

Stavros Mauresis, former deputy president of the Pan‑Cypriot War Veterans Organisation and former National Guard soldier, has spoken publicly for the first time about his experiences during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in July 1974. He had been conscripted into the National Guard on 23 July 1973, trained as a shooter with the 120 Heavy Weapons Company, and served in a PAO 106 vehicle unit stationed first at Athalassa and later at the Panteli Katelari camp in Lakatamia.

Mauresis recounts that in the early hours of 20 July 1974 a warning alarm sounded; his unit quickly boarded their vehicles and moved toward the General Staff headquarters, joining a convoy of armored vehicles, machine‑guns and personnel. While en route they observed Turkish aircraft overhead, followed shortly by a powerful explosion and sustained gunfire. The Turkish forces initially bombed from altitude, with many bombs missing the convoy, but, perceiving the lack of effective anti‑aircraft defense—"the whole formation had only a single 30‑mm machine‑gun"—they began targeting the vehicles directly. The column reached Kontemenos, where troops were ordered to abandon their vehicles and take cover. Mauresis found shelter behind the outer wall of a house, enduring what he describes as one of the most harrowing moments of the conflict.