Cyprus of Turkish territory. Meanwhile, by 1964, "enosis" was a Greek policy that could not be abandoned; Makarios and the Greek prime minister Georgios Papandreou agreed that "enosis" should be the ultimate aim and King Constantine wished Cyprus "a speedy union with the mother country". Greece dispatched 10,000 troops to Cyprus to counter a possible Turkish invasion. On 15 July 1974, the Greek military junta under Dimitrios Ioannides carried out a coup d'état in Cyprus, to unite the island with Greece. The coup ousted president Makarios III and replaced him with pro-enosis nationalist Nikos Sampson. In response to the coup, five
Geography of the European Union Geography of the European Union The geography of the European Union describes the geographic features of the European Union (EU), a multinational polity that occupies a large portion of Europe and covers 4,422,773 km (1,707,642 sq mi). Its European territory extends northeast to Finland, northwest to Ireland, southeast to Cyprus (an island that is physiographically part of Asia) and southwest to Iberia. Additionally, the EU includes numerous islands around the world, and French Guiana in South America. Collectively, it represents the seventh largest territory in the world by area. Including all overseas territories, the EU shares borders with 20 countries.