Greek–Turkish relations regime, there were periodic crises with Turkey, which suspected that the Greek regime was planning a pro-unification coup in Cyprus. A 1971 Turkish law nationalized religious high schools, and closed the Halki seminary on Istanbul's Heybeli Island which had trained Greek Orthodox clergy since 1844. On July 15, 1974, a band of Greek Cypriot nationalists formed EOKA B, advocating Enosis (Union) with Greece and, backed by the Greek military junta in Athens, staged a coup against the Cypriot President and Archbishop Makarios. An ex-EOKA man, Nikos Sampson was appointed President. On July 20, Turkey—using its guarantor status arising from the
Cyprus–Greece relations Cyprus–Greece relations Cypriot–Greek relations are the foreign relations between Cyprus and Greece. Cyprus has an embassy in Athens and a consulate-general in Thessaloniki. Greece has an embassy in Nicosia. Both countries are full members of the European Union, Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). Relations between the two countries have been exceptionally close since antiquity. The Greek Cypriot majority in Cyprus and the ethnic Greek population of Greece share a common ethnicity, heritage, language, and religion, leading to an exceptionally close relationship between the two countries. Traditionally, Greece has been the major export