After the Turkish invasion of Summer 1974 (Turkey still calls it a peace mission), the Northern part of the island is occupied up-to today by Turkish troops. A couple of years later it was declared as the so-called state of "The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" recognized only by Turkey. The Republic of Cyprus (Official and Internationally recognized state on the island) entered the EU in May 2004, where the whole area of the island became officially part of the EU area, but because of the continuing occupation of the Northern part by Turkey, the EU law is only being applied to the region which the Republic of Cyprus controls, thus the Southern part. Today, the occupation continues and the Northern part is still considered to be controlled by Turkey and under a military control (over 40.000 troops held in the area). The Republic of Cyprus continues to be a full member of the EU and EA, issuing EU passports to all legitimate citizens, including Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots, Armenians (etc).

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