Kokkina sits several kilometres west of mainland Northern Cyprus and is a place with symbolic significance to Cypriots,[citation needed] because of the events of August 1964 (cf.

So, on 6 August 1964, elements of the Greek Cypriot National Guard and Hellenic Army units led by General Georgios Grivas attacked the area around Kokkina and surrounded the village forcing its defenders and the civilian population to retreat to a narrow beachhead.

The threat of a Turkish military escalation and a resolution of the United Nations Security Council calling for a ceasefire, ended the stand-off.

Turkey claimed that the aerial attack and threat of further intervention were justified by her right to protect the Turkish Cypriot population under the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee.

However, this declaration of independence was condemned as legally invalid by United Nations Security Council Resolution 541 (1983) and has yet to be recognised by any sovereign state except Turkey.