AP Photos: Half-Century Old War Ruins Captured in Cyprus Buffer Zone

NICOSIA, Cyprus — A battered piano leans precariously against a peeling apartment wall, pots and pans laden with dust rest on a forgotten stove, and a book with yellowing pages lies open beside a rusty tin can. These are silent testimonies of once-vibrant homes, now abandoned and frozen in time.

Fifty years ago, Turkey invaded Cyprus, a response to a coup by Greek union supporters backed by Greece’s ruling junta, resulting in the island’s split along ethnic lines. Only Turkey recognizes the Turkish Cypriot declaration of independence in the northern third of the island, where it maintains over 35,000 troops.

The Associated Press was granted rare access inside the United Nations’ 180-kilometer (110-mile) buffer zone, established in 1974 to maintain peace between Turkish and Turkish Cypriot forces on one side, and Greek Cypriot national guardsmen on the other.

The war’s scars are everywhere; walls of homes and businesses bear the marks of large-caliber gunfire, and hastily constructed gun nests still face each other. The most haunting aspect is the way the bustling heart of the capital abruptly ceased, with residents hurriedly fleeing for their lives, leaving their belongings behind.

The U.N. has noted renewed tensions along the buffer zone, with the emergence of new firing positions and advanced surveillance technology with potential military uses.

Efforts to form a federation comprising Greek and Turkish-speaking zones have been deadlocked since the last U.N. facilitated attempt seven years ago, with numerous prior attempts also failing.

A recent shift by Turkish and Turkish Cypriot leaders from a federation model to advocating a two-state solution has been outrightly rejected by Greek Cypriots. This shift poses a significant challenge to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ renewed efforts to bring both sides back to the negotiating table.