Wednesday is public holiday in north Cyprus to mark the 48th anniversary of Peace and Freedom Day

Wednesday, July, 20 is public holiday in north Cyprus to mark the 48^th anniversary of the 20^th of July Peace and Freedom Day in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).

Various ceremonies will be held across the republic to mark the 48^th anniversary of the July 20 Turkish Peace Operation.

Celebrations started on Tuesday, July, 19 but the main ceremony will be held at the Dr. Fazıl Küçük Boulevard on Wednesday where a military parade will take place. Ceremonies will also take place in other parts of the TRNC.

The annual dawn vigil will be held on Tuesday night at the Yavuz Çıkarma Beach where Turkish forces first landed in 1974.

Those who fell martyr during the struggle of peace and existence will also be remembered.

Within this framework, ceremonies will be held for the martyrs of Alaminyo on the 21^st of July, Martyrs of Topçuköy on the July 22 and Martyrs of Taşpınar on the July 25 in front of the monuments in their villages.

Meanwhile, the operation of drones and all air sports is restrictedly forbidden from 18 July to 21 July, it has been announced.

Every year the TRNC celebrates July 20 as its Peace and Freedom Day to mark the operation -- a large-scale military intervention to protect Turkish Cypriots from violence that struck the island in 1974.

The island has been divided into a Turkish Cypriot government in the north, and Greek Cypriot in the south since a 1974 military coup aimed at its annexation by Greece.