Battle of Agios Dometios

Battle of Agios Dometios
Part of Turkish invasion of Cyprus
Date 14–17 August 1974 Location Agios Dometios, Cyprus Result Inconclusive Turkish forces captures the ELDYK camp and numerous Greek positions Due to the UN ceasefire that occurred just before the initial Turkish assault on Agios Dometios, the assault was cancelled
Belligerents
Turkey Turkish Cypriot fighters	Greece Cyprus
Commanders and leaders
unknown	Colonel Georgios Azinas Lieutenant Colonel Panagiotis Stavropoulos Major Dimitrios Alevromagiros
Units involved
Turkish Armed Forces Turkish Army Turkish Air Force Turkish Cypriot fighters	Hellenic Army Hellenic Force in Cyprus A' Commando Squadron Cypriot National Guard
Casualties and losses
60 killed or wounded (Greek claim)	143 killed or missing "Dozens" captured (Greek claim)

The Battle of Agios Dometios (Greek: Μάχη του Αγίου Δομετίου), was an engagement between Hellenic, Cypriot, Turkish and Turkish Cypriot forces between 14 and 17 August 1974. It was part of the Attila-2 (Second phase of the invasion) operation as described by Turkey and the wider battle for Nicosia as described by Cyprus.

Initial Turkish assault

In the early morning on 14 August 1974, Turkey violated the ceasefire agreement signed on 23 July by massing an assault against on all sides, which ended in Greeks losing Morphou, Famagusta, the Mesaoria, Karpasia and half of Nicosia, in Operation Attila-2. In Nicosia, at approximately 5 am, the Turkish Air Force bombarded National Guard targets alongside the ELDYK camp in Agios Dometios and additional shelling by Turkish artillery on the area.

The Turkish forces captured the ELDYK camp and the area surrounding it with approximately 700 Turkish soldiers moving on the ELDYK camp on the first day with additional M48 tanks arriving by 15 August (second day of the fighting) in order to assist the Turkish infantry forces.

Greek-Greek Cypriot defense

The 336 Reserve Battalion was in charge of defending the area between Ledra Palace and the ELDYK military camp, encompassing around 3.5 kilometers.

ELDYK commander Panagiotis Stavroulopoulos claimed that 318 ELDYK soldiers were in charge of defending their camp and the area around it, such as the grammar school. On 15 August, Lieutenant Colonel Stavropoulos requested assistance against the Turkish M-48s but was only offered a few Marmon-Herringtons which were ineffective against the M-48s. The fighting around the ELDYK camp continued until 16 August, and on that day the Greeks claimed that the fiercest fighting took place, with heavy bombardments against the camp from the Turkish Air Force and constant barrages by artillery and tanks making it almost "impossible" for the Greek soldiers to do anything. The ELDYK camp and the grammar school were eventually captured by Turkish soldiers and ELDYK suffered 83 killed or missing as a result of the fighting, along with "dozens" that surrendered to the Turkish military.

Greek media claimed that in the morning of 16 August, whilst also attacking the ELDYK camp, the Turkish armed forces launched a breakthrough through the Imprisoned Graves to try and outflank Greek Cypriot units there. Greek media alleged that these attacks were unsuccessful.

Stefanos Kavallierakis claimed that on 17 August, although the ceasefire was in place, Turkish forces attempted to capture the St. Pavlos Church but was unsuccessful. After this alleged incident, The Invasion of Cyprus was over and fighting had since ceased on the front.

Aftermath

Though the Turkish assault on the ELDYK camp was eventually successful, due to the ceasefire placed by the United Nations, the Turkish forces could not do a 2nd assault and thus not allowing Agios Dometios to be captured by Turkish forces. Greek sources claimed that 10 ELDYK soldiers were decapitated by Turkish troops and their heads were placed at the entrance of the captured ELDYK camp, some soldiers were allegedly thrown in mass graves and some were stripped and were placed on roads for days.

See also

• Battle of Tillyria
• Battle of Pentemili beachhead
• Battle of Ledra Palace