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Battle of Pentemili | |||||||
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Part of Turkish invasion of Cyprus | |||||||
Above: Pentemili beach | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Turkey | Cyprus | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Maj. Gen Bedrettin Demirel |
Col. Konstantinos Kombokis Lt. Col Pavlos Kouroupis † | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
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Strength | |||||||
First Wave: 3,500 soldiers 12 M101 howitzers 15 M47 tanks 20 M113 APCs Second Wave: Unknown | Around 3,800 men in total | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
77 killed 5-6+ M47 destroyed |
Unknown 5 T-34 destroyed 1 T-34 abandoned 8 BTR-152 destroyed 1 Daimler Dingo destroyed 2 M-H Mk-IVF destroyed 2 torpedo boats sunk |
Pentemili is the Cypriot beach where troops first landed on the morning of 20 July 1974 in the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. It is located 5 miles (8 km) west of Kyrenia, thus the name.[1] For three days (20–22 July 1974), heavy fighting took place around the beachhead between Turkish and Greek Cypriot forces.