Sirens will sound on the mornings of Wednesday July 15 and Monday July 20 throughout Cyprus-to mark the anniversaries of the 1974 coup and invasion, Civil Defence said on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, the sirens will sound at 8.20am and on Monday, they will sound at 5.30am, coinciding with the start times of the Greek-backed coup d’etat and the Turkish invasion, respectively.

The civil defence warned that “the sounding of the sirens does not indicate an emergency”.

It added that the annual practice “is a solemn act of remembrance and tribute to those who lost their lives, the missing persons, the enclaved and the refugees of our homeland”.