Turkey will have to pay £75 million compensation to Cyprus for invasion 40 years ago which divided Mediterranean island

Turkey has been ordered to pay Cyprus a record £75million for its 1974 invasion and the island's subsequent division.

The European Court of Human Rights said the passage of time did not erase Turkey's responsibility in the case, ruling that the country must pay £24million to relatives of those missing in the operations.

It also ordered Turkey to pay £50million for 'the enclaved Greek-Cypriot residents of the Karpas peninsula' - the northernmost tip of the Turkish Cypriot part of the island where hundreds of Greek Cypriots still live.

Cyprus has been divided since Turkey invaded

after a coup by supporters of union with Greece.

Only Turkey recognizes the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state that was proclaimed in the north of the island.

The European Court of Human Rights' judgement - which is the largest is has ever made - comes as the Turkish and Greek communities in Cyprus make new efforts to reunite the island.

The court said it would be up to the government of Cyprus to determine how to award the damages.

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History: A Turkish army tank passes the Saray Hotel in the Turkish section of Nicosia, Cyprus on July 24, 1974

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Past: Greek-Cypriot refugees shelter in Dhekelia following the Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus in 1974

Turkey has not always complied with the European Court of Human Rights' demands in the past.

In a 1998 ruling, the Strasbourg court ordered the country to pay Titina Loizidou £980,000 in compensation for depriving her of property in the seaside city of Kyrenia.

It was the first case in which a Greek Cypriot successfully sued Turkey over the invasion and earned the right to compensation.

Turkey eventually paid the money in 2003, but is still yet to comply with an earlier European Court decision ordering the country to allow Loizidou to reclaim her property.

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