Operation Niki (Greek: Επιχείρηση Νίκη), named after the goddess Nike, was a clandestine airlift operation during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus that was carried out on 21/22 July 1974, with the aim of transporting a battalion of Greek commandos from Souda, Crete to Nicosia, Cyprus. Upon their arrival, the aircraft were engaged in friendly fire, which resulted in the loss of 33 men and the destruction of three aircraft. Since the 1950s, Greece had established a foreign policy favoring the union of Cyprus with Greece. In 1960, the Republic of Cyprus was established with Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots being its two founding communities. Archbishop Makarios was elected as its first President. Makarios came to believe that unification of the island with Greece was not possible and pursued a policy of non-alignment. After a military coup in April 1967, a right-wing military junta seized power in Athens. The Greek juntists suspected Makarios for not being truly in favor of unification and prepared five plans to overthrow him between 1971 and 1974. Eventually, on 15 July 1974, a military coup d'état orchestrated by the Cypriot National Guard and the junta of Athens succeeded in deposing Makarios and replacing him with nationalist Nikos Sampson. On the pretext of a peacekeeping operation, Turkey took military action code-named Operation Atilla and invaded Cyprus on 20 July 1974.