Turkey’s military operation on Cyprus in 1974 has been highly controversial from both political and legal perspectives. Even the name is disputed: invasion, intervention or peace operation. Since 2001, the Responsibility to Protect doctrine has increasingly been used as a new approach for the protection of populations from humanitarian catastrophes. The doctrine gives states the responsibility to protect their citizens’ fundamental human rights; and, if they fail to do so, extends this responsibility to outside actors and the international community. This seminar will look at whether Turkey’s military action can reasonably be justified on humanitarian grounds, using the six criteria of the doctrine.