as a result of the turkish invasion, the parliamentary assembly of the council of europe stated that the demographic structure of the island has been continuously modified as a result of the deliberate policies of the turks. following the occupation of northern cyprus, civilian settlers from turkey began arriving on the island. despite the lack of consensus on the exact figures, all parties concerned admitted that turkish nationals began arriving in the northern part of the island in 1975. it was suggested that over 120,000 settlers came to cyprus from mainland turkey. this was a violation of the article 49 of the fourth geneva convention, which prohibits an occupier from transferring or deporting parts of its own civilian population into an occupied territory.