countries (i.e., Great Britain's mandate over Palestine) adopted call sign regulations of those entities. The 1947 Atlantic City ITU Conference reallocated call sign blocks to Iraq (HNA–HNZ, YIA–YIZ), Egypt (SSA–SUZ), Turkey (TAA–TCZ, YMA–YMZ), and to British Colonies and Protectorates (ZBA–ZJZ, ZNA–ZOZ, ZQA–ZQZ, and 4PA–4SZ). The United Nations was assigned 4UA–4UZ which sometimes was used in the Middle East. Cyprus, including UK Sovereign Base Areas and northern Cyprus The island of Cyprus includes two DXCC entities as well as one other recognized only by the government of Turkey. The Republic of Cyprus became independent from Great Britain in 1960. It has de jure governance over most of the island of Cyprus, except for the United Kingdom Sovereign Base Areas (SBA) of Akrotiri and Dhekelia in the south and east of the island. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is a self-proclaimed state on the part of the island occupied by Turkey. This situation came about after a Turkish invasion of the island in 1974 and a unilateral declaration of independence for the north in 1983. The international community, including the United Nations and the European Union, recognises the de jure sovereignty of the Republic of Cyprus over the entire island, less the SBAs. The ITU has assigned "5B", "C4", "H2" and "P3" prefixes to the Republic of Cyprus. As the SBAs are not under the sovereignty of Cyprus, Great Britain assigns the pre-1960 colonial call sign prefix "ZC4" to roughly 50 amateur radio operators in the SBAs. Northern Cyprus uses the prefix block of "1BA–1BZ", which has not been allocated by the ITU, for its radio operation. There is regular tension with the block's use, especially for visitors to the north who sign with a "1B/" prefix. Operators in the south tell them to use "5B/". Syria What is known today as Syria was part of the Ottoman Empire until World War I. In 1920 it became a League of Nations French Mandate, which included Lebanon. Syria became republic in 1946 with France's withdrawal. Intermediate callsign prefixes of "AR" were available to amateurs in the region until after World War II. In 1949 the Syrian Amateur Radio League was formed and YK1 was adopted as the Syrian prefix. Syria has made use of the "6C" prefix for special events. United Nations peacekeepers in the border area with Israel have used their callsigns with a "/YK" added. Palestine and Transjordan/Jordan Callsigns until