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EOKA

The Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston (EOKA; /ˈkə/; Greek: Εθνική Οργάνωσις Κυπρίων Αγωνιστών, lit.'National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters') was a Greek Cypriot nationalist paramilitary organisation that fought a campaign for the end of British rule in Cyprus, and for eventual union with Greece.[1][a]

EOKA
Εθνική Οργάνωσις Κυπρίων Αγωνιστών
National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters
EOKA flag
LeadersGeorgios Grivas
Grigoris Afxentiou
Dates of operation1955–1959
Headquarters British Cyprus
IdeologyEnosis[1]
Greek nationalism[1]
Anti-imperialism
Anti-communism[2][3]
Religious conservatism[2][3]
Political positionRight-wing
Size300 regulars
1000 active underground[4]
Allies Kingdom of Greece
Opponents United Kingdom
TMT
AKEL
Black Gang
9 September Front
Battles and warsCypriot intercommunal violence
Cyprus Emergency
Succeeded by
EOKA-B

Background

Cyprus, an island in the eastern Mediterranean, inhabited mostly by Greek Cypriots (majority) and Turkish Cypriots (minority) populations, was part of the Ottoman Empire from 1571 until 4 June 1878, when in the aftermath of the Russo-Turkish War, it was handed to the British empire.[6] As nationalistic tendencies were growing in both communities of Cyprus, Greek Cypriots were leaning towards Enosis (Union with Greece) which was a part of the Megali idea. The origins of Enosis date back to 1821, the year when the Greek War of Independence commenced, and the archbishop of Cyprus, his archdeacon, and three bishops were beheaded, amongst other atrocities. In 1828, Count Ioannis Kapodistrias, the first governor of Greece, asked for the union of Cyprus with Greece, while small-scale uprisings also occurred.[7] In 1878, when British general Wolsely came to Cyprus to formally establish British rule, he was met by the archbishop of Kition who, after welcoming him, requested that Britain cede Cyprus to Greece.[7] Initially, the Greek Cypriots welcomed British rule because they were aware that the British had returned the Ionian Islands to Greece in 1864, and they were also hoping for British investment in Cyprus.[8]

In 1912, the British government made an offer to Greece to exchange Cyprus for a naval base in Argostoli, Kefalonia, in order to gain control of the Ionian sea, an offer which was repeated in 1913. In 1915, the British offered Cyprus to Greece several times in exchange for Greece's participation in World War I. While Greece was undecided whether it should enter the War, however, the British government withdrew its offer.[9] By 1915, the Greek Cypriot's opposition the British rule had increased, seeing that neither the British investment nor Enosis, had materialised.[10] In the beginning, the Enosis movement had only few supporters, mainly from the upper classes.[11] However, that was about to change as two groups, disappointed with the new ruler, began to form, namely the Church and the Usurers. A number of Cypriots studying in Greece in the following years became strong advocates of Enosis upon their return.[12] On the other hand, the Turkish Cypriot community started to develop its own nationalism in the early 20th century, as news arrived in the island about the persecutions faced by Muslims in the countries that formed after the collapse of Ottoman Empire.[13][14]

The November 1926 appointment of Ronald Storrs (a philhellene) as the new governor of Cyprus, fostered the idea among Greek Cypriot nationalists that British rule would be a stepping stone for the eventual union with Greece.[15] Their relationship was to sour in 1928, when Greek Cypriots refused to take part in the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the British occupation of Cyprus. Greece appealed for calm, limiting the spread of anti-colonial articles in Greek Cypriot newspapers. Education became another arena of conflict with the passage of the Education Act, which sought to curtail Greek influence in the Cypriot school curricula. Cypriot irredentists also lamented the supposedly preferential treatment of Malta and Egypt at the expense of Cyprus.[16] Relations worsened further when the British authorities unilaterally passed a new penal code which permitted among other things the use of torture. In 1929, Legislative Council members Archbishop of Kition Nikodemos and Stavros Stavrinakis arrived in London, presenting a memorandum to the secretary of colonies Lord Passfield which contained demands for Enosis. As with previous such attempts the answer was negative.[17]

In September 1931, Storrs blocked a Legislative Council decision to halt tax hikes that were to cover a local budget deficit. Greek Cypriot MPs reacted by resigning from their positions. Furthermore, on 18 October, Archbishop of Kition Nikodemos called Greek Cypriots to engage in acts of civil disobedience until their demands for Enosis were fulfilled.[18] On 21 October 1931, 5,000 Greek Cypriots, mostly students, priests and city notables rallied in the streets of Nicosia while chanting pro–Enosis slogans in what came to be known as the October Events. The crowd besieged Government House, following three hours of stone throwing the building was set on fire. The rioters were eventually dispersed by police. At the same time British flags were stripped from public offices across the country, often being substituted with Greek ones. Order was restored by the beginning of November. A total of seven protesters were killed, thirty were injured, ten were exiled for life, while 2,606 received various punishments ranging from prison terms to fines on account of seditious activities.[18][19]

The revolt damaged both the Enotic cause and the Anglo–Hellenic relations. The Legislative Council and municipal elections were abolished, the appointment of village authorities and district judges was relegated to the governor of the island. Propagating Enotic ideas and flying foreign flags was banned as was the assembly of more than 5 people. Cyprus thus entered a period of autocratic rule known as Palmerokratia (Παλμεροκρατία, "Palmerocracy"), named after governor Richmond Palmer, which started shortly before the revolt and would last until the beginning of World War II.[20]

In the 1950s, EOKA was established with the specific aim of mounting a military campaign to end the status of Cyprus as a British crown colony and achieving the island's unification with Greece. The leadership of AKEL at the time, the island's communist party, opposed EOKA's military action, advocating a "Gandhiesque approach" of civil disobedience, such as workers' strikes and demonstrations.[21]

Initially, the struggle was political, as opposed to military. EOKA, in Grivas' words, wanted to attract the attention of the world through high-profile operations that would make headlines.[22]

Formation

Leadership

EOKA was headed by Georgios Grivas Greek Army officer, World War I and World War II veteran. During the Axis occupation of Greece in World War II, he led a small, anti-communist resistance[b] group, named Organization X.[23][24] During the anti-communist struggle of December 1944 in Athens after the Axis withdrawal he was saved due to British intervention.[25] Grivas assumed the nom de guerre Digenis in direct reference to the legendary Byzantine Digenis Akritas who repelled invaders from the Byzantine Empire.[26] Second in command in EOKA was Grigoris Afxentiou, also a former officer of the Greek army. Afxentiou had graduated from the reserves Officers Academy in 1950 without previous experience on battlefield.[27]

Objectives

The main objective of EOKA was Enosis: union of Cyprus with Greece. The organization adopted typical Greek national ideologies and displayed religious, conservative and anticommunist ideas.[2][3] This was in agreement with the prevailing ideas of Cypriot society at the time.[28][29] There was a widespread belief that leftists opposed national objectives and provided a certain support to the colonial regime[30] contrary to other contemporary anti-colonial insurgencies in Africa or Asia, which were led by Marxists.[31]

Grivas and Archbishop of Cyprus, Makarios III, disagreed about the way to rid the island of British rule. Grivas rejected Makarios' attempt to limit the campaign to acts of sabotage, avoiding loss of life. Nevertheless, he shared Makarios' view that victory would be won by diplomatic means.[32] Grivas' goal was to subject the British to continued relentless harassment, making it clear to them that occupation carried a price, while keeping Enosis on the international diplomatic agenda.[33] The British response to the EOKA campaign was crucial in this regard: repression would on the one hand alienate the Greek Cypriot population from British rule, and on the other hand provide Makarios and the Greek government with a stick to beat the British with before the United Nations. EOKA would ensure that there was a Cyprus problem and demonstrate to the world that the British could not resolve it.[33]

Preparations

Grivas carried out a first reconnaissance in Cyprus as early as July 1951.[34] Makarios was certainly skeptical, telling Grivas on one occasion that he would not find supporters for an armed struggle. The British shared the same view. Grivas finally arrived on the island in early November 1954 and set about establishing his underground network.[35] He recruited from the Cyprus Farmers' Union (PEK) in the villages and from the two main youth movements, the Church-controlled Christian Youth Movement (OHEN) and the nationalist Pancyprian Youth Movement (PEON) in the towns.[35][36] Grivas intended to turn the youth of Cyprus 'into the seedbed of EOKA'.[35] The backbone of EOKA were the mountain groups, a conventional guerrilla force living in hidden camps in the forests, and the town groups, often continuing their civilian job or schooling.[35] Supporting this armed wing was the much broader National Front of Cyprus (EMAK), which provided EOKA with intelligence, supplies, weapons, medicines, recruits and safe houses, confronted the British on the streets with demonstrations and riots and conducted the propaganda offensive.[35]

ANE

ANE (Greek: Άλκιμος Νεολαία ΕΟΚΑ – "Alkimos Neolaia EOKA", lit.'Alkimos Youth EOKA') was the EOKA youth movement during the struggle for enosis between 1955 and 1959. The youth organisation had a self-governing body that was directly responsible to the leader of EOKA, Digenis. Among its activities was demonstrating against the British rule in Cyprus.[37]

Armed campaign

 
A British soldier facing a crowd of demonstrators during the Battle at Nicosia Hospital in 1956

From April 1955 to the dismissal of governor Armitage (October)

The armed struggle started on the night of March 29 – April 1955. A total of 18 bomb attacks occurred in various locations across the island. Most notable incidents were those of Nicosia by the group of Markos Drakos as well as the demolition of the Cyprus Broadcasting Station's transmitter.[38][39][40] The attacks were accompanied by a revolutionary proclamation signed by "The leader, Digenes". Grivas decided to keep his involvement secret at the moment and used the name of a Byzantine general who had defended Cyprus in the medieval era.[38] Grivas also prohibited attacks on the Turkish Cypriots at the time, and only wanted British soldiers and Greek collaborators to be targeted.[41] The British, not expecting this turn of events, reinforced their local military bases (Dhekelia and Akrotiri) by transferring troops from Egypt.[40]

At the end of April EOKA attacks temporarily paused, giving time to Grivas to organize the youth.[42] A second offensive was launched on June 19 with coordinated bomb and grenade attacks against police stations, military installations and the homes of army officers and senior officials.[43][44][45] One of those bombings demolished the building of the Famagusta Police headquarters.[43] Those attacks were usually followed by sporadic incidents: shootings, bombings and increased public disorder.[43] This second wave of EOKA attacks lasted until the end of June, totaling 204 attacks since the beginning of the armed resistance.[46][47]

In August, two Special Branch members were assassinated in separate incidents. The raising of the Greek flag during demonstrations usually led to clashes with the colonial authorities, the latter removing it by force if necessary.[43] Another major EOKA success was the escape from Kyrenia castle prison of 16 EOKA members including a number of key figures, such as Markos Drakos and Grigoris Afxentiou.[43]

British reactions

The situation seemed to be deteriorating out of control and the British authorities attempted to safeguard their position in Cyprus by diplomatic maneuvering and a counterinsurgency offensive. The first involved playing the Greek and Turkish governments off against each other. Eden saw Turkey as "the key protecting British interests" in Cyprus.[43] By the end of September, as the crisis was escalating, the British Government decided to replace governor Armitage.[48] Then, British policy also aimed at the dramatic increase in recruitment of Turkish Cypriots.[41] By the start of 1956, they had come to dominate the police force numbering 4,000 compared to less than 1,000 Greek Cypriots. The Turkish Cypriots were very much in the front line against EOKA. Inevitably, the use of Turkish Cypriot policemen against the Greek Cypriot community exacerbated relations between the two communities.[49]

Turkish reactions

In August 1955, Adnan Menderes the Turkish president at the time, announced that Turkey wouldn't accept any change in the status quo of Cyprus which were not in Turkeys interests.[50] In Turkey, the public opinion was un-eased. Rumors were spreading in Turkish media that a slaughter of the Turkish Cypriot community was likely to occur. Though they were unfounded they led to nationalist reactions in the country and the government-sponsored anti-Greek Istanbul pogrom of September 1955.[51] At the same time, during the London Trilateral Conference between Britain, Turkey and Greece, an agreement failed to materialize due to Turkish intransigence.[52][53] During a meeting between the end of August and 7 September 1955, Turkey also argued that if the status quo of Cyprus under a British administration would not be respected, the whole Treaty of Lausanne would be questionable.[50]

From October 1955 to March 1956 (Operation Forward Victory, phase I)

The new British governor John Harding arrived at October 3.[54] Harding sought to meet Archbishop Makarios, and both agreed on commencing what became known as Harding-Makarios negotiations.[55][56] Increased security and stepping up military might was of Harding's priorities.[57] On November 26, Harding declared a State of Emergency – that meant, amongst other things, implementation of the death penalty for non-fatality crimes. [58] Repressive legislation and troop reinforcements did not succeed. The Greek Cypriot population was hostile and the Special Branch was neutered.[59] The British response was large-scale cordon and search operations which rarely resulted in arrests or the discovery of arms caches, but which invariably alienated those whose houses were searched or who were roughed up and dragged off to be screened. Collective punishments, far from undermining support for EOKA, only succeeded in making the Greek Cypriots more hostile to British rule.[59] Moreover, Harding viewed Cyprus very much as a pawn in the Cold War global situation: on December 13 he banned AKEL and detained 128 of its leading members, effectively crippling the only political party in Cyprus that opposed EOKA.[59]

The inevitable result was to increase sympathy for EOKA and to assist its recruitment efforts. The problem was that the Greek Cypriot community was overwhelmingly in favour of Enosis. Far from moderates emerging with whom Britain could do a deal.[60] It was this popular support, enabling Grivas and his small band of guerrillas to take on the growing security apparatus that Harding was marshaling against him, that sustained the armed struggle.[60] It became clear that EOKA did have an effective intelligence apparatus and that the guerrillas were often forewarned of security intentions. Schoolchildren, domestic servants, civilian personnel on the military bases, the police, all were enlisted by Grivas in the intelligence war while the security forces were operating in the dark.[60]

Operation "Forward to Victory" (Greek name) was launched on November 18 and was accompanied by several bomb attacks.[61] In the urban areas, schoolchildren had a prominent role in the EOKA struggle. The Battle of Flags, escalated during the Autumn of 1955 and peaked in January and February 1956– that kept British forces busy away from chasing down EOKA.[62][63] Schoolboys were not only participating in riots and stone-throwing against the police, but some of them were also trained to throw bombs and carry assassinations.[64] Bombs by guerrillas and youngsters were thrown at British personnel houses, police stations and army camps.[65][66] In some cases, EOKA members managed to steal some weaponry.[67] The British were never to succeed completely eliminating EOKA agents from the police force.[49]

The struggle continued in the mountains as the guerrillas expanded their network in the Troodos mountains. However, due to harsh winter conditions in addition to certain British military pressure, the activity of EOKA temporarily eased.[68] By the end of February 1956 the British were involved in suppressing a veritable schoolchildren revolt that left one boy shot dead and the island's school system almost completely closed down.[49]

March 1956 to March 1957 (Operation Victory, phase II)

After the failure of Makarios-Harding negotiations the British government abruptly exiled Makarios to Seychelles on March 9, 1956.[69] This triggered a week long general strike followed by a dramatic increase in EOKA activity: 246 attacks until March 31 including an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Harding. The offensive continued into April and May and the British casualties averaged two killed every week.[70] While Harding's forces were making ground up in the mountains,[71] EOKA guerrillas and youth were trying to assassinate members of the security forces at their leisure time or alleged traitors.[72]

EOKA focused its activity to urban areas during this period. House bombings and riots, mostly by schoolboys, forced army to keep forces away from the mountains where EOKA's main fighters were hiding. Apart from individual citizens or soldiers in their leisure time, army and police facilities were attacked totaling 104 house bombings, 53 riots, 136 acts of Sabotage, 403 ambushes, 35 attacks on police, 38 attacks on soldiers and 43 raids on police stations.[c][77] But as the pressure of Harding mounted, Grivas began targeting Turkish Cypriot policemen effectively sparking inter-communal riots and a series of strikes[78][79]

Harding escalated his fight against EOKA organizing a series of operations in April–July[d] Harding also upgraded his intelligence network including the creation of the notorious X-platoon.[81] On May 10 the first two EOKA prisoners were hanged and Grivas responded with the execution of two British soldiers.[70] The British were concerned to counter EOKA's mountain units. Large scale operations were launched however Grivas managed to escape.[82] He decided to move to Limassol where he established his new headquarters. Although Grivas escaped, the Troodos operations had some success for the British: 20 guerrillas and 50 weapons were captured. However, they ended up with a disaster: at least 7 British soldiers were killed and additionally 21 were burned to death by accident. The last incident overshadowed the first real success against the EOKA guerrilla forces.[82]

On August 9 the British authorities hanged three more EOKA prisoners; however, Grivas did not retaliate this time. Widespread strikes were held in protest.[83] In November 1956 due to the Suez Crisis large numbers of British troops were transferred off Cyprus allowing Grivas to launch a new offensive. EOKA launched a wave of attacks in what would become for the British "Black November" with a total of 416 attacks, 39 killed, 21 of them British. After the Suez debacle, the British military strength was increased to 20,000 and Harding managed to direct a new offensive.[83]

Although EOKA activity was severely suppressed in the mountains its armed struggle continued in the urban areas while the British forces were apparently impotent.[84][82][85] Grivas declared truce on the 14th of March 1957 which lasted nearly one year.[85]

From March 1957 to November 1957

Harding continued to pressure EOKA despite the unilateral truce imposing security measures on villagers. This backfired at the British Forces as EOKA made gains in the field of propaganda.[86][87][88]

Meanwhile, PEKA[e] was continuing the struggle for Enosis with political means, while EOKA was trying to recruit new members. Priests and teachers, under strict secrecy, were the scouting for young men aged 14–24, and were mostly successful.[89] Grivas reorganized EOKA's structure.[90] By Autumn, Grivas was increasing his autonomy from Greece and Makarios and was planning to attack the Left and the Turkish Cypriot community. The Greek government and Makarios were unable to prevent those initiatives.[91]

Detention Camps and claims of torture

Detention of Persons Law, passed on 15 June 1955, gave the authority to the British authorities to enclose a suspect in a detention camp without a trial. [92] PEKA and later Makarios and Greek Government pointed to the unhuman conditions in those camps.[93][94] The situation of the inmates there was a matter of dispute [94] International Committee of the Red Cross visited the camps twice and found no problems.[95][96] Harding declined the torture allegations, describing it as propaganda by EOKA.[97] Torture allegations had an impact in internal British politics.[98] The precise use of torture methods remains a matter of dispute. According to Heinz Richter, while police or army was generally lawful, the British turned a blind eye to interrogators many of whom were deliberately under-educated Turkish Cypriots who were against Enosis. Another aspect that Richter highlights is that many claims of torture were made as the alleged victims were afraid for their lives as it was punished by death to speak to the British.[99] David French on the other hand views that most – but not all – claims of torture were a propaganda tool of EOKA.[100] In general Harding failed to win over the Greek Cypriot population especially when his security forces resorted to these measures.[101]

Torture employed by the British in Cyprus included beatings, public floggings, clean beatings, forced standing, ice and drugs. Other torture included anal and vaginal insertion of hot eggs, a tactic also employed by the British in Kenya.[102] A British Special Branch interrogator in Cyprus stated that he had devised the "hot egg under the armpit technique".[102] In a few instances electrotorture was also applied.[102] Jack Taylor, a British policeman who was sent to Cyprus in September 1956 revealed that there were beatings of prisoners, while Brigadier Michael Harbottle confirmed that the Special Branch in Cyprus used torture.[103] These statements confirm the use of torture in Cyprus by the British, although how widespread and frequent its use was remains unclear.[103]

Campaign against Greek Cypriot groups

Initially, EOKA was intimidating the population not to co-operate with the security forces, but steadily the definition of traitor broadened as the security forces had some successes against EOKA at the end of 1956.[104] EOKA members who had spoken to the security forces under interrogation were also considered as traitors and Grivas was in favour of the death penalty in such cases. Incidences happened where EOKA guerrillas killed others by their own initiative and not solely based on accusations for treason. The killings took place in public.[105][106] Such activity peaked especially during summer-autumn 1956.[107] The Greek Cypriot Left and in particular the communist party (AKEL) were also targeted. The latter aimed at a political role in the Greek Cypriot community challenging EOKA's claim that Makarios was the sole leader of the community. As AKEL was growing in numbers it was practically denying Makarios' role. The British delicately fueled this hostility and in August 1957 a second wave of intra-Greek violence broke out.[108] Another similar wave broke out in April–October 1958 when a peace agreement was imminent.[109][110] AKEL held massive demonstrations and sought the help of Makarios which he granted.[109][111] A number of scholars characterize EOKA as a terrorist organization due to attacks on public utilities, assassination of members of the security forces, civil servants and intimidation methods towards local population and targeting civilians.[112]

End of truce

During this period the British were openly tolerating the Turkish Cypriot paramilitary organisations. The British had deliberately set out to use the Turkish Cypriot community on the island and the Turks government as a means of blocking the demand for Enosis.[113] They had effectively allied themselves with the Turkish minority and turned them as the overwhelming majority in the police force. This had now got out of control as far as the British were concerned, but nevertheless they still managed to exploit the situation.[113]

The truce against the colonial authorities lasted until 28 October 1957 (Ohi Day, Greek national holiday) when Harold Macmillan, British minister of foreign affairs, declined a proposal by Makarios.[114]

December 1957 – August 1958 (Foot governorship and intercommunal violence)

Sir Hugh Foot arrived in Cyprus in December 1956, when it was obvious that a military victory for the British was not imminent.[115][116] Grivas at that time was planning a gradual escalation of EOKA's attacks on the British forces but in mid-December, he called for a truce to give space for negotiations to take place. The truce broke on 4 March 1958 when a new wave of attacks was unleashed but this time, Grivas ordered his guerillas not to attack Turkish Cypriots to avoid intercommunal violence that could lead to partition.[117]

EOKA and Turkish Cypriots

The Turkish Cypriot community objected to Enosis long before the 1950s from fear that unification with Greece would lead to their persecution and expulsion, a fear based on the fate of Cretan Turks after Crete's union with Greece. Similarly, nationalism among Turkish Cypriots was constructed from various events that led to the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire.[118][119][120] Grass root paramilitary armed groups, such as Kıbrıs Türk Mukavemet Birliği ("Turkish Cypriot Resistance Unit"), Kara Çete ("Black Gang") and Volkan, appeared as early as May 1955. All of them were absorbed later by TMT (Türk Mukavemet Teşkilatı/Turkish Resistance Organization)[121][122] TMT was Turkey's tool to fuel intercommunal violence in order to show that partition was the only possible arrangement.[123] Like EOKA, TMT used violence against members of its own community (i.e. leftists) that were not willing to stay in line with their cause.[124][125]

EOKA avoided conflict against the Turkish Cypriots but this changed later from January 1957.[126][127] According to French, Grivas decided to attack Turkish Cypriots so as to spark intercommunal tensions and rioting in the towns of Cyprus, forcing the British to withdraw their troops from hunting EOKA up in the mountains and restore order in urban areas.[126] From 19 January 1957 to the end of March, EOKA's guerrillas attacked members of the Turkish community, starting with a Turkish Cypriot police officer, sparking riots lasting 3 days.[128][129]

Intercommunal (and intra-communal) violence escalated in the summer of 1958 with numerous fatalities. French counted 55 assassinations by Turks on Greeks, and 59 assassinations by Greeks on Turks between 7 June-7 August.[130][131] A substantial number of Turkish Cypriots were displaced due to the violence.[132] In order to tackle the intercommunal clash, Foot mounted Operations "Matchbox" and "Table Lighter".[133][134] A truce was called in August, backed by the Greek and Turkish Governments.[135]

From August 1958 to the Zurich and London Agreements

 
Archbishop Makarios III (here in 1962) was the political leader of EOKA.

British authorities were unable to suppress EOKA activity, so the British government was trying to reach a solution that would not embarrass Britain. The MacMillan Plan put an effort in this direction. Greeks rejected the plan as they saw it as an open door leading to the partition of the island and Grivas cancelled the truce on September 7.[136] A new armed campaign was launched and the targets differed significantly from the previous periods. Grivas ordered guerillas to "strike indiscriminately at every English person wherever they can be found" resulting in the death of 8 British citizens in 104 incidents attacks in the following two months.[137] But while the military force of EOKA was growing, Greek Cypriots were getting frustrated from the intercommunal violence and the struggle against the British. Makarios hinted in an interview that he was ready to shift his stance and accept an independent Cyprus. This development infuriated Grivas but was backed by influential members of the Greek Cypriot Community. EOKA was losing its broad support base. [138]

During the last months of 1958, all parties had reasons to favour a compromise. Greek Cypriot side was afraid that partition was becoming more and more imminent, Greece was anxious that the ongoing situation could lead to a war with Turkey, Turkey had to manage the ongoing crises at its eastern borders and the British did not want to see NATO destabilizing because of Greek-Turkish war. On 5 December, the foreign ministers of Greece and Turkey acknowledged the situation and a series of meetings were arranged that resulted in London-Zürich Agreements. This was a compromise solution in which Cyprus would become an independent and sovereign country.[139] Both Makarios and Grivas accepted the agreements with a heavy heart, but Turkish-Cypriot leadership was enthusiastic about the compromise. On 9 March 1959, Grivas issued a leaflet declaring his acceptance to London agreements.[140]

According to historian Heinz Richter, the activities of EOKA resulted in the death of 104 British soldiers, 54 policemen (among them 15 Greek Cypriots, 22 Turkish Cypriots and 12 British) and 238 citizens (among them 26 British, 203 Greek Cypriots and 7 Turkish Cypriots)[141]

Aftermath

After Zurich-London agreement and the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus, Makarios, who became the first president, staffed the Government and Civil service with EOKA members. Extremists of both communities stayed armed and continued to seek their ends, Enosis or Taksim.[142] Ministers and other EOKA veterans joined the secret Akritas organisation, with Polycarpos Giorkatzis as new "Digenis".[143] As each community strived for opposite ends, the newly formed state soon collapsed, after Makarios changed the constitution unilaterally, paving the way to the intercommunal violence.[144]

Legacy

The authorities of the Republic of Cyprus consider the EOKA struggle as a struggle of national liberation and its members as heroic freedom fighters.[145] The day of the beginning of the EOKA campaign, 1 April, is considered a national anniversary in the country today.[146][147] Turkish nationalist narrative as written in a Turkish-Cypriot textbook considers the struggle of EOKA's guerillas as barbaric and illegal with the conclusion that "Cyprus is and will remain Turkish" (p. 61)."[148]

Museums and Monuments

 
Monument for Michalis Karaolis, Nicosia

A memorial museum dedicated to the EOKA campaign was created in 1960. It is located in the centre of Nicosia.[149]

There are various monuments dedicated to the members of EOKA who died during the years of combat who are largely regarded as war-time heroes by Greek-Cypriots. Part of the central jail of Nicosia established by British governor Harding functions after the Cypriot independence as a museum. This includes the prisons cells, the gallows and the "Incarcerated Graves" of 13 EOKA fighters who were either executed or killed by the colonial authorities.[150]

Foreign Office declassified documents and EOKA lawsuits against the British government

In 2012, Foreign Office released highly classified documents that described claims of torture and abuse between 1955–1959. In the reports it is revealed that officials of the colonial administration admitted to torture and abuse. In the same papers, there are allegations against British soldiers and security personnel concerning (among other incidents) the killing of a blind man, ordering a Greek Cypriot to dig his own grave, and hitting a pregnant woman who subsequently miscarried. Other allegations include the 1958 mass arrest and beating of 300 civilians by colonial forces. In the incident, it was alleged that the force involved left some civilians behind, thinking they were dead. A woman also alleged that she was raped in a forest, at the age of 16, by members of the Special Branch, and was subsequently subject to a "brutal interrogation" regarding her connection to EOKA which included a mock execution and forcibly wearing a noose.[151] In another incident, a man lost his kidney following an interrogation at the notorious "Red House" building in Limassol.[152]

Following the release of the documents, EOKA veterans announced that lawsuits were being planned against British authorities.[153] The veterans association alleged that at least 14 Cypriots died and hundreds more could have been tortured during interrogations by the British during the 1955–1959 campaign. Two of those who allegedly died during interrogation were aged 17. The legal action comes on the back of the uncovering of secret documents released in 2011 which present similar practices during the Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya, during the same period.[154][155]

In 2018, Cypriot veterans won the right to claim damages over UK torture claims at court. The presiding judge dismissed arguments by the British government that the case should be judged under Cypriot law, which, if true, would have meant that the statute of limitations applied in the case. The judge commented that "It seems to me that, in this case at any rate, where a state stands to be held to account for acts of violence against its citizens, it should be held to account in its own courts, by its own law and should not escape liability by reference to a colonial law it has itself made."[151]

The case was settled out-of-court with the UK awarding Greek Cypriots with £1 million (to be distributed among alleged victims). The UK government denied any liability.[156][152]

Declassified British archives have also revealed that the Information Research Department (IRD), a secret propaganda wing of the UK Foreign Office which dealt with Cold War propaganda, was responsible for spreading fake news claiming that EOKA rebels had raped schoolgirls as young as 12 years old. These black propaganda stories were spread to American journalists as a part of "Operation TEA-PARTY".[157]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ More specific, EOKA is the acronym of the organisation's full name in Greek, Εθνική Οργάνωσις Κυπρίων Αγωνιστών, Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston (National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters), sometimes expanded as Εθνική Οργάνωσις Κυπριακού Αγώνος, Ethnikí Orgánosis Kipriakoú Agónos ("National Organisation of Cypriot Struggle").[5]
  2. ^ There is some controversy surrounding the Xhi organization as some sources consider it or its members to be Nazi collaborators while others consider it patriotic and anti-communist
  3. ^ Some of the attacks of the attacks against civilians drew world attention and were used for propaganda purposes by the British authorities. Most notable attacks have been the killing of an army doctor while driving home,[73] the execution of Greek Cypriot Assistant Superintendent Kyriacos Aristotelous,[74][75] the killing of the son of a soldier in a beach near Dekelia base[76] a Maltese shop owner (fiance of a Greek Cypriot woman) was killed by shooting in the back. -the phot of the grieving wife reached mainstream media in UK- another couple, a British customs officer and his wife, was murdered while picnicked.[76] On 16 June 1956, the bombing of a restaurant by EOKA led to the death of William P. Boteler, a CIA officer working under diplomatic cover. Grivas immediately issued a statement denying a deliberate attempt to target American citizens.[72]
  4. ^ These operations have been a) Operation ‘Kennett’b) Operation ‘Pepperpot’, c) Operation ‘Lucky Alphonse’ and d)Operation ‘Spread Eagle’. 21 soldiers died at a forest fire during Lucky Alphonse[80]
  5. ^ PEKA was the political branch of EOKA

References

  1. ^ a b c Karyos 2009.
  2. ^ a b c Θρασυβούλου 2016, p. 298.
  3. ^ a b c Novo 2012, p. 194.
  4. ^ Kraemer 1971, p. 146.
  5. ^ The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica 2015.
  6. ^ Richter 2007, p. 23.
  7. ^ a b Mallinson & Mallinson 2005, p. 5.
  8. ^ Emerick 2014, pp. 117–118.
  9. ^ Richter 2007, p. 157-194, chapter First World War.
  10. ^ Emerick 2014, p. 117-18.
  11. ^ Lange 2011, p. 93; Bellingeri & Kappler 2005, p. 21; Isachenko 2012, p. 37; Richter 2007, pp. 114–15.
  12. ^ Richter 2007, p. 114-15; French 2015, p. 17: French writes: "But Greek Cypriot teachers and parents insisted that education should follow a classical curriculum that promoted a Greek ethnic identity and preserved the Greek character of the island, a curriculum that also instilled into pupils a sense of historical awareness that supported their claims for Enosis.27"
  13. ^ Κτωρής 2013, p. 80.
  14. ^ Kizilyurek 2011, pp. 198–199:Kizilyurek clearly states: "The Turkish Cypriot nationalism mainly developed in reaction to the Greek Cypriot national desire for union with Greece."
  15. ^ Klapsis 2009, p. 131.
  16. ^ Frendo 1998, pp. 47–51.
  17. ^ Klapsis 2009, pp. 131–135.
  18. ^ a b Klapsis 2009, pp. 135–136.
  19. ^ Rappas 2008, pp. 363–364.
  20. ^ Rappas 2008, pp. 363–369.
  21. ^ Mallinson & Mallinson 2005, p. 19.
  22. ^ Markides 1974.
  23. ^ Novo 2010, p. 66.
  24. ^ Ganser 2005, p. 213:The turn around of the British came as a shock to ELAS and its difficulties increased when former Nazi collaborators and right-wing special units, such as the fascist X Bands of Cypriot soldier George Grivas, with British support, started to hunt and kill ELAS resistance fighters. Churchill, who observed the battle from a distance, noticed however that the X Bands, for complete lack of popular support, never numbered more than 600 Greeks and hence ELAS remained the strongest guerrilla on the territory
  25. ^ Newsinger 2016, p. 93.
  26. ^ Beaton 2003, p. 370; Sherratt & Bennett 2016, p. 161.
  27. ^ Newsinger 2016, p. 106.
  28. ^ Βαρνάβα 2000, p. 88-105, Church and EOKA youth.
  29. ^ Novo 2012, p. 195-196.
  30. ^ Θρασυβούλου 2016, p. 316.
  31. ^ Novo 2010, p. 64-65: While the antagonism between AKEL and EOKA was real and eventually bloody, the alleged ‘cooperation’ between AKEL and the British authorities did not happen.(...) EOKA’s right-wing ideology made it the exception to the rule of post-Second World War insurgencies. Such movements were most often led by communists who aimed at establishing new Marxist societies. This was the case in China, Malaya, Vietnam, and Cuba. As a nationalist and anti-communist movement, EOKA had far more in common with the Irgun and Stern Gang in late-1940s Palestine.
  32. ^ Newsinger, 2016, p. 96
  33. ^ a b Newsinger, 2016, p. 97
  34. ^ Newsinger, 2016, p. 93
  35. ^ a b c d e Newsinger, 2016, p. 94
  36. ^ French 2015, p. 64-65.
  37. ^ "Η νεολαία στον αγώνα του 1955-59". Η νεολαία στον αγώνα του 1955-59. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  38. ^ a b Newsinger 2016, p. 95.
  39. ^ French 2015, p. 71.
  40. ^ a b Richter 2011, p. 250.
  41. ^ a b Ağır, Ülkü (2014). Pogrom in Istanbul, 6./7. September 1955: Die Rolle der türkischen Presse in einer kollektiven Plünderungs- und Vernichtungshysterie (in German) (1 ed.). Berlin: Klaus Schwarz Verlag. p. 161. ISBN 978-3-87997-439-9.
  42. ^ Richter 2011, p. 254: ANE (Valiant Youth of EOKA), a pupil's group was created, ANE had a branch in every school.
  43. ^ a b c d e f Newsinger 2016, p. 97.
  44. ^ Richter 2011, p. 257-8.
  45. ^ French 2015, p. 72.
  46. ^ Richter 2011, p. 259.
  47. ^ French 2015, p. 76.
  48. ^ French 2015, p. 82.
  49. ^ a b c Newsinger 2016, p. 101.
  50. ^ a b Ağır, Ülkü (2014), pp.162–163
  51. ^ Richter 2011, pp. 315–321.
  52. ^ Richter 2011, pp. 299 & 313.
  53. ^ Holland 1998, p. 73.
  54. ^ Holland 1998, p. 83-84.
  55. ^ Holland 1998, p. 84-85.
  56. ^ Richter 2011, p. 370.
  57. ^ Richter 2011, pp. 370–72.
  58. ^ Richter 2011, p. 373.
  59. ^ a b c Newsinger 2016, p. 99.
  60. ^ a b c Newsinger 2016, p. 100.
  61. ^ Richter 2011, p. 377: According to Richter, there were 50 bomb attacks that day.
  62. ^ French 2015, p. 86.
  63. ^ Richter 2011, p. 376.
  64. ^ Richter 2011, p. 383.
  65. ^ Richter 2011, p. 481-82.
  66. ^ French 2015, p. 86-88.
  67. ^ French 2015, p. 87.
  68. ^ French 2015, p. 88-89.
  69. ^ Richter 2011, p. 416-422.
  70. ^ a b Newsinger 2016, p. 102.
  71. ^ Richter 2011, pp. 501–512: In the sub-chapter "The British counter-attack"
  72. ^ a b Richter 2011, p. 496.
  73. ^ French 2015, p. 110.
  74. ^ French 2015, p. 111.
  75. ^ Richter 2011, pp. 489–491:Richter claims that the assassination took place in the hospital's ward, while Aristotelous was talking to the doctor. The doctor was injured, according to Richter
  76. ^ a b Richter 2011, p. 493.
  77. ^ French 2015, p. 109.
  78. ^ French 2015, p. 152.
  79. ^ Richter 2011, pp. 491–492
  80. ^ French 2015, p. 135.
  81. ^ French 2015, p. 145-46.
  82. ^ a b c Newsinger 2016, p. 103.
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  84. ^ French 2015, p. 136.
  85. ^ a b Richter 2011, p. 651.
  86. ^ Richter 2011, pp. 651–53.
  87. ^ French 2015, p. 169.
  88. ^ Holland 1998, p. 198.
  89. ^ Richter 2011, pp. 706–707.
  90. ^ French 2015, p. 246.
  91. ^ Richter 2011, p. 725.
  92. ^ Richter 2011, pp. 653–54.
  93. ^ French 2015, p. 196.
  94. ^ a b Richter 2011, p. 654.
  95. ^ French 2015, p. 220.
  96. ^ Richter 2011, p. 657-658.
  97. ^ Richter 2011, p. 659.
  98. ^ Richter 2011, p. 661-665.
  99. ^ Richter 2011, pp. 666–668.
  100. ^ French 2015, p. 222-24.
  101. ^ Newsinger 2016, p. 107.
  102. ^ a b c Darius Rejali (8 June 2009). Torture and Democracy. Princeton University Press. pp. 331–. ISBN 978-1-4008-3087-9.
  103. ^ a b Preston Jordan Lim (12 June 2018). The Evolution of British Counter-Insurgency during the Cyprus Revolt, 1955–1959. Springer. pp. 79–80. ISBN 978-3-319-91620-0.
  104. ^ French 2015, pp. 158–159.
  105. ^ French 2015, pp. 163–164.
  106. ^ Holland 1998, p. 148:According to Holland "In early August [1956] EOKA had unleashed a series of urban assassinations in which twenty-one Greek 'traitors' had been killed—the victims often sought out in cafes to accentuate the public ritual of the horror"
  107. ^ French 2015, p. 163.
  108. ^ Holland 1998, p. 203.
  109. ^ a b French 2015, p. 166-67.
  110. ^ Richter 2011, p. 710-212: in the subchapter "Grivas unleash attack against the Left
  111. ^ Richter 2011, pp. 710-712b: in the subchapter "Grivas unleash attack against the Left". Richter also notes that AKEL approached Makarios who was antithetical to Grivas tactics. That was the beginning of a relationship that would last to time
  112. ^ Abrahms & Lula 2012, pp. 46–62; Crenshaw & Pimlott 2015, Chapter Terrorism in Cyprus; Cronin 2009, p. 73–93; Edwards 2018, Abstract.
  113. ^ a b Newsinger 2016, p. 109.
  114. ^ Richter 2011, p. 106.
  115. ^ French 2015, p. 241.
  116. ^ Holland 1998, p. 213.
  117. ^ French 2015, p. 246-47.
  118. ^ French 2015, p. 253.
  119. ^ Holland 1998, p. 12.
  120. ^ Kizilyurek 2011, pp. 198–199:Niyazi Kızılyürek names the fear among Turkish Cypriots as "Cretan Syndrome"
  121. ^ French 2015, p. 256-57.
  122. ^ Holland 1998, p. 216.
  123. ^ French 2015, p. 259-61.
  124. ^ French 2015, p. 260.
  125. ^ Holland 1998, p. 242.
  126. ^ a b French 2015, p. 258.
  127. ^ Holland 1998, p. 69: As Holland states: "EOKA violence was initially directed against British installations, and then against Greek 'traitors'; Grivas, indeed, explicitly forbade any victimizing of Turks. In this he was quite practical — EOKA could not fight everybody at once."
  128. ^ French 2015, p. 258-59.
  129. ^ Richter 2011, p. 491-92.
  130. ^ French 2015, p. 262.
  131. ^ Holland 1998, p. 263-64.
  132. ^ Richter 2011, p. 839.
  133. ^ French 2015, p. 265.
  134. ^ Holland 1998, p. 267.
  135. ^ French 2015, p. 267.
  136. ^ French 2015, p. 270-73.
  137. ^ French 2015, p. 274-75.
  138. ^ French 2015, p. 283-85.
  139. ^ French 2015, p. 289.
  140. ^ French 2015, p. 290-92.
  141. ^ Richter 2011, p. 979.
  142. ^ Richter 2010, p. 99.
  143. ^ Richter 2010, pp. 117–118.
  144. ^ Richter 2010, pp. 113–122.
  145. ^ Richter 2011, p. 983.
  146. ^ "ΑΣΤΥΝΟΜΙΑ ΚΥΠΡΟΥ – Ομιλίες". www.police.gov.cy. police.gov.cy. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  147. ^ "Διεύθυνση Δημοτικής Εκπαίδευσης". www.moec.gov.cy. Ministry of Education, Repuplic of Cyprus. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  148. ^ Kizilgurek 1999, p. 393.
  149. ^ Leonidou, Leo (22 June 2006). . Cyprus Mail. Archived from the original on 26 May 2007. Retrieved 17 April 2007.
  150. ^ Brussel, Leen Van; Carpentier, Nico (2014). The Social Construction of Death: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Springer. p. 177. ISBN 9781137391919.
  151. ^ a b Eoka fighters win first historical torture battle in UK court
  152. ^ a b "UK pays £1m to Cyprus 'torture victims'". BBC News. 24 January 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  153. ^ "Cypriots to sue U.K. for alleged torture in '50s" 2018-11-04 at the Wayback Machine, Herald News, 1 November 2012
  154. ^ Theodoulou, Michael (13 April 2011). "Greek Cypriots intend to sue Britain over torture in 1950s uprising". The Times. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
  155. ^ Dewhurst, Patrick (14 April 2011). . Cyprus Mail. Archived from the original on 18 May 2011. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
  156. ^ Smith, Helena (23 January 2019). "UK to pay £1m to Greek Cypriots over claims of human rights abuses". the Guardian. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  157. ^ Dorril, Stephen (2002). MI6: Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service. New York: Touchstone. p. 552.

Sources

Sources in Greek
  • Βαρνάβα, Αντρέας (2000). Η νεολαία στον απελευθερωτικό αγώνα της ΕΟΚΑ. Συμβούλιο Ιστορικής Μνήμης ΕΟΚΑ.
  • Θρασυβούλου, Μάριος (2016). Ο εθνικισμός των Ελληνοκυπρίων, από την αποικιοκρατία στην Ανεξαρτησία. Θεσσαλονίκη: επίκεντρο. ISBN 978-960-458-686-8.
  • Κτωρής, Σώτος (2013). Τουρκοκύπριοι: από το περιθώριο στο συνεταιρισμό, 1923-196. Αθήνα: Παπαζήσης. ISBN 9789600228984.
  • Richter, Heinz (2007). Ιστορία της Κύπρου, τόμος πρώτος (1878-1949). Αθήνα: Εστία. ISBN 9789600512946. translated from the original Heinz Richter (2006). Geschichte der Insel Zypern. Harrassowitz Verlag. ISBN 978-3-447-05975-6.
  • Richter, Heinz (2011). Ιστορία της Κύπρου, τόμος δεύτερος(1950-1959). Αθήνα: Εστία.
Sources in English
  • Abrahms, Max; Lula, Karolina (2012). "Why Terrorists Overestimate the Odds of Victory". Perspectives on Terrorism. 6 (4/5): 46–62. JSTOR 26296876.
  • Beaton, Roderick (2003). George Seferis: Waiting for the Angel : a Biography. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-10135-5.
  • Bellingeri, Giampiero; Kappler, T. (2005). Cipro oggi. Casa editrice il Ponte. ISBN 978-88-89465-07-3.
  • Crenshaw, Martha; Pimlott, John (22 April 2015). "Terrorism in Cyprus". International Encyclopedia of Terrorism. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-91966-5.
  • Cronin, Audrey Kurth (24 August 2009). "Chapter 3: Success, Achieving the objective". How Terrorism Ends: Understanding the Decline and Demise of Terrorist Campaigns. Princeton University Press. pp. 73–93. ISBN 978-1-4008-3114-2.
  • Drousiotis, Makarios (25 April 2005). "Our Haunted Country". Politis Newspaper. Retrieved 3 May 2009.
  • Edwards, Aaron (28 February 2018). "Securing the base". Defending the Realm?. ISBN 9781526129956. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  • French, David (2015). Fighting EOKA: The British Counter-Insurgency Campaign on Cyprus, 1955-1959. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-872934-1.
  • Frendo, Henry (1998). "The naughty European twins of empire: The constitutional breakdown in Malta and Cyprus 1930–1933". The European Legacy: Toward New Paradigms. 3 (1): 45–52. doi:10.1080/10848779808579863.
  • Emerick, Keith (2014). Conserving and Managing Ancient Monuments: Heritage, Democracy, and Inclusion. Boydell & Brewer Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84383-909-5.
  • Ganser, Daniele (2005). Nato's Secret Armies: Operation Gladio and Terrorism in Western Europe. Routledge. p. 213. ISBN 978-0-7146-5607-6.
  • Holland, Robert (26 November 1998). Britain and the Revolt in Cyprus, 1954-1959. Clarendon Press. ISBN 978-0-19-820538-8.
  • Hadjistylianou, Michalis; Giorgos Ploutarhos (2005). . Simerini (in Greek). Archived from the original on 25 February 2008. Retrieved 15 August 2008.
  • Hazou, Elias (12 April 2005). "Christofias comments spark EOKA storm". Cyprus Mail. Retrieved 15 August 2008.
  • Isachenko, Daria (20 March 2012). The Making of Informal States: Statebuilding in Northern Cyprus and Transdniestria. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9780230360594.
  • Karyos, Andreas (2009). (PDF). London School of Economics. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 March 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  • Kraemer, Joseph S. (Winter 1971). "Revolutionary Guerrilla Warfare & the Decolonization Movement". Polity. 4 (2): 137–158. doi:10.2307/3234160. JSTOR 3234160. S2CID 155657462.
  • Kizilgurek, Niyazi (1999). "National memory and Turkish-Cypriot textbooks". Internationale Schulbuchforschung. 21 (4): 387–395. JSTOR 43056308.
  • Kizilyurek, Niyazi (2011). "The politics of identity in the Turkish Cypriot communit : a response to the politics of denial ?". Persée (in French). Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  • Klapsis, Antonis (2009). "Between the Hammer and the Anvil. The Cyprus Question and the Greek Foreign Policy from the Treaty of Lausanne to the 1931 Revolt". Modern Greek Studies Yearbook. 24: 127–140. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  • Mallinson, William; Mallinson, Bill (22 July 2005). Cyprus: A Modern History. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 978-1-85043-580-8.
  • Markides, Kyriakos C. (1974). "social change and the rise and decline of social movements: the case of Cyprus1". American Ethnologist. Wiley. 1 (2): 309–330. doi:10.1525/ae.1974.1.2.02a00070. ISSN 0094-0496.
  • Lange, Matthew (12 December 2011). Educations in Ethnic Violence: Identity, Educational Bubbles, and Resource Mobilization. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781139505444.
  • Newsinger, John (30 April 2016). British Counterinsurgency. Palgrave Macmillan UK. ISBN 978-1-137-31686-8.
  • Novo, Andrew R. (2010). On all fronts: EOKA and the Cyprus insurgency, 1955-1959 (PhD thesis). Oxford University, UK.
  • Novo, Andrew R. (2012). "Friend or foe? The Cyprus Police Force and the EOKA insurgency". Small Wars & Insurgencies. Informa UK Limited. 23 (3): 414–431. doi:10.1080/09592318.2012.661609. ISSN 0959-2318. S2CID 144663807.
  • Papadakis, Yiannis (1998). "Greek Cypriot Narratives of History and Collective Identity: Nationalism as a Contested Process". American Ethnologist. Wiley. 25 (2): 149–165. doi:10.1525/ae.1998.25.2.149. ISSN 0094-0496.
  • Rappas, Alexis (2008). "The Elusive Polity: Imagining and Contesting Colonial Authority in Cyprus During the 1930s". Journal of Modern Greek Studies. 26 (2): 363–393. doi:10.1353/mgs.0.0020. S2CID 145799982. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  • Richter, Heinz A. (2010). A Concise History of Modern Cyprus. Harrassowitz Verlag. ISBN 978-3447062121.
  • Sherratt, Susan; Bennett, John (30 November 2016). Archaeology and the Homeric Epic. Oxbow Books. ISBN 978-1-78570-298-3.
  • S. Corum, James (2006). "Training Indigenous Forces in Counterinsurgency: A Tale of Two Insurgencies" (PDF). Strategic Studies Institute. U.S. Army War College. Retrieved 3 May 2009.
  • "EOKA". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. 2015.

Further reading

Primary sources
Secondary sources
  • Foleÿ, Charles; Scobie, W. I. (1975). The struggle for Cyprus. Hoover Institution Press. ISBN 978-0-8179-1371-7.
  • Novo, Andrew (2020). The EOKA Cause: Nationalism and the Struggle for Cypriot Enosis. Bloomsbury Press. ISBN 978-1838-606-510.

eoka, confused, with, ethniki, organosis, kyprion, agoniston, greek, Εθνική, Οργάνωσις, Κυπρίων, Αγωνιστών, national, organisation, cypriot, fighters, greek, cypriot, nationalist, paramilitary, organisation, that, fought, campaign, british, rule, cyprus, event. Not to be confused with EOKA B The Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston EOKA eɪ ˈ oʊ k e Greek E8nikh Organwsis Kypriwn Agwnistwn lit National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters was a Greek Cypriot nationalist paramilitary organisation that fought a campaign for the end of British rule in Cyprus and for eventual union with Greece 1 a EOKAE8nikh Organwsis Kypriwn AgwnistwnNational Organisation of Cypriot FightersEOKA flagLeadersGeorgios GrivasGrigoris AfxentiouDates of operation1955 1959HeadquartersBritish CyprusIdeologyEnosis 1 Greek nationalism 1 Anti imperialismAnti communism 2 3 Religious conservatism 2 3 Political positionRight wingSize300 regulars1000 active underground 4 AlliesKingdom of GreeceOpponentsUnited KingdomTMTAKELBlack Gang9 September FrontBattles and warsCypriot intercommunal violenceCyprus EmergencySucceeded byEOKA B Contents 1 Background 2 Formation 2 1 Leadership 2 2 Objectives 2 3 Preparations 2 4 ANE 3 Armed campaign 3 1 From April 1955 to the dismissal of governor Armitage October 3 1 1 British reactions 3 1 2 Turkish reactions 3 2 From October 1955 to March 1956 Operation Forward Victory phase I 3 3 March 1956 to March 1957 Operation Victory phase II 3 4 From March 1957 to November 1957 3 4 1 Detention Camps and claims of torture 3 4 2 Campaign against Greek Cypriot groups 3 4 3 End of truce 3 5 December 1957 August 1958 Foot governorship and intercommunal violence 3 5 1 EOKA and Turkish Cypriots 3 6 From August 1958 to the Zurich and London Agreements 4 Aftermath 5 Legacy 5 1 Museums and Monuments 6 Foreign Office declassified documents and EOKA lawsuits against the British government 7 See also 8 Notes 9 References 10 Sources 11 Further readingBackground Edit Georgios Grivas Cyprus an island in the eastern Mediterranean inhabited mostly by Greek Cypriots majority and Turkish Cypriots minority populations was part of the Ottoman Empire from 1571 until 4 June 1878 when in the aftermath of the Russo Turkish War it was handed to the British empire 6 As nationalistic tendencies were growing in both communities of Cyprus Greek Cypriots were leaning towards Enosis Union with Greece which was a part of the Megali idea The origins of Enosis date back to 1821 the year when the Greek War of Independence commenced and the archbishop of Cyprus his archdeacon and three bishops were beheaded amongst other atrocities In 1828 Count Ioannis Kapodistrias the first governor of Greece asked for the union of Cyprus with Greece while small scale uprisings also occurred 7 In 1878 when British general Wolsely came to Cyprus to formally establish British rule he was met by the archbishop of Kition who after welcoming him requested that Britain cede Cyprus to Greece 7 Initially the Greek Cypriots welcomed British rule because they were aware that the British had returned the Ionian Islands to Greece in 1864 and they were also hoping for British investment in Cyprus 8 In 1912 the British government made an offer to Greece to exchange Cyprus for a naval base in Argostoli Kefalonia in order to gain control of the Ionian sea an offer which was repeated in 1913 In 1915 the British offered Cyprus to Greece several times in exchange for Greece s participation in World War I While Greece was undecided whether it should enter the War however the British government withdrew its offer 9 By 1915 the Greek Cypriot s opposition the British rule had increased seeing that neither the British investment nor Enosis had materialised 10 In the beginning the Enosis movement had only few supporters mainly from the upper classes 11 However that was about to change as two groups disappointed with the new ruler began to form namely the Church and the Usurers A number of Cypriots studying in Greece in the following years became strong advocates of Enosis upon their return 12 On the other hand the Turkish Cypriot community started to develop its own nationalism in the early 20th century as news arrived in the island about the persecutions faced by Muslims in the countries that formed after the collapse of Ottoman Empire 13 14 The November 1926 appointment of Ronald Storrs a philhellene as the new governor of Cyprus fostered the idea among Greek Cypriot nationalists that British rule would be a stepping stone for the eventual union with Greece 15 Their relationship was to sour in 1928 when Greek Cypriots refused to take part in the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the British occupation of Cyprus Greece appealed for calm limiting the spread of anti colonial articles in Greek Cypriot newspapers Education became another arena of conflict with the passage of the Education Act which sought to curtail Greek influence in the Cypriot school curricula Cypriot irredentists also lamented the supposedly preferential treatment of Malta and Egypt at the expense of Cyprus 16 Relations worsened further when the British authorities unilaterally passed a new penal code which permitted among other things the use of torture In 1929 Legislative Council members Archbishop of Kition Nikodemos and Stavros Stavrinakis arrived in London presenting a memorandum to the secretary of colonies Lord Passfield which contained demands for Enosis As with previous such attempts the answer was negative 17 In September 1931 Storrs blocked a Legislative Council decision to halt tax hikes that were to cover a local budget deficit Greek Cypriot MPs reacted by resigning from their positions Furthermore on 18 October Archbishop of Kition Nikodemos called Greek Cypriots to engage in acts of civil disobedience until their demands for Enosis were fulfilled 18 On 21 October 1931 5 000 Greek Cypriots mostly students priests and city notables rallied in the streets of Nicosia while chanting pro Enosis slogans in what came to be known as the October Events The crowd besieged Government House following three hours of stone throwing the building was set on fire The rioters were eventually dispersed by police At the same time British flags were stripped from public offices across the country often being substituted with Greek ones Order was restored by the beginning of November A total of seven protesters were killed thirty were injured ten were exiled for life while 2 606 received various punishments ranging from prison terms to fines on account of seditious activities 18 19 The revolt damaged both the Enotic cause and the Anglo Hellenic relations The Legislative Council and municipal elections were abolished the appointment of village authorities and district judges was relegated to the governor of the island Propagating Enotic ideas and flying foreign flags was banned as was the assembly of more than 5 people Cyprus thus entered a period of autocratic rule known as Palmerokratia Palmerokratia Palmerocracy named after governor Richmond Palmer which started shortly before the revolt and would last until the beginning of World War II 20 In the 1950s EOKA was established with the specific aim of mounting a military campaign to end the status of Cyprus as a British crown colony and achieving the island s unification with Greece The leadership of AKEL at the time the island s communist party opposed EOKA s military action advocating a Gandhiesque approach of civil disobedience such as workers strikes and demonstrations 21 Initially the struggle was political as opposed to military EOKA in Grivas words wanted to attract the attention of the world through high profile operations that would make headlines 22 Formation EditLeadership Edit EOKA was headed by Georgios Grivas Greek Army officer World War I and World War II veteran During the Axis occupation of Greece in World War II he led a small anti communist resistance b group named Organization X 23 24 During the anti communist struggle of December 1944 in Athens after the Axis withdrawal he was saved due to British intervention 25 Grivas assumed the nom de guerre Digenis in direct reference to the legendary Byzantine Digenis Akritas who repelled invaders from the Byzantine Empire 26 Second in command in EOKA was Grigoris Afxentiou also a former officer of the Greek army Afxentiou had graduated from the reserves Officers Academy in 1950 without previous experience on battlefield 27 Objectives Edit The main objective of EOKA was Enosis union of Cyprus with Greece The organization adopted typical Greek national ideologies and displayed religious conservative and anticommunist ideas 2 3 This was in agreement with the prevailing ideas of Cypriot society at the time 28 29 There was a widespread belief that leftists opposed national objectives and provided a certain support to the colonial regime 30 contrary to other contemporary anti colonial insurgencies in Africa or Asia which were led by Marxists 31 Grivas and Archbishop of Cyprus Makarios III disagreed about the way to rid the island of British rule Grivas rejected Makarios attempt to limit the campaign to acts of sabotage avoiding loss of life Nevertheless he shared Makarios view that victory would be won by diplomatic means 32 Grivas goal was to subject the British to continued relentless harassment making it clear to them that occupation carried a price while keeping Enosis on the international diplomatic agenda 33 The British response to the EOKA campaign was crucial in this regard repression would on the one hand alienate the Greek Cypriot population from British rule and on the other hand provide Makarios and the Greek government with a stick to beat the British with before the United Nations EOKA would ensure that there was a Cyprus problem and demonstrate to the world that the British could not resolve it 33 Preparations Edit Grivas carried out a first reconnaissance in Cyprus as early as July 1951 34 Makarios was certainly skeptical telling Grivas on one occasion that he would not find supporters for an armed struggle The British shared the same view Grivas finally arrived on the island in early November 1954 and set about establishing his underground network 35 He recruited from the Cyprus Farmers Union PEK in the villages and from the two main youth movements the Church controlled Christian Youth Movement OHEN and the nationalist Pancyprian Youth Movement PEON in the towns 35 36 Grivas intended to turn the youth of Cyprus into the seedbed of EOKA 35 The backbone of EOKA were the mountain groups a conventional guerrilla force living in hidden camps in the forests and the town groups often continuing their civilian job or schooling 35 Supporting this armed wing was the much broader National Front of Cyprus EMAK which provided EOKA with intelligence supplies weapons medicines recruits and safe houses confronted the British on the streets with demonstrations and riots and conducted the propaganda offensive 35 ANE Edit ANE Greek Alkimos Neolaia EOKA Alkimos Neolaia EOKA lit Alkimos Youth EOKA was the EOKA youth movement during the struggle for enosis between 1955 and 1959 The youth organisation had a self governing body that was directly responsible to the leader of EOKA Digenis Among its activities was demonstrating against the British rule in Cyprus 37 Armed campaign Edit A British soldier facing a crowd of demonstrators during the Battle at Nicosia Hospital in 1956 From April 1955 to the dismissal of governor Armitage October Edit The armed struggle started on the night of March 29 April 1955 A total of 18 bomb attacks occurred in various locations across the island Most notable incidents were those of Nicosia by the group of Markos Drakos as well as the demolition of the Cyprus Broadcasting Station s transmitter 38 39 40 The attacks were accompanied by a revolutionary proclamation signed by The leader Digenes Grivas decided to keep his involvement secret at the moment and used the name of a Byzantine general who had defended Cyprus in the medieval era 38 Grivas also prohibited attacks on the Turkish Cypriots at the time and only wanted British soldiers and Greek collaborators to be targeted 41 The British not expecting this turn of events reinforced their local military bases Dhekelia and Akrotiri by transferring troops from Egypt 40 At the end of April EOKA attacks temporarily paused giving time to Grivas to organize the youth 42 A second offensive was launched on June 19 with coordinated bomb and grenade attacks against police stations military installations and the homes of army officers and senior officials 43 44 45 One of those bombings demolished the building of the Famagusta Police headquarters 43 Those attacks were usually followed by sporadic incidents shootings bombings and increased public disorder 43 This second wave of EOKA attacks lasted until the end of June totaling 204 attacks since the beginning of the armed resistance 46 47 In August two Special Branch members were assassinated in separate incidents The raising of the Greek flag during demonstrations usually led to clashes with the colonial authorities the latter removing it by force if necessary 43 Another major EOKA success was the escape from Kyrenia castle prison of 16 EOKA members including a number of key figures such as Markos Drakos and Grigoris Afxentiou 43 British reactions Edit The situation seemed to be deteriorating out of control and the British authorities attempted to safeguard their position in Cyprus by diplomatic maneuvering and a counterinsurgency offensive The first involved playing the Greek and Turkish governments off against each other Eden saw Turkey as the key protecting British interests in Cyprus 43 By the end of September as the crisis was escalating the British Government decided to replace governor Armitage 48 Then British policy also aimed at the dramatic increase in recruitment of Turkish Cypriots 41 By the start of 1956 they had come to dominate the police force numbering 4 000 compared to less than 1 000 Greek Cypriots The Turkish Cypriots were very much in the front line against EOKA Inevitably the use of Turkish Cypriot policemen against the Greek Cypriot community exacerbated relations between the two communities 49 Turkish reactions Edit In August 1955 Adnan Menderes the Turkish president at the time announced that Turkey wouldn t accept any change in the status quo of Cyprus which were not in Turkeys interests 50 In Turkey the public opinion was un eased Rumors were spreading in Turkish media that a slaughter of the Turkish Cypriot community was likely to occur Though they were unfounded they led to nationalist reactions in the country and the government sponsored anti Greek Istanbul pogrom of September 1955 51 At the same time during the London Trilateral Conference between Britain Turkey and Greece an agreement failed to materialize due to Turkish intransigence 52 53 During a meeting between the end of August and 7 September 1955 Turkey also argued that if the status quo of Cyprus under a British administration would not be respected the whole Treaty of Lausanne would be questionable 50 From October 1955 to March 1956 Operation Forward Victory phase I Edit The new British governor John Harding arrived at October 3 54 Harding sought to meet Archbishop Makarios and both agreed on commencing what became known as Harding Makarios negotiations 55 56 Increased security and stepping up military might was of Harding s priorities 57 On November 26 Harding declared a State of Emergency that meant amongst other things implementation of the death penalty for non fatality crimes 58 Repressive legislation and troop reinforcements did not succeed The Greek Cypriot population was hostile and the Special Branch was neutered 59 The British response was large scale cordon and search operations which rarely resulted in arrests or the discovery of arms caches but which invariably alienated those whose houses were searched or who were roughed up and dragged off to be screened Collective punishments far from undermining support for EOKA only succeeded in making the Greek Cypriots more hostile to British rule 59 Moreover Harding viewed Cyprus very much as a pawn in the Cold War global situation on December 13 he banned AKEL and detained 128 of its leading members effectively crippling the only political party in Cyprus that opposed EOKA 59 The inevitable result was to increase sympathy for EOKA and to assist its recruitment efforts The problem was that the Greek Cypriot community was overwhelmingly in favour of Enosis Far from moderates emerging with whom Britain could do a deal 60 It was this popular support enabling Grivas and his small band of guerrillas to take on the growing security apparatus that Harding was marshaling against him that sustained the armed struggle 60 It became clear that EOKA did have an effective intelligence apparatus and that the guerrillas were often forewarned of security intentions Schoolchildren domestic servants civilian personnel on the military bases the police all were enlisted by Grivas in the intelligence war while the security forces were operating in the dark 60 Operation Forward to Victory Greek name was launched on November 18 and was accompanied by several bomb attacks 61 In the urban areas schoolchildren had a prominent role in the EOKA struggle The Battle of Flags escalated during the Autumn of 1955 and peaked in January and February 1956 that kept British forces busy away from chasing down EOKA 62 63 Schoolboys were not only participating in riots and stone throwing against the police but some of them were also trained to throw bombs and carry assassinations 64 Bombs by guerrillas and youngsters were thrown at British personnel houses police stations and army camps 65 66 In some cases EOKA members managed to steal some weaponry 67 The British were never to succeed completely eliminating EOKA agents from the police force 49 The struggle continued in the mountains as the guerrillas expanded their network in the Troodos mountains However due to harsh winter conditions in addition to certain British military pressure the activity of EOKA temporarily eased 68 By the end of February 1956 the British were involved in suppressing a veritable schoolchildren revolt that left one boy shot dead and the island s school system almost completely closed down 49 March 1956 to March 1957 Operation Victory phase II Edit After the failure of Makarios Harding negotiations the British government abruptly exiled Makarios to Seychelles on March 9 1956 69 This triggered a week long general strike followed by a dramatic increase in EOKA activity 246 attacks until March 31 including an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Harding The offensive continued into April and May and the British casualties averaged two killed every week 70 While Harding s forces were making ground up in the mountains 71 EOKA guerrillas and youth were trying to assassinate members of the security forces at their leisure time or alleged traitors 72 EOKA focused its activity to urban areas during this period House bombings and riots mostly by schoolboys forced army to keep forces away from the mountains where EOKA s main fighters were hiding Apart from individual citizens or soldiers in their leisure time army and police facilities were attacked totaling 104 house bombings 53 riots 136 acts of Sabotage 403 ambushes 35 attacks on police 38 attacks on soldiers and 43 raids on police stations c 77 But as the pressure of Harding mounted Grivas began targeting Turkish Cypriot policemen effectively sparking inter communal riots and a series of strikes 78 79 Harding escalated his fight against EOKA organizing a series of operations in April July d Harding also upgraded his intelligence network including the creation of the notorious X platoon 81 On May 10 the first two EOKA prisoners were hanged and Grivas responded with the execution of two British soldiers 70 The British were concerned to counter EOKA s mountain units Large scale operations were launched however Grivas managed to escape 82 He decided to move to Limassol where he established his new headquarters Although Grivas escaped the Troodos operations had some success for the British 20 guerrillas and 50 weapons were captured However they ended up with a disaster at least 7 British soldiers were killed and additionally 21 were burned to death by accident The last incident overshadowed the first real success against the EOKA guerrilla forces 82 On August 9 the British authorities hanged three more EOKA prisoners however Grivas did not retaliate this time Widespread strikes were held in protest 83 In November 1956 due to the Suez Crisis large numbers of British troops were transferred off Cyprus allowing Grivas to launch a new offensive EOKA launched a wave of attacks in what would become for the British Black November with a total of 416 attacks 39 killed 21 of them British After the Suez debacle the British military strength was increased to 20 000 and Harding managed to direct a new offensive 83 Although EOKA activity was severely suppressed in the mountains its armed struggle continued in the urban areas while the British forces were apparently impotent 84 82 85 Grivas declared truce on the 14th of March 1957 which lasted nearly one year 85 From March 1957 to November 1957 Edit Harding continued to pressure EOKA despite the unilateral truce imposing security measures on villagers This backfired at the British Forces as EOKA made gains in the field of propaganda 86 87 88 Meanwhile PEKA e was continuing the struggle for Enosis with political means while EOKA was trying to recruit new members Priests and teachers under strict secrecy were the scouting for young men aged 14 24 and were mostly successful 89 Grivas reorganized EOKA s structure 90 By Autumn Grivas was increasing his autonomy from Greece and Makarios and was planning to attack the Left and the Turkish Cypriot community The Greek government and Makarios were unable to prevent those initiatives 91 Detention Camps and claims of torture Edit Detention of Persons Law passed on 15 June 1955 gave the authority to the British authorities to enclose a suspect in a detention camp without a trial 92 PEKA and later Makarios and Greek Government pointed to the unhuman conditions in those camps 93 94 The situation of the inmates there was a matter of dispute 94 International Committee of the Red Cross visited the camps twice and found no problems 95 96 Harding declined the torture allegations describing it as propaganda by EOKA 97 Torture allegations had an impact in internal British politics 98 The precise use of torture methods remains a matter of dispute According to Heinz Richter while police or army was generally lawful the British turned a blind eye to interrogators many of whom were deliberately under educated Turkish Cypriots who were against Enosis Another aspect that Richter highlights is that many claims of torture were made as the alleged victims were afraid for their lives as it was punished by death to speak to the British 99 David French on the other hand views that most but not all claims of torture were a propaganda tool of EOKA 100 In general Harding failed to win over the Greek Cypriot population especially when his security forces resorted to these measures 101 Torture employed by the British in Cyprus included beatings public floggings clean beatings forced standing ice and drugs Other torture included anal and vaginal insertion of hot eggs a tactic also employed by the British in Kenya 102 A British Special Branch interrogator in Cyprus stated that he had devised the hot egg under the armpit technique 102 In a few instances electrotorture was also applied 102 Jack Taylor a British policeman who was sent to Cyprus in September 1956 revealed that there were beatings of prisoners while Brigadier Michael Harbottle confirmed that the Special Branch in Cyprus used torture 103 These statements confirm the use of torture in Cyprus by the British although how widespread and frequent its use was remains unclear 103 Campaign against Greek Cypriot groups Edit Initially EOKA was intimidating the population not to co operate with the security forces but steadily the definition of traitor broadened as the security forces had some successes against EOKA at the end of 1956 104 EOKA members who had spoken to the security forces under interrogation were also considered as traitors and Grivas was in favour of the death penalty in such cases Incidences happened where EOKA guerrillas killed others by their own initiative and not solely based on accusations for treason The killings took place in public 105 106 Such activity peaked especially during summer autumn 1956 107 The Greek Cypriot Left and in particular the communist party AKEL were also targeted The latter aimed at a political role in the Greek Cypriot community challenging EOKA s claim that Makarios was the sole leader of the community As AKEL was growing in numbers it was practically denying Makarios role The British delicately fueled this hostility and in August 1957 a second wave of intra Greek violence broke out 108 Another similar wave broke out in April October 1958 when a peace agreement was imminent 109 110 AKEL held massive demonstrations and sought the help of Makarios which he granted 109 111 A number of scholars characterize EOKA as a terrorist organization due to attacks on public utilities assassination of members of the security forces civil servants and intimidation methods towards local population and targeting civilians 112 End of truce Edit During this period the British were openly tolerating the Turkish Cypriot paramilitary organisations The British had deliberately set out to use the Turkish Cypriot community on the island and the Turks government as a means of blocking the demand for Enosis 113 They had effectively allied themselves with the Turkish minority and turned them as the overwhelming majority in the police force This had now got out of control as far as the British were concerned but nevertheless they still managed to exploit the situation 113 The truce against the colonial authorities lasted until 28 October 1957 Ohi Day Greek national holiday when Harold Macmillan British minister of foreign affairs declined a proposal by Makarios 114 December 1957 August 1958 Foot governorship and intercommunal violence Edit Sir Hugh Foot arrived in Cyprus in December 1956 when it was obvious that a military victory for the British was not imminent 115 116 Grivas at that time was planning a gradual escalation of EOKA s attacks on the British forces but in mid December he called for a truce to give space for negotiations to take place The truce broke on 4 March 1958 when a new wave of attacks was unleashed but this time Grivas ordered his guerillas not to attack Turkish Cypriots to avoid intercommunal violence that could lead to partition 117 EOKA and Turkish Cypriots Edit The Turkish Cypriot community objected to Enosis long before the 1950s from fear that unification with Greece would lead to their persecution and expulsion a fear based on the fate of Cretan Turks after Crete s union with Greece Similarly nationalism among Turkish Cypriots was constructed from various events that led to the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire 118 119 120 Grass root paramilitary armed groups such as Kibris Turk Mukavemet Birligi Turkish Cypriot Resistance Unit Kara Cete Black Gang and Volkan appeared as early as May 1955 All of them were absorbed later by TMT Turk Mukavemet Teskilati Turkish Resistance Organization 121 122 TMT was Turkey s tool to fuel intercommunal violence in order to show that partition was the only possible arrangement 123 Like EOKA TMT used violence against members of its own community i e leftists that were not willing to stay in line with their cause 124 125 EOKA avoided conflict against the Turkish Cypriots but this changed later from January 1957 126 127 According to French Grivas decided to attack Turkish Cypriots so as to spark intercommunal tensions and rioting in the towns of Cyprus forcing the British to withdraw their troops from hunting EOKA up in the mountains and restore order in urban areas 126 From 19 January 1957 to the end of March EOKA s guerrillas attacked members of the Turkish community starting with a Turkish Cypriot police officer sparking riots lasting 3 days 128 129 Intercommunal and intra communal violence escalated in the summer of 1958 with numerous fatalities French counted 55 assassinations by Turks on Greeks and 59 assassinations by Greeks on Turks between 7 June 7 August 130 131 A substantial number of Turkish Cypriots were displaced due to the violence 132 In order to tackle the intercommunal clash Foot mounted Operations Matchbox and Table Lighter 133 134 A truce was called in August backed by the Greek and Turkish Governments 135 From August 1958 to the Zurich and London Agreements Edit Archbishop Makarios III here in 1962 was the political leader of EOKA British authorities were unable to suppress EOKA activity so the British government was trying to reach a solution that would not embarrass Britain The MacMillan Plan put an effort in this direction Greeks rejected the plan as they saw it as an open door leading to the partition of the island and Grivas cancelled the truce on September 7 136 A new armed campaign was launched and the targets differed significantly from the previous periods Grivas ordered guerillas to strike indiscriminately at every English person wherever they can be found resulting in the death of 8 British citizens in 104 incidents attacks in the following two months 137 But while the military force of EOKA was growing Greek Cypriots were getting frustrated from the intercommunal violence and the struggle against the British Makarios hinted in an interview that he was ready to shift his stance and accept an independent Cyprus This development infuriated Grivas but was backed by influential members of the Greek Cypriot Community EOKA was losing its broad support base 138 During the last months of 1958 all parties had reasons to favour a compromise Greek Cypriot side was afraid that partition was becoming more and more imminent Greece was anxious that the ongoing situation could lead to a war with Turkey Turkey had to manage the ongoing crises at its eastern borders and the British did not want to see NATO destabilizing because of Greek Turkish war On 5 December the foreign ministers of Greece and Turkey acknowledged the situation and a series of meetings were arranged that resulted in London Zurich Agreements This was a compromise solution in which Cyprus would become an independent and sovereign country 139 Both Makarios and Grivas accepted the agreements with a heavy heart but Turkish Cypriot leadership was enthusiastic about the compromise On 9 March 1959 Grivas issued a leaflet declaring his acceptance to London agreements 140 According to historian Heinz Richter the activities of EOKA resulted in the death of 104 British soldiers 54 policemen among them 15 Greek Cypriots 22 Turkish Cypriots and 12 British and 238 citizens among them 26 British 203 Greek Cypriots and 7 Turkish Cypriots 141 Aftermath EditAfter Zurich London agreement and the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus Makarios who became the first president staffed the Government and Civil service with EOKA members Extremists of both communities stayed armed and continued to seek their ends Enosis or Taksim 142 Ministers and other EOKA veterans joined the secret Akritas organisation with Polycarpos Giorkatzis as new Digenis 143 As each community strived for opposite ends the newly formed state soon collapsed after Makarios changed the constitution unilaterally paving the way to the intercommunal violence 144 Legacy EditThe authorities of the Republic of Cyprus consider the EOKA struggle as a struggle of national liberation and its members as heroic freedom fighters 145 The day of the beginning of the EOKA campaign 1 April is considered a national anniversary in the country today 146 147 Turkish nationalist narrative as written in a Turkish Cypriot textbook considers the struggle of EOKA s guerillas as barbaric and illegal with the conclusion that Cyprus is and will remain Turkish p 61 148 Museums and Monuments Edit Monument for Michalis Karaolis Nicosia A memorial museum dedicated to the EOKA campaign was created in 1960 It is located in the centre of Nicosia 149 There are various monuments dedicated to the members of EOKA who died during the years of combat who are largely regarded as war time heroes by Greek Cypriots Part of the central jail of Nicosia established by British governor Harding functions after the Cypriot independence as a museum This includes the prisons cells the gallows and the Incarcerated Graves of 13 EOKA fighters who were either executed or killed by the colonial authorities 150 Foreign Office declassified documents and EOKA lawsuits against the British government EditIn 2012 Foreign Office released highly classified documents that described claims of torture and abuse between 1955 1959 In the reports it is revealed that officials of the colonial administration admitted to torture and abuse In the same papers there are allegations against British soldiers and security personnel concerning among other incidents the killing of a blind man ordering a Greek Cypriot to dig his own grave and hitting a pregnant woman who subsequently miscarried Other allegations include the 1958 mass arrest and beating of 300 civilians by colonial forces In the incident it was alleged that the force involved left some civilians behind thinking they were dead A woman also alleged that she was raped in a forest at the age of 16 by members of the Special Branch and was subsequently subject to a brutal interrogation regarding her connection to EOKA which included a mock execution and forcibly wearing a noose 151 In another incident a man lost his kidney following an interrogation at the notorious Red House building in Limassol 152 Following the release of the documents EOKA veterans announced that lawsuits were being planned against British authorities 153 The veterans association alleged that at least 14 Cypriots died and hundreds more could have been tortured during interrogations by the British during the 1955 1959 campaign Two of those who allegedly died during interrogation were aged 17 The legal action comes on the back of the uncovering of secret documents released in 2011 which present similar practices during the Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya during the same period 154 155 In 2018 Cypriot veterans won the right to claim damages over UK torture claims at court The presiding judge dismissed arguments by the British government that the case should be judged under Cypriot law which if true would have meant that the statute of limitations applied in the case The judge commented that It seems to me that in this case at any rate where a state stands to be held to account for acts of violence against its citizens it should be held to account in its own courts by its own law and should not escape liability by reference to a colonial law it has itself made 151 The case was settled out of court with the UK awarding Greek Cypriots with 1 million to be distributed among alleged victims The UK government denied any liability 156 152 Declassified British archives have also revealed that the Information Research Department IRD a secret propaganda wing of the UK Foreign Office which dealt with Cold War propaganda was responsible for spreading fake news claiming that EOKA rebels had raped schoolgirls as young as 12 years old These black propaganda stories were spread to American journalists as a part of Operation TEA PARTY 157 See also EditEOKA B Grigoris Afxentiou Evagoras Pallikarides Markos Drakos Michalis Karaolis Nikos Sampson Battle of Spilia Field Marshal Harding Migrated archivesNotes Edit More specific EOKA is the acronym of the organisation s full name in Greek E8nikh Organwsis Kypriwn Agwnistwn Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters sometimes expanded as E8nikh Organwsis Kypriakoy Agwnos Ethniki Organosis Kipriakou Agonos National Organisation of Cypriot Struggle 5 There is some controversy surrounding the Xhi organization as some sources consider it or its members to be Nazi collaborators while others consider it patriotic and anti communist Some of the attacks of the attacks against civilians drew world attention and were used for propaganda purposes by the British authorities Most notable attacks have been the killing of an army doctor while driving home 73 the execution of Greek Cypriot Assistant Superintendent Kyriacos Aristotelous 74 75 the killing of the son of a soldier in a beach near Dekelia base 76 a Maltese shop owner fiance of a Greek Cypriot woman was killed by shooting in the back the phot of the grieving wife reached mainstream media in UK another couple a British customs officer and his wife was murdered while picnicked 76 On 16 June 1956 the bombing of a restaurant by EOKA led to the death of William P Boteler a CIA officer working under diplomatic cover Grivas immediately issued a statement denying a deliberate attempt to target American citizens 72 These operations have been a Operation Kennett b Operation Pepperpot c Operation Lucky Alphonse and d Operation Spread Eagle 21 soldiers died at a forest fire during Lucky Alphonse 80 PEKA was the political branch of EOKAReferences Edit a b c Karyos 2009 a b c 8rasyboyloy 2016 p 298 a b c Novo 2012 p 194 Kraemer 1971 p 146 The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica 2015 Richter 2007 p 23 a b Mallinson amp Mallinson 2005 p 5 Emerick 2014 pp 117 118 Richter 2007 p 157 194 chapter First World War Emerick 2014 p 117 18 Lange 2011 p 93 Bellingeri amp Kappler 2005 p 21 Isachenko 2012 p 37 Richter 2007 pp 114 15 Richter 2007 p 114 15 French 2015 p 17 French writes But Greek Cypriot teachers and parents insisted that education should follow a classical curriculum that promoted a Greek ethnic identity and preserved the Greek character of the island a curriculum that also instilled into pupils a sense of historical awareness that supported their claims for Enosis 27 Ktwrhs 2013 p 80 Kizilyurek 2011 pp 198 199 Kizilyurek clearly states The Turkish Cypriot nationalism mainly developed in reaction to the Greek Cypriot national desire for union with Greece Klapsis 2009 p 131 Frendo 1998 pp 47 51 Klapsis 2009 pp 131 135 a b Klapsis 2009 pp 135 136 Rappas 2008 pp 363 364 Rappas 2008 pp 363 369 Mallinson amp Mallinson 2005 p 19 Markides 1974 Novo 2010 p 66 Ganser 2005 p 213 The turn around of the British came as a shock to ELAS and its difficulties increased when former Nazi collaborators and right wing special units such as the fascist X Bands of Cypriot soldier George Grivas with British support started to hunt and kill ELAS resistance fighters Churchill who observed the battle from a distance noticed however that the X Bands for complete lack of popular support never numbered more than 600 Greeks and hence ELAS remained the strongest guerrilla on the territory Newsinger 2016 p 93 Beaton 2003 p 370 Sherratt amp Bennett 2016 p 161 Newsinger 2016 p 106 Barnaba 2000 p 88 105 Church and EOKA youth Novo 2012 p 195 196 8rasyboyloy 2016 p 316 Novo 2010 p 64 65 While the antagonism between AKEL and EOKA was real and eventually bloody the alleged cooperation between AKEL and the British authorities did not happen EOKA s right wing ideology made it the exception to the rule of post Second World War insurgencies Such movements were most often led by communists who aimed at establishing new Marxist societies This was the case in China Malaya Vietnam and Cuba As a nationalist and anti communist movement EOKA had far more in common with the Irgun and Stern Gang in late 1940s Palestine Newsinger 2016 p 96 a b Newsinger 2016 p 97 Newsinger 2016 p 93 a b c d e Newsinger 2016 p 94 French 2015 p 64 65 H neolaia ston agwna toy 1955 59 H neolaia ston agwna toy 1955 59 Retrieved 14 April 2023 a b Newsinger 2016 p 95 French 2015 p 71 a b Richter 2011 p 250 a b Agir Ulku 2014 Pogrom in Istanbul 6 7 September 1955 Die Rolle der turkischen Presse in einer kollektiven Plunderungs und Vernichtungshysterie in German 1 ed Berlin Klaus Schwarz Verlag p 161 ISBN 978 3 87997 439 9 Richter 2011 p 254 ANE Valiant Youth of EOKA a pupil s group was created ANE had a branch in every school a b c d e f Newsinger 2016 p 97 Richter 2011 p 257 8 French 2015 p 72 Richter 2011 p 259 French 2015 p 76 French 2015 p 82 a b c Newsinger 2016 p 101 a b Agir Ulku 2014 pp 162 163 Richter 2011 pp 315 321 Richter 2011 pp 299 amp 313 Holland 1998 p 73 Holland 1998 p 83 84 Holland 1998 p 84 85 Richter 2011 p 370 Richter 2011 pp 370 72 Richter 2011 p 373 a b c Newsinger 2016 p 99 a b c Newsinger 2016 p 100 Richter 2011 p 377 According to Richter there were 50 bomb attacks that day French 2015 p 86 Richter 2011 p 376 Richter 2011 p 383 Richter 2011 p 481 82 French 2015 p 86 88 French 2015 p 87 French 2015 p 88 89 Richter 2011 p 416 422 a b Newsinger 2016 p 102 Richter 2011 pp 501 512 In the sub chapter The British counter attack a b Richter 2011 p 496 French 2015 p 110 French 2015 p 111 Richter 2011 pp 489 491 Richter claims that the assassination took place in the hospital s ward while Aristotelous was talking to the doctor The doctor was injured according to Richter a b Richter 2011 p 493 French 2015 p 109 French 2015 p 152 Richter 2011 pp 491 492 French 2015 p 135 French 2015 p 145 46 a b c Newsinger 2016 p 103 a b Newsinger 2016 p 104 French 2015 p 136 a b Richter 2011 p 651 Richter 2011 pp 651 53 French 2015 p 169 Holland 1998 p 198 Richter 2011 pp 706 707 French 2015 p 246 Richter 2011 p 725 Richter 2011 pp 653 54 French 2015 p 196 a b Richter 2011 p 654 French 2015 p 220 Richter 2011 p 657 658 Richter 2011 p 659 Richter 2011 p 661 665 Richter 2011 pp 666 668 French 2015 p 222 24 Newsinger 2016 p 107 a b c Darius Rejali 8 June 2009 Torture and Democracy Princeton University Press pp 331 ISBN 978 1 4008 3087 9 a b Preston Jordan Lim 12 June 2018 The Evolution of British Counter Insurgency during the Cyprus Revolt 1955 1959 Springer pp 79 80 ISBN 978 3 319 91620 0 French 2015 pp 158 159 French 2015 pp 163 164 Holland 1998 p 148 According to Holland In early August 1956 EOKA had unleashed a series of urban assassinations in which twenty one Greek traitors had been killed the victims often sought out in cafes to accentuate the public ritual of the horror French 2015 p 163 Holland 1998 p 203 a b French 2015 p 166 67 Richter 2011 p 710 212 in the subchapter Grivas unleash attack against the Left Richter 2011 pp 710 712b in the subchapter Grivas unleash attack against the Left Richter also notes that AKEL approached Makarios who was antithetical to Grivas tactics That was the beginning of a relationship that would last to time Abrahms amp Lula 2012 pp 46 62 Crenshaw amp Pimlott 2015 Chapter Terrorism in Cyprus Cronin 2009 p 73 93 Edwards 2018 Abstract a b Newsinger 2016 p 109 Richter 2011 p 106 French 2015 p 241 Holland 1998 p 213 French 2015 p 246 47 French 2015 p 253 Holland 1998 p 12 Kizilyurek 2011 pp 198 199 Niyazi Kizilyurek names the fear among Turkish Cypriots as Cretan Syndrome French 2015 p 256 57 Holland 1998 p 216 French 2015 p 259 61 French 2015 p 260 Holland 1998 p 242 a b French 2015 p 258 Holland 1998 p 69 As Holland states EOKA violence was initially directed against British installations and then against Greek traitors Grivas indeed explicitly forbade any victimizing of Turks In this he was quite practical EOKA could not fight everybody at once French 2015 p 258 59 Richter 2011 p 491 92 French 2015 p 262 Holland 1998 p 263 64 Richter 2011 p 839 French 2015 p 265 Holland 1998 p 267 French 2015 p 267 French 2015 p 270 73 French 2015 p 274 75 French 2015 p 283 85 French 2015 p 289 French 2015 p 290 92 Richter 2011 p 979 Richter 2010 p 99 Richter 2010 pp 117 118 Richter 2010 pp 113 122 Richter 2011 p 983 ASTYNOMIA KYPROY Omilies www police gov cy police gov cy Retrieved 9 March 2020 Diey8ynsh Dhmotikhs Ekpaideyshs www moec gov cy Ministry of Education Repuplic of Cyprus Retrieved 11 March 2020 Kizilgurek 1999 p 393 Leonidou Leo 22 June 2006 The flag that marked the end of colonial rule Cyprus Mail Archived from the original on 26 May 2007 Retrieved 17 April 2007 Brussel Leen Van Carpentier Nico 2014 The Social Construction of Death Interdisciplinary Perspectives Springer p 177 ISBN 9781137391919 a b Eoka fighters win first historical torture battle in UK court a b UK pays 1m to Cyprus torture victims BBC News 24 January 2019 Retrieved 15 April 2019 Cypriots to sue U K for alleged torture in 50s Archived 2018 11 04 at the Wayback Machine Herald News 1 November 2012 Theodoulou Michael 13 April 2011 Greek Cypriots intend to sue Britain over torture in 1950s uprising The Times Retrieved 9 May 2011 Dewhurst Patrick 14 April 2011 EOKA fighters to sue Brits over torture Cyprus Mail Archived from the original on 18 May 2011 Retrieved 9 May 2011 Smith Helena 23 January 2019 UK to pay 1m to Greek Cypriots over claims of human rights abuses the Guardian Retrieved 15 April 2019 Dorril Stephen 2002 MI6 Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty s Secret Intelligence Service New York Touchstone p 552 Sources EditSources in GreekBarnaba Antreas 2000 H neolaia ston apeley8erwtiko agwna ths EOKA Symboylio Istorikhs Mnhmhs EOKA 8rasyboyloy Marios 2016 O e8nikismos twn Ellhnokypriwn apo thn apoikiokratia sthn Ane3arthsia 8essalonikh epikentro ISBN 978 960 458 686 8 Ktwrhs Swtos 2013 Toyrkokyprioi apo to peri8wrio sto synetairismo 1923 196 A8hna Papazhshs ISBN 9789600228984 Richter Heinz 2007 Istoria ths Kyproy tomos prwtos 1878 1949 A8hna Estia ISBN 9789600512946 translated from the original Heinz Richter 2006 Geschichte der Insel Zypern Harrassowitz Verlag ISBN 978 3 447 05975 6 Richter Heinz 2011 Istoria ths Kyproy tomos deyteros 1950 1959 A8hna Estia Sources in EnglishAbrahms Max Lula Karolina 2012 Why Terrorists Overestimate the Odds of Victory Perspectives on Terrorism 6 4 5 46 62 JSTOR 26296876 Beaton Roderick 2003 George Seferis Waiting for the Angel a Biography Yale University Press ISBN 978 0 300 10135 5 Bellingeri Giampiero Kappler T 2005 Cipro oggi Casa editrice il Ponte ISBN 978 88 89465 07 3 Crenshaw Martha Pimlott John 22 April 2015 Terrorism in Cyprus International Encyclopedia of Terrorism Routledge ISBN 978 1 135 91966 5 Cronin Audrey Kurth 24 August 2009 Chapter 3 Success Achieving the objective How Terrorism Ends Understanding the Decline and Demise of Terrorist Campaigns Princeton University Press pp 73 93 ISBN 978 1 4008 3114 2 Drousiotis Makarios 25 April 2005 Our Haunted Country Politis Newspaper Retrieved 3 May 2009 Edwards Aaron 28 February 2018 Securing the base Defending the Realm ISBN 9781526129956 Retrieved 24 September 2018 French David 2015 Fighting EOKA The British Counter Insurgency Campaign on Cyprus 1955 1959 Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 872934 1 Frendo Henry 1998 The naughty European twins of empire The constitutional breakdown in Malta and Cyprus 1930 1933 The European Legacy Toward New Paradigms 3 1 45 52 doi 10 1080 10848779808579863 Emerick Keith 2014 Conserving and Managing Ancient Monuments Heritage Democracy and Inclusion Boydell amp Brewer Ltd ISBN 978 1 84383 909 5 Ganser Daniele 2005 Nato s Secret Armies Operation Gladio and Terrorism in Western Europe Routledge p 213 ISBN 978 0 7146 5607 6 Holland Robert 26 November 1998 Britain and the Revolt in Cyprus 1954 1959 Clarendon Press ISBN 978 0 19 820538 8 Hadjistylianou Michalis Giorgos Ploutarhos 2005 Oi dyo opseis ths istorias gia toys ekteles8entes The two views on the assassinations Simerini in Greek Archived from the original on 25 February 2008 Retrieved 15 August 2008 Hazou Elias 12 April 2005 Christofias comments spark EOKA storm Cyprus Mail Retrieved 15 August 2008 Isachenko Daria 20 March 2012 The Making of Informal States Statebuilding in Northern Cyprus and Transdniestria Palgrave Macmillan ISBN 9780230360594 Karyos Andreas 2009 EOKA and Enosis in 1955 59 Motive and Aspiration Reconsidered PDF London School of Economics Archived from the original PDF on 29 March 2017 Retrieved 30 June 2015 Kraemer Joseph S Winter 1971 Revolutionary Guerrilla Warfare amp the Decolonization Movement Polity 4 2 137 158 doi 10 2307 3234160 JSTOR 3234160 S2CID 155657462 Kizilgurek Niyazi 1999 National memory and Turkish Cypriot textbooks Internationale Schulbuchforschung 21 4 387 395 JSTOR 43056308 Kizilyurek Niyazi 2011 The politics of identity in the Turkish Cypriot communit a response to the politics of denial Persee in French Retrieved 11 February 2019 Klapsis Antonis 2009 Between the Hammer and the Anvil The Cyprus Question and the Greek Foreign Policy from the Treaty of Lausanne to the 1931 Revolt Modern Greek Studies Yearbook 24 127 140 Retrieved 26 May 2017 Mallinson William Mallinson Bill 22 July 2005 Cyprus A Modern History I B Tauris ISBN 978 1 85043 580 8 Markides Kyriakos C 1974 social change and the rise and decline of social movements the case of Cyprus1 American Ethnologist Wiley 1 2 309 330 doi 10 1525 ae 1974 1 2 02a00070 ISSN 0094 0496 Lange Matthew 12 December 2011 Educations in Ethnic Violence Identity Educational Bubbles and Resource Mobilization Cambridge University Press ISBN 9781139505444 Newsinger John 30 April 2016 British Counterinsurgency Palgrave Macmillan UK ISBN 978 1 137 31686 8 Novo Andrew R 2010 On all fronts EOKA and the Cyprus insurgency 1955 1959 PhD thesis Oxford University UK Novo Andrew R 2012 Friend or foe The Cyprus Police Force and the EOKA insurgency Small Wars amp Insurgencies Informa UK Limited 23 3 414 431 doi 10 1080 09592318 2012 661609 ISSN 0959 2318 S2CID 144663807 Papadakis Yiannis 1998 Greek Cypriot Narratives of History and Collective Identity Nationalism as a Contested Process American Ethnologist Wiley 25 2 149 165 doi 10 1525 ae 1998 25 2 149 ISSN 0094 0496 Rappas Alexis 2008 The Elusive Polity Imagining and Contesting Colonial Authority in Cyprus During the 1930s Journal of Modern Greek Studies 26 2 363 393 doi 10 1353 mgs 0 0020 S2CID 145799982 Retrieved 26 May 2017 Richter Heinz A 2010 A Concise History of Modern Cyprus Harrassowitz Verlag ISBN 978 3447062121 Sherratt Susan Bennett John 30 November 2016 Archaeology and the Homeric Epic Oxbow Books ISBN 978 1 78570 298 3 S Corum James 2006 Training Indigenous Forces in Counterinsurgency A Tale of Two Insurgencies PDF Strategic Studies Institute U S Army War College Retrieved 3 May 2009 EOKA Encyclopaedia Britannica Encyclopaedia Britannica inc 2015 Further reading EditPrimary sourcesGrivas George Charles Foley 1964 The Memoirs of General Grivas London Longmans Makarios III 1991 Hapanta Archiepiskopou Kyprou Makariou 3 Hidryma Archiepiskopou Makariou 3 ISBN 978 9963 556 44 1 Secondary sourcesFoley Charles Scobie W I 1975 The struggle for Cyprus Hoover Institution Press ISBN 978 0 8179 1371 7 Novo Andrew 2020 The EOKA Cause Nationalism and the Struggle for Cypriot Enosis Bloomsbury Press ISBN 978 1838 606 510 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title EOKA amp oldid 1149749076, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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