"2 July 1952. In the aftermath of these meetings a ""Council of Revolution"" was established on 7 March 1953. In early 1954 secret weaponry shipments to Cyprus started with the knowledge of the Greek government. Lt. Georgios Grivas, formerly an officer in the Greek army, covertly disembarked on the island on 9 November 1954 and EOKA's campaign against the British forces began to grow. The first Turk to be killed by EOKA on 21 June 1955 was a policeman. EOKA also killed Greek Cypriot leftists. After the September 1955 Istanbul Pogrom, EOKA started its activity against Turkish Cypriots. A year"
"British government was reluctant to decolonise the island which had become their new headquarters for the Middle East. In 1955, a pro-enosis organization was formed under the banner of Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston (National Organization of Cypriot Struggle), or EOKA. This was a typical independence movement of the period. Makarios undoubtedly had common political ground with EOKA and was acquainted with its leader, the Greek soldier and politician George Grivas, but the extent of his involvement is unclear and disputed. In later life he categorically denied any involvement in the violent resistance undertaken by EOKA. On 20 August 1955, Greece"
"demand for enosis emerged with new force in the 1950s, when Greece began to accord it support on the international scene. This attempt to win world support alerted Turkey and alarmed the Turkish Cypriots. The British withdrawal from Egypt led to Cyprus becoming the new location for their Middle East Headquarters. When international pressure did not suffice to make Britain respond as required, violence escalated with a campaign against the colonial power organised by EOKA (""Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston""). Its leader, Colonel George Grivas, created and directed an effective campaign beginning in 1955. The first bombs were set off on"
"to Greece (Enosis). As a member of the secret Committee for the Cyprus Struggle he took the oath of Enosis together with the newly elected Archbishop Makarios III, with whom he collaborated for preparing the armed struggle. He arrived secretly in Cyprus in November 1954 and began immediately the formation of his guerrilla organisation EOKA. On 1 April 1955 with a declaration that he signed as DIGENIS and a number of bombings against various targets in the four major cities and military installations, he announced the beginning of his campaign for Self Determination – Union with Greece. He directed the"
"early 1950s, Turkey had close relations with Greece. In 1952, Paul of Greece became the first Greek Monarch to visit a Turkish head of state, which was soon followed by Turkish president Celal Bayar's visit to Greece. However, the relations soured starting in 1953, when the armed struggle of the Greek Cypriots aiming for Enosis, annexation of Cyprus by Greece, started. Soon after, Georgios Grivas, a retired general of the Greek Army formed EOKA. This turn of events was politically exploited in Turkey by the Turkish nationalists of ""Kibris Türktür Cemiyeti"" (Cyprus is Turkish) organization, although EOKA had never targeted"
"EOKA EOKA (; ), acronym for ""Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston"" was a Greek Cypriot nationalist guerrilla organisation that fought a campaign for the end of British rule in Cyprus, for the island's self-determination and for eventual union with Greece. Cyprus, an island in eastern Mediterranean, inhabited mostly by Greek and Turkish populations, was part of the Ottoman empire until 4 June 1878, when in the aftermath of the Russo-Turkish War, it was handed to the British empire. As nationalistic tendencies were growing in both communities of Cyprus, Greek Cypriots were leaning towards ""Enosis"" (Union with Greece) which was a part"
"1955, EOKA opened an armed campaign against British rule in a coordinated series of attacks on police, military, and other government installations in Nicosia, Famagusta, Larnaca, and Limassol. This resulted in the deaths of 387 British servicemen and personnel and some Greek Cypriots suspected of collaboration; in 2009, a memorial for the British soldiers killed by Greek Cypriot EOKA during 1955–1959 Cyprus Emergency was erected in Kyrenia, Northern Cyprus. As a result of this a number of Greek Cypriots began to leave the police. This however did not affect the Colonial police force as they had already created the solely"
"was succeeded by Michalis Maratheftis, and finally in 1958 by Tassos Papadopoulos, former President of Cyprus. PEKA PEKA, ""Politiki Epitropi Kypriakou Agona"" (The Political Committee of the Cypriot Struggle), was the political wing of the EOKA movement which fought against the British and Turkish Cypriots for the union of Cyprus with Greece between 1955 and 1959. It was founded in the summer of 1956 with the specific aims to: 1. Co-ordinate the political and military struggle. 2. Raise the morale of the Greek-Cypriot people. 3. Enlighten world public opinion as to the struggle, its origin and its aims. 4. Keep"
"young men of the village, Christos Miltiadous Kkelis (23) and Georgios Michalis (17) who were members of EOKA (National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters) and who died for their cause. The inscriptions read - ΑΓΩΝΙΣΤΗΣ ΤΗΣ ΕΟΚΑ 1955-59 ΕΠΕΣΕ ΜΑΧΟΜΕΝΟΣ ΥΠΕΡ ΠΙΣΤΕΩΣ ΚΑΙ ΠΑΤΡΙΔΟΣ (EOKA FIGHTER OF 1955-59 - FELL FIGHTING FOR FAITH AND HOMELAND). The main street that runs through Kissonerga is named after Kkelis. EOKA started a guerrilla campaign against British colonial rule and aimed at union with Greece (Enosis) on 1 April 1955. The campaign lasted until 1959 and caused the deaths of more Greek Cypriot civilians than"
"advise the police on how to combat the Greek Cypriot group EOKA, led by General Grivas. From 1955-1959 EOKA waged an armed struggle against the British administration which aimed to achieve Enosis, or the union of Greece and Cyprus, similar to Crete and the Ionian Islands. Malcolm Fewtrell of Buckinghamshire CID and Detective Superintendent Gerald McArthur of Scotland Yard were in charge of carrying out the initial hunt for the thieves. McArthur was sent by Scotland Yard upon the request of the local police force, and had Detective Sergeant John Pritchard assisting him. George Hatherill, Commander of the C Department"
"to fight the EOKA. EOKA targeted colonial authorities, including police, but Georgios Grivas, the leader of EOKA, did not initially wish to open up a new front by fighting Turkish Cypriots and reassured them that EOKA would not harm their people. In 1956, some Turkish Cypriot policemen were killed by EOKA members and this provoked some intercommunal violence in the spring and summer, but these attacks on policemen were not motivated by the fact that they were Turkish Cypriots. However, in January 1957, Grivas changed his policy as his forces in the mountains became increasingly pressured by the British forces."
"first EOKA operations from his hideout in Nicosia but soon after he moved to the Troodos mountains to lead his guerrilla teams. He recruited Grigoris Afxentiou as one of the team leaders, initially of the Famagusta district. Grivas escaped capture twice after he was surrounded by British forces at Spilia in December 1955, leading to the Battle of Spilia, and at Kykkos in May 1956. A month later, chased by the British forces, he was secretly transferred from the mountains by the car of a passionate EOKA fighter, Kostis Efstathiou, also known as ""Pachykostis"", and found refuge in a hideout"
"not have a share on national matters. Moreover, it was thought that the communist ideology is an obstacle for a struggle that would lead to the end of the colonial regime. In sharp difference with other anticolonial insurgencies in Africa or Asia, where marxist movements led the struggle, in Cyprus it was the right-wing EOKA that carried the armed campaign, while the communist party of AKEL kept a neutral stance. EOKA also used intimidation towards local population. A number of scholars characterize EOKA as a terrorist organization due attack on civilians or public utilities The organisation was headed by Georgios"
"Grivas. A graduate of the Hellenic Military Academy, Grivas had served as an officer in the Greek Army. He had fought in both World Wars. During the German occupation of Greece in World War II, he led a small, anti-communist resistance group, named Organization X. Grivas assumed the nom de guerre ""Digenis"" in direct reference to the legendary Byzantine Digenis Akritas who repelled invaders from the Byzantine Empire. 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. ΕΟΚΑ"
"in 1971, he made a clandestine return to the island. On his arrival, Grivas began by establishing a nationalist paramilitary group known as the National Organization of Cypriot Fighters (Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston B or EOKA-B), drawing comparisons with the EOKA struggle for ""enosis"" under the British colonial administration of the 1950s. The military junta in Athens saw Makarios as an obstacle, and directed funds to Grivas to carry out a number of attacks and to fund a propaganda campaign through the creation of pro-""enosis"" newspapers. Makarios's failure to disband the National Guard, whose officer class was dominated by mainland"
"Lytras and George Karousos as well as Greek Cypriot students and professionals many of them former EOKA fighters. Grivas began the formation of armed resistance cells in a number of neighbourhoods in Athens which were armed with guns and explosives that were brought in secretly from Cyprus. The organisation, however, was discovered by the authorities and many of its members were arrested. After the discovery of Grivas' plans by the authorities, he secretly returned to Cyprus on August 31, 1971, where he formed the armed organisation EOKA B, which he used as leverage in his attempts to persuade or force"
"paramount, and may have further reinforced their division from their Greek Cypriot neighbors. In the early fifties a Greek nationalist group was formed called the ""Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston"" (EOKA, or ""National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters""). Their objective was to drive the British out of the island first, and then to integrate the island with Greece. EOKA wished to remove all obstacles from their path to independence, or union with Greece. The first secret talks for EOKA, as a nationalist organization established to integrate the island with Greece, were started under the chairmanship of Archbishop Makarios III in Athens on"
"of the Commander-in-Chief, Middle East) to Cyprus. The insurgency began on 1 April 1955. After a series of follow up incidents, the Governor General Sir John Harding declared a state of emergency on 26 November of that year. The British encountered great difficulty obtaining effective intelligence on EOKA as the majority of the Greek Cypriot population supported and/or feared them. They were also hampered by a drain on manpower caused by the Suez Crisis and Malayan Emergency. Towards the end of the 1950s the British enjoyed more success. Cyprus became an independent republic in 1960 with Britain retaining control of"
"significant in that a British victory at Spilia would have ended the campaign in its very first year since General Grivas had concentrated his guerrilla fighters, nearly thirty of them, there. Instead, the struggle went on and led, if not to union (""Enosis""), to the independence of Cyprus. Battle of Spilia The Battle of Spilia was fought on 12 December 1955 in the EOKA campaign against the British in Cyprus. Acting on information provided by an informant, 700 soldiers of the British Army attempted to encircle the headquarters of EOKA General Georgios Grivas on the Troodos mountains near the village"
"court that the defendant's motives were ""pure"" and ""not traitorous."" Drousiotis was sentenced to death by firing squad but was eventually not executed and survived the war. Matsis joined EOKA in 1955, soon after the organisation was established by George Grivas, a Greek Cypriot general of the Greek Army, and started armed operations against the British colonial authorities. EOKA was considered a terrorist organisation and all its members terrorists by the authorities. In 1956, Matsis was caught by the British and imprisoned at the Kokkinotrimithia prison. He managed to escape, and fled onto the Pendadactylos area, where he continued working"
"PEKA PEKA, ""Politiki Epitropi Kypriakou Agona"" (The Political Committee of the Cypriot Struggle), was the political wing of the EOKA movement which fought against the British and Turkish Cypriots for the union of Cyprus with Greece between 1955 and 1959. It was founded in the summer of 1956 with the specific aims to: 1. Co-ordinate the political and military struggle. 2. Raise the morale of the Greek-Cypriot people. 3. Enlighten world public opinion as to the struggle, its origin and its aims. 4. Keep Greek-Cypriots united in their demand for Enosis. The organisation was first headed by Renos Lysiotis, who"
"National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters). The most outstanding example being the club's track and field athlete Michalis Karaolis. He was member of EOKA long before 1955 in group headed by Polycarpos Georgadjis. On 28 August 1955 he carried out the public murder of P.C. Michael Poullis, a Cypriot police officer, of the Special Branch who had been spying on the Nicosia groups of EOKA and interfering with their work. The assassination was carried out in broad daylight whilst P.C. Poullis was on duty at an AKEL meeting at the Ledra Palace. Karaolis was captured on his way to meet Grigoris"
"Philippos Lemoniatis Georgios Athanasiou Costis Makilas Kitsios N. Tzionis Thomas Theophanous Costis Apeitos Petros Hadjiyiannis Pericles Hadjiyiannis Panayiotis Kattos Andreas Vakanas Athanasis Pissari Georgios Athanasi Melis Stylianides Petros Mathaiou Kyriakos Sophocleous Andreas Agathaggelou K. Leonidas was killed in battle, and Varnavas Savva and Stelios Kalli were seriously wounded. The grave of K. Leonidas is located in Tobruk of Libya. The action of Agros in the liberating fight of EOKA against the British colonisers was extremely important. From the beginning of the fight, Agros was the command centre of the Pitsilia region. Gregoris Afxentiou guided the guerrilla fighters of the entire"
"Battle of Spilia The Battle of Spilia was fought on 12 December 1955 in the EOKA campaign against the British in Cyprus. Acting on information provided by an informant, 700 soldiers of the British Army attempted to encircle the headquarters of EOKA General Georgios Grivas on the Troodos mountains near the village of Spilia. As they ascended the mountain, EOKA guerrillas spotted them. Grivas divided his troops in two, keeping half with himself to fight the units coming from the north side while sending his second-in-command Grigoris Afxentiou to fight the rest of the British who were ascending on the"
"apart from the guerrilla fighters, who numbered a few hundred had the active support of many youngsters (most of them in their late teens to early 20's) that had joined EOKA associate organizations such as PEKA and ANE. 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. The attacks were accompanied by a revolutionary proclamation signed by ""The leader, Digenes"". Grivas"
"about the persecutions faced by Muslims in the countries that formed after the collapse of Ottoman Empire. 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. Initially, the struggle was political, as opposed to military. EOKA, in Grivas' words, wanted to attract the attention of the world through"
"example is the poem that Pallikarides left behind for his classmates before joining EOKA. Evagoras Pallikarides Evagoras Pallikarides (, 26 February 1938 – 14 March 1957) was a member of EOKA during the 1955–1959 campaign against British rule in Cyprus. Pallikarides was born in Tsada, Paphos District, one of five children of Miltiades and Aphrodite Pallikarides. He studied at the Greek High School of Paphos where, at age 15, he participated in his school's boycott of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in June 1953. Due to celebrations in honor of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation, the British raised the Union"
"the military as well as the diplomatic fronts, and are to be regarded as a culmination of gradually increasing Greek and Turkish involvement in Cyprus, and the ""renewal of old ethnic animosities."" With ethnic affiliations and treaty provisions providing channels for Greek and Turkish participation in the conflict, external involvement made the crisis increasingly difficult to resolve. In 1967, a military junta took power in Athens. A couple years later in 1971, the leader of the EOKA, Girvas, founded the EOKA-B, thereby openly undermining President Makarios’ authority, and handing off command of the EOKA-B to the General Staff of the"
"fervant Greek nationalist, who joined the Greek liberation movement on the island EOKA. In 1974 he was made the puppet President of Cyprus following the military overthrow of the elected leader President Archbishop Makarios in July of that year. Earlier, during the anti-British struggle in Cyprus 1955-1959, Sampson was accused by the British colonial authorities of being a member of EOKA and in 1957 he was charged with murder. Amongst those killed by EOKA, and possibly by Sampson himself, was a fellow journalist on ""The Cyprus Times"" Angus MacDonald. The trial of Sampson failed due to claims the police had"
"Evagoras Pallikarides Evagoras Pallikarides (, 26 February 1938 – 14 March 1957) was a member of EOKA during the 1955–1959 campaign against British rule in Cyprus. Pallikarides was born in Tsada, Paphos District, one of five children of Miltiades and Aphrodite Pallikarides. He studied at the Greek High School of Paphos where, at age 15, he participated in his school's boycott of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in June 1953. Due to celebrations in honor of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation, the British raised the Union Jack at all schools throughout Cyprus. Paphos was the only town where celebrations were"
"Axis occupation and during the civil war, considered communism to be its principal enemy. Founder and leader of ""X"" was Colonel Georgios Grivas, a Greek Cypriot by birth, who later acquired fame as leader of the underground EOKA movement in Cyprus. Grivas concentrated his efforts in the wealthy districts of Athens and expanded ""X"" to between 2,000 and 3,000 men in 1944. He recruited his men and arms from officers who were retained on the active list by the quisling government. ""X"" was pure anti-communist and its resistance action included spying for the Allies, minor anti-German actions and transport to"
"time that a helicopter assault was used operationally to land troops in an amphibious attack. British and French forces defeated the Egyptians, but after pressure from the United States, and French domestic pressure, they backed down. In September 1955 45 Commando was deployed to Cyprus to undertake anti-terrorist operations against the EOKA guerrillas during tensions between the Greek and Turkish inhabitants of the island. The EOKA were a small, but powerful organisation of Greek Cypriots, who had great local support from the Greek community. The unit, based in Malta at the time travelled to the Kyrenia mountain area of the"
"The Greek government was, due to its financial and diplomatic dependence on Britain, forced to disavow any aims for unification with Cyprus. In the 1950s, the Cyprus issue flared up again when the Greek Cypriots, under Archbishop Makarios, claimed union with Greece, and the EOKA group launched a paramilitary movement on the island - mainly against the British, but also inflicting collateral damage to other parties and civilians. Eventually, Greek Prime Minister Alexander Papagos took the Cyprus issue to the United Nations. Turkish nationalist sentiment, angered by the discrimination against the Turkish Cypriots, became inflamed at the idea that Cyprus"