The island of Cyprus can trace its Hellenic roots back to the 12th century BC with the immigration of Mycenaean Greeks to the island.[10][11][12] Many civilisations passed through the island leaving remnants behind, including that of the Franks, Venetians, Assyrians etc.[13][14]
Cyprus was a territory of the Ottoman Empire from the late 16th century until it became a protectorate of the United Kingdom under nominal Ottoman suzerainty at the Cyprus Convention of 4 June 1878 after the Russo-Turkish War. In 1915, Cyprus was formally annexed into the British Empire after the Ottomans had entered World War I on the side of the Central Powers against the British, and it was initially governed by a military administration until 1925, when it was proclaimed the Crown Colony of Cyprus. From the 1910s to the 1950s, Greek Cypriots became increasingly dissatisfied with British rule and supportive of Enosis, the concept of political unification between Cyprus and Greece. Several unsuccessful offers made to Greece by the British to cede Cyprus in exchange for military concessions, as well as the noticeable lack of British investment on the island, caused a growing Cypriot nationalist movement.
In October 1931, Greek Cypriots rebelled against British rule and destroyed government property, however the demonstrations were suppressed and Britain took dictatorial measures against the Cypriot people; these became known as the "Palmerocracy", owing to the name of the Governor of Cyprus, Richmond Palmer.[15][16] These measures were in place until the start of World War II.[17]
In 1950, a referendum was held by the Church of Cyprus on the subject of union with Greece, with a 89% turnout rate and 95.7% of those in favour of union with Greece; the British government, however, refused to negotiate.[18][19][20]
In 1954, Britain announced its intention to transfer its Suez military headquarters (the office of the Commander-in-Chief, Middle East) to Cyprus.[21]
On 1 April 1955, the EOKA started its insurgency with the 1 April Attacks. After a series of other incidents, the Governor General Sir John Harding declared a state of emergency on 26 November 1955.[22] Following the example of Malaya, Harding tried to co-ordinate the activities of the civil, military and police authorities, with the specific aim of collecting and processing intelligence. The British encountered great difficulty obtaining effective intelligence on EOKA, as it was supported by the majority of the Greek Cypriot population. As a result, the British were forced to rely on some 4,000 Turkish-Cypriot policemen, who were ostracised by the Greek-Cypriot communities and could provide little information about them.[23] Inevitably, the use of Turkish Cypriot policemen against the Greek Cypriot community exacerbated relations between the two communities.[24] In 1955 however, EOKA had sent letters to the Turkish-Cypriot community in Nicosia stating that their conflict was against the British and not them.[25]
EOKA focused its activity to urban areas totalling 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. EOKA's aim was to keep the British army away from the Troodos mountains where its main fighters were hiding.[26] Some of the attacks went awry, most notably the bombing of a restaurant by EOKA on 16 June, which led to the death of William P. Boteler, a CIA officer working under diplomatic cover.[27] Grivas immediately issued a statement denying a deliberate attempt to target American citizens.[28]
In October, with the security situation deteriorating, Harding opened talks on the island's future. By this stage, Archbishop Makarios III had become closely identified with the insurgency, and talks broke up without any agreement in early 1956.[29] Makarios was viewed with suspicion by the British authorities, and was later exiled to the Seychelles.[30][31] News of his arrest triggered a week-long general strike followed by a sharp increase in EOKA activity: 246 attacks through 31 March, including a failed assassination attempt against Harding when a bomb placed under his bed failed to detonate.[32]
EOKA home-made mortar, circa 1955
Counterinsurgency
By mid-1956, there were 17,000 British servicemen in Cyprus and Harding was concerned to counter EOKA's mountain units in the Troodos. Nevertheless a number of operations were launched:[33][34]
Between 21 April and 7 May 1956, the British armed forces mounted an operation codenamed "Kennett", conducted in the Kyrenia range by 1,500 troops who cordoned and searched a dozen villages in a 50 square mile area and arrested eighteen suspects.[35]
From 17 May to 7 June, Britain launched operation "Pepper Pot", an operation that was carried out by the 16 Independent parachute brigade. However, an informant within the Special Branch alerted Grivas of the operation, and as such EOKA was better prepared for the British forces which led to the operation having little effect.[36][37]
From 7 June to 23 June 1956, Britain launched operation "Lucky Alphonse" in an effort to cripple EOKA and capture George Grivas as a means to bring power to the negotiating table.[38] More than 5,000 British soldiers took part, including units from the Royal Marines, the Parachute Regiment, the Gordon Highlanders and the Royal Norfolk Regiment.[39] Although there were some minor successes, 7 British soldiers were killed in action, with another 21 burned to death by accident during a fire in the Paphos Forest, the operation furthermore failing to capture George Grivas.[40]
From 2 to 21 July, 16 Independent parachute brigade cordoned thirty villages in the Troodos; assisted by tracker dogs and informers, they arrested three members of three village groups in an operation called "Spread Eagle".[41]
From 22 to 25 July 1956, the British captured seventeen guerrillas and wounded several others trying to breach the cordons during operation "Golden Eagle".[42]
Some of the other operations were considered a success; some fifty guerrillas and a good haul of weapons were captured. Grivas managed to escape and was forced into hiding, leaving behind his diary which yielded important intelligence information. The leading EOKA assassin, Nikos Sampson, had also been captured.[43] Grivas eventually moved to Limassol where he established his new headquarters.[44]
The Suez crisis gave EOKA some respite in the autumn of 1956 and some reorganization was achieved in particular the town groups. As a result, British forces did not follow up on the success of the summer operations, much to the frustration of Harding. EOKA stepped up its campaign in what became as 'Black November' for the British with a total of 416 attacks killing 39, including 21 British units. Facing growing criticism in the United Kingdom about his methods employed and their ineffectiveness, Sir John Harding resigned as Governor on 22 October 1957 and was replaced by Sir Hugh Foot in December.[45]
The end of the Suez crisis, although it had resulted in the departure of many of the military from the island, had not reduced the number of active internal security operations as much as EOKA had expected, with the British able to hold their own and reassert control.[46] After Suez campaign had finished, the British military strength was increased to 20,000 and Foote managed to direct a new offensive.[46]
British troops were redeployed and the town groups were being hunted. By the Spring of 1957, the British operations took their toll on EOKA; the security forces arrested around thirty members of the Nicosia town groups and the area commander. In addition, the mountain groups would never be as effective as they had been. Altogether fifteen were killed in combat and another sixty were captured, with the likelihood they would be hanged. Grivas ordered his area commanders to cease active operations. By April, the majority of EOKA's leaders had been killed or captured and their gangs were soon broken up. With the insurgency seemingly defeated, Grivas announced a ceasefire on 17 March.[43]
In November of 1957, EOKA engaged in one of its most significant operations against the British, when an EOKA member employed at RAF Akrotiri smuggled and placed bombs in the engine compartments of two English Electric Canberras, both of which were destroyed along with two other Canberras and a De Havilland Venom that were destroyed by the subsequent fire that consumed the hanger (Sabotage at RAF Akrotiri).[47][48][49]
The ceasefire lasted a whole year; during this time EOKA began to rearm and reorganize and stepped up its activities in different ways. A second phase of the emergency now began as EOKA began to target urban areas where they organized rioting by students. They also used hit squads to target police officers and military personnel. These attacks continued throughout 1957 and into 1958. Grivas was also concerned with increasing communist activity against AKEL, ordering a number of actions against them, which threatened to start a civil war within the Greek Cypriot community.[43] The British delicately fueled this hostility, and in August 1957 a second wave of intra-Greek violence broke out.[50]
The Turkish Resistance Organisation (TMT, Türk Mukavemet Teşkilatı) was formed with the support of the Turkish government in order to flare up tensions between the two communities and to achieve their goal of 'Taksim'.[51] TMT used violence against members of its own community (especially on the left) that were not willing to stay in line with their cause.[52][53] The British tolerated TMT and had leveraged the Turkish Cypriot community and the Turkish government as a means of blocking the demand for Enosis. The British knowing this was getting out of control still managed to exploit the situation.[54]
Intercommunal and intracommunal violence escalated in the summer of 1958 with numerous fatalities. There were approximately 55 assassinations by Turks on Greeks, and 59 assassinations by Greeks on Turks between 7 June and 7 August.[55] A substantial number of Turkish Cypriots were displaced due to the violence.
Final operations against EOKA
EOKA attacks however continued on the British, who at the same time attempted to stymie them. On 1 September 1958 in the village of Liopetri which was held by the Royal Ulster Rifles were attacked by an EOKA team of four who were all subsequently killed in the ensuing fire fight.[56] Grivas on reaction to this renounced the ceasefire soon after.[57] The outgoing General Officer Commanding and Director of Operations Douglas Kendrew survived an assassination attempt soon after.[58] Kendrew's replacement Major General Kenneth Darling took the initiative by organizing a number of operations.[59]
Darling's first success was the destruction of a major EOKA arms smuggling ring centred on the post office at Paphos. Following this Darling sought to destroy the surviving EOKA groups; one such area was the Western and central region in the Kyrenia Mountains and so Operation Filtertip began on 3 November.[60] The operation, which lasted a month, was a success, and saw the discovery of an arms cache, the arrest of ninety EOKA members, as well as the death of the Kyernia area leader Kyriakos Matsis on 19 November.[61] Even Grivas acknowledged defeat, noting that this was the only success the British had at the time. Nevertheless, there were more successful operations that followed. Notebook which took place in the Paphos area on 18 November, led to the seizure of firearms and bombs, but importantly more arrests; including several village group commanders. This paid dividends which led to further leads and enabled Operations Dovetail and Box Office – which concluded with more success – arrests and the recovery of more arms and ammunition.[1]
As the successes of the security forces increased, the tempo of EOKA's operation in turn decreased. By the end of 1958, EOKA had been dealt a body blow by the continued exertion of pressure by the British. What's more, Darling and Kendrew now had the confidence that they would be able to sustain this in the event of a failure of the political process.[62]
During the last months of 1958, all parties had reasons to favour a compromise. The 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 could see that the defeat of EOKA was unlikely and also did not want to see NATO destabilizing because of a 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 the London-Zürich Agreements. Makarios reluctantly accepted the agreements abandoning enosis, but the Turkish-Cypriot leadership was enthusiastic about the compromise.[63] This was a compromise solution in which Cyprus would become an independent and sovereign country.[64]
Around the same time the British were still looking for the well hidden George Grivas. MI6 had launched Operation Sunshine in an attempt to pinpoint his whereabouts.[65] After a few months his likely position was found through a combination of intercepts on telephone lines and surveillance of key EOKA personnel. However just when he was about to be arrested diplomatic events had turned significantly that a deal was on the horizon. Darling was concerned that his arrest or assassination would cause the collapse of the ongoing talks.[66] MacMillan was informed and he ordered Sunshine aborted giving instructions to MI6 for Grivas 'to stew in his own juice'.[67]
On 9 March 1959, Grivas declared a ceasefire, though still opposing the agreements.[68][69] After agreeing to meet with Makarios, Grivas agreed to leave under safe conduct by the British and without ceremony. There was to be an immediate cease-fire, and an amnesty for political crimes committed during the Emergency.[70]
Aftermath
Following the London and Zürich Agreements, Cyprus became an independent republic and as far as liberation being concerned, the EOKA campaign was successful however enosis and taksim were ruled out by the treaties signed.[63][71][72][73] Grivas was displeased with the agreements and made his opinions about them public.[74] Britain was allowed to retain control of some 254km2 (98 square miles) which consisted of two Sovereign Base Areas at Akrotiri and Dhekelia also known as British Forces Cyprus including some other facilities on the island which do not form part of the SBAs.[75][76]
Further intercommunal violence and Turkish invasion
Despite having agreed to independence, Turkey soon regarded Cyprus with grave suspicion, feeling that they had been betrayed by the British. For the new constitution to work in practice, some degree of co-operation between the two communities would be essential, with many viewing as unworkable. This view proved correct, and after years of unrest, violence, and disagreement, a buffer zone was established in the last days of 1963 directed by Major-General Peter Young, commander of the British Joint Force (later known as the Truce Force and a predecessor of the present UN force). It was fully established on 4 March 1964, then extended on 9 August after the Battle of Tillyria, and extended again in 1974, after the ceasefire of 16 August 1974, following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. This became known as the United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus, and is commonly referred to as the 'Green Line'.[77]
Torture and extrajudicial killings
At least 14 Cypriots (including a minor) arrested on suspicion of being EOKA members, were tortured then killed by UK forces during detention. Witnesses – both surviving detainees and UK veterans – recall various kinds of torture and inhumane treatment of detainees.[78]
The British government agreed in January 2019 to pay £1 million to a total of 33 Cypriots who had been allegedly tortured by British forces during the uprising. They included a woman, aged 16 at the time, who said that she had been detained and repeatedly raped by soldiers, and a man who had lost a kidney as a result of his interrogation. The payout followed the declassification of government documents in 2012, but Foreign Minister Alan Duncan stated that "the settlement does not constitute any admission of liability" although "the government has settled the case in order to draw a line under this litigation and to avoid the further escalation of costs".[79]
^Greece politically supported Greek Cypriots at the United Nations, but there was no active involvement from Greece on the island.
^Also known as the Cyprus Liberation Struggle 1955–1959 (Greek: Απελευθερωτικός Αγώνας της Κύπρου 1955–1959), the Greek Cypriot War of Independence (Greek: Ελληνοκυπριακός Πόλεμος της Ανεξαρτησίας) or the Cypriot War of Independence (Greek: Κυπριακός Πόλεμος της Ανεξαρτησίας) among Greeks and Greek Cypriots, and the 1955–1959 Cyprus events (Turkish: 1955–1959 Kıbrıs olayları) among Turkish and Turkish Cypriots.
^ abFall, Bernard B. (1998) [1965]. "The Theory and Practice of Insurgency and Counterinsurgency". Naval War College Review. 51 (1): 55–56. ISSN0028-1484. JSTOR44638001 – via JSTOR. Remember that the British fought in Cyprus, and seemingly had everything in their favor. It is an island half the size of New Jersey. The Royal Navy, which can be trusted to do its job, sealed off the island from the outside. There were 40,000 British troops on Cyprus under Field Marshal Sir John Harding, and his opponent, Colonel [George] Grivas, had 300 Greeks in the EOKA [National Organization of Cypriot Struggle]. The ratio between regular troops and guerrillas was 110-to-1 in favor of the British! After five years the British preferred to come to terms with the rebels.
^Coureas, Nicholas (2015). How Frankish was the Frankish ruling class in Cyprus?. Nicosia: Cyprus Research Centre. pp. 61–78.
^"Cyprus: 1100 years of history and civilisation"(PDF). visitcyprus.com. Many other cultures followed since then, including Phoenicians, Assyrians, Franks, Venetians... all leaving behind visible traces of their passage.
^Loizides, Georgios P., Intellectuals and Nationalism in Cyprus: A Study of the Role of Intellectuals in the 1931 Uprising (1999). Master's Theses. 3885.
^Xypolia, Ilia (2017). British Imperialism and Turkish Nationalism in Cyprus, 1923–1939 Divide, Define and Rule. London: Routledge. ISBN9781138221291.
^Georgis, Giorgios; Kyriakides, Christos; Charalambous, Charalampos (2022). "The Cypriot Referendums for Union with Greece [Τα Ενωτικά Δημοψηφίσματα στην Κύπρο]". Cyprus Review. 34 (2): 186. ISBN978-9925-581-66-5. The referendum of 1950, which followed the failure of the Consultative Assembly (Διασκεπτική, Diaskeptiki), marked the beginning of a new dynamic stage of the efforts of the Greeks of Cyprus to unite with Greece, which culminated with the EOKA struggle.
^Richard J. Aldrich, Ming-Yeh Rawnsley, The Clandestine Cold War in Asia, 1945–65: Western Intelligence, Propaganda and Special Operations, Routledge, 2013, 106.
^Βαρνάβας, Ανδρέα (2002). ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑ ΤΟΥ ΑΠΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΩΤΙΚΟΥ ΑΓΩΝΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΟΚ Α (1955–1959) [The history of the liberation struggle of EOKA 1955–1959] (in Greek). Nicosia: Ίδρυμα Απελευθερωτικού Αγώνα ΕΟΚΑ 1955–1959. p. 58. ISBN9963-576-99-0. Η ΕΟΚΑ διαβεβαίωσε με φυλλάδιο της, που κυκλοφόρησε σε τουρκική γλώσσα τον Ιούλιο του 1955 στην τουρκική συνοικία της Λευκωσίας, ότι ο Αγώνας που διεξάγει δεν στρέφεται εναντίον των Τουρκοκυπρίων, αλλά εναντίον του Αγγλου κυριάρχου.
^179 Times, 21 April 1956; The New York Times, 22 April 1956; TNA CO 926/417. Harding to Colonial Office, 22 and 26 April 1956.
^ERKAN, NİHAL (July 2019). "BRITISH INTELLIGENCE AGAINST EOKA IN CYPRUS 1945–1960"(PDF). In the first half of 1956, the British also conducted major operations against EOKA, which produced little effect. Grivas narrowly escaped from British forces during the operation Pepper Pot and Lucky Alphonso in the Troodos mountains.
^French 2015, p. 58: "He may have been the source who informed Grivas that the British were about to launch a major cordon and search operation (Operation Pepperpot) between Lefka, Lyssi, and Troodos two days before the search began in May 1956."
^Varnavas, Andrekos (6 July 2023). "Revisiting the road to Cypriot independence, European Review of History: Revue européenne d'histoire". Taylor & Francis: 1. doi:10.1080/13507486.2023.2289168. In September 1958 Archbishop Makarios, the Greek Cypriot leader, told Barbara Castle, the then Chair of the British Labour Party, that, after three and a half years of violence from EOKA (Εθνική Οργάνωσις Κυπρίων Αγωνιστών/National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters) to achieve the union of Cyprus with Greece (enosis), he now supported a brief period of self-government, followed by the independence of Cyprus.
^Markides, Diana (2010). "The Politics of Honour and the Greek Divide at Cypriot Independence". The Cyprus Review. 22 (2): 130. It was not until 9 March, three weeks after the London Conference that Grivas finally announced that he was 'obliged to order a ceasefire'. In the EOKA leaflet announcing it, he described the settlement simply as 'preferable to the national division' that would follow a rejection on his part. In a letter to EOKA members he elaborated on the need to avoid 'civil discord' which would 'raze everything to the ground'
Calame, Jon; Charlesworth, Esther (2011). Divided Cities: Belfast, Beirut, Jerusalem, Mostar, and Nicosia. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN9780812206852.
Fremont-Barnes, Gregory, ed. (2015). A History of Counterinsurgency 2 Volumes. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN9798216097310.
French, David (2015). Fighting EOKA: The British Counter-Insurgency Campaign on Cyprus, 1955–1959. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN978-0198729341.
Heinlein, Frank (2013). British Government Policy and Decolonisation, 1945-63: Scrutinising the Official Mind. Taylor & Francis. ISBN9781135284343.
Holland, Robert (1998). Britain and the Revolt in Cyprus, 1954–1959. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN9780198205388.
Isachenko, Daria (2012). The Making of Informal States: Statebuilding in Northern Cyprus and Transdniestria. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN9780230392069.
van der Bijl, Nicholas (2014). The Cyprus Emergency: The Divided Island 1955-1974. Pen and Sword. ISBN9781844682508. OCLC660553164.
Further reading
Chatzicharalampous, Maria; Stolte, Carolien (2024). "Technologies of Emergency: Cyprus at the Intersection of Decolonisation and the Cold War". Contemporary European History. 33 (1): 233–249. doi:10.1017/S096077732200008X. hdl:1887/3391012.
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