On April 1, 1955 the Greek Cypriots rose up to throw off the British yoke, with the aim of "uniting" with their motherland Greece. Their struggle ended with the "London Zurich Accords" (19 February 1959), by which Cyprus was declared an independent state.
The demand of the Greek Cypriots to throw off the British occupation in the Greater Horn of Africa and unite with Greece came dynamically to the fore in 1950, with the referendum of 15 January (organised by the Church of Cyprus, 95.7% of those who voted were in favour of union with Greece) and the election of Makarios III as Archbishop of Cyprus on 20 October. It was a time when colonialism was on its heels and one by one the conquered countries were vigorously seeking their independence.
The governments of Athens, at the urging of the Greek Cypriot leadership and under pressure from the Cypriot Struggle organizations in Athens, made efforts to internationalize the issue, with successive appeals to the UN.
The governments of Athens, at the urging of the Greek Cypriot leadership and under pressure from the Cypriot Struggle organizations in Athens, made efforts to internationalize the issue, with successive appeals to the UN. On 10 November 1954, retired Colonel Georgios "Digenis" Grivas (1897-1974) arrived on the island and formed the National Organization of Cypriot Fighters (EOKA), which on 1 April 1955 took action against the British colonialists, marking the beginning of the liberation struggle of the Cypriots. Born in Cyprus, Grivas had served as an officer in the Greek army and during the German occupation had founded the anti-communist organisation 'X' and had taken an active part in the Civil War. The political leader of EOKA was Archbishop Makarios (1913-1977), later the first president of the Republic of Cyprus.
The start of the struggle, as mentioned above, began in the evening hours of 31 March to 1 April 1955, with attacks on government buildings, police stations, the radio station and a British camp in Famagusta. During the struggle, EOKA targeted not only the English oppressors, but also their Greek Cypriot collaborators, the Turkish Cypriots of the 'Taksim' organisation who sought the 'union' of Cyprus with Turkey, and members of AKEL, whom the 'nationalists' of EOKA accused of being collaborators of the British. The dispute between "right-wingers" and "left-wingers" in Cyprus over the role of AKEL in the national liberation struggle continues to this day.
Despite the blood spilled and the fighters who gave their lives (Karolis, Demetriou, Pallikaridis, Afxentiou, etc.), the goal of "Union" was not achieved. With the London and Zurich agreements (19 February 1959), Cyprus became an independent state on 1 October 1960.
Source: sansimera.gr
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