EOKA

EOKA ΕΟΚΑ
File:EOKA.jpg
Leaders	Georgios Grivas(Digenis)
Dates of operation	1955–1959
Headquarters	Cyprus
Ideology	Anti-imperialism Greek nationalism Enosis Anti-communism
Allies	Greece
Opponents	British Empire Turkish Resistance Organisation

EOKA (/eɪˈoʊkə/; Template:Lang-el), acronym for Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston ^[a] 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.^[3]

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.^[4] As nationalistic tendencies were growing in both communities of Cyprus, Greek Cypriots were leaning towards Enosis (Union with Greece) which was a part of 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.^[5] 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.^[5] 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.^[6] In 1912 the British government offered 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 several times Cyprus to Greece, in exchange for Greece's participation in World War I. But while Greece was undecided whether it should enter the War, the British government withdrew its offer.^[7] By 1915, the Greek Cypriots seeing that neither the British investment, nor Enosis, had materialised, increased their opposition to British rule.^[6] In the beginning, the Enosis movement had only few supporters mainly from the upper classes.^{[8][9][10][11]} But that was about to change as two groups of disappointed with the new ruler began to form: the Church and the Usurers. In the following years a growing number of Cypriots were studying in Greece, and upon their return, they became strong advocates of Enosis.^[11][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]

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.^[15]

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.^[16] In his memoirs Grivas claims he was attempting "by deeds of heroism and self sacrifice to draw the attention of international public opinion, especially among the allies of Greece".^{[citation needed]}

The ideology of EOKA was nationalistic, conservative, anti-communist and heavily religious.^[17][18] Grivas tried to impose the ideological character that fit his own worldview.^[17] His ideas found a fertile soil because they were compatible with the ideas cultivated by Greek Cypriots through education, Church action, the press, and the political elites. EOKA was characterized by intense religiosity. OXEN, PEON and ThOI^[b] were sources of fighters. ^{[19] [20]} The Church recruited and funded the struggle. The priests of the villages blessed the weapons. Essential elements among the letters of the convicted-to-death fighters, were the invocation of God, Christ, faith and prayer.^[21] Grivas and Church transmitted their anticommunism to EOKA members. There was a widespread impression that leftists were national traitors and should not have a say on national matters. Moreover, it was thought that the communist ideology leads to slavery. Grivas implemented nationalism to his fighters.^[22][23]

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.^[24]

EOKA divided its military campaign into a rural and an urban one.^[25] At the high of the campaign in 1956, EOKA consisted of no more than 350 armed men, operating in groups of 5-15 men in the mountain of Troodos and 50 urban groups of 4-5 persons in urban areas. Another 750 passive members of EOKA were organised in village groups while youth and children were carrying arms^[26] Initially, the EOKA's mode of action was sabotage. EOKA was attacking security forces, police stations, barracks, military cars, governmental buildings, power stations, cafes, bars, cinemas and restaurants that British personnel used to relax^[27] Within 1955 there were 405 bomb attacks in various police, military buildings, public building or houses. In 1956 the number raised to 972.^[28]

EOKA also used intimidation towards local population. A number of scholars characterize EOKA as a terrorist organization due attack on public utilities, assassination of members of the security forces, civil servants or civilians suspected of collaborating with the government ^[29]

Estimates of the number of people who joined EOKA vary considerably.^[30] At the beginning of the armed struggle, EOKA numbered about 80 members. It grew over time, but in 1960 a British army report suggested that at any one moment EOKA never had more than 200-300 hard-core members. Grivas's own figures suggest that by early 1956 EOKA had about 270 hardcore members in the mountain gangs and town groups, and about 750 members of village groups. Averoff-Tossizza broadly agreed with British estimates for hard-core fighters, putting the figure at no more than 300 at any one time. In their own history the EOKA veterans association, which had good reason to inflate active membership in order to justify its claim that EOKA enjoyed the support of the united Greek Cypriot community, claimed that 340 men were members of guerrilla bands but considering associate organizations such as PEKA, and ANE the number could rise to as many as 25,000.^[31]

According to Kraemer, at the peak of the conflict, EOKA' paramilitary numbered 1,250 members (250 regulars plus 1,000 active underground). They faced British security forces totaling 40,000 (32,000 regulars plus 8,000 auxiliaries)^[1] EOKA was allegedly clandestinely supported by the Greek Government in the form of arms, money and propaganda on radio stations broadcast from Athens. The total cost of running the campaign was reported to be GBP £50,000 (US $140,000) for the whole 4 years.^[32]

People did not join EOKA out of a sense of economic grievance. Attempts to link the cause of Enosis with economic issues were viewed by EOKA's members with disdain. The outstanding feature of EOKA’s rank and file was their youth. The most active members of EOKA were aged between 16 and 25. More than 87 percent of all those brought to trial for offenses ranging from possession of firearms, throwing bombs or murder, were below the age of 25. Thirty-two percent of them were high school students. According to British historian David French, the median age of the nine executed men, charged by the British colonial administration with terrorist offences, was only 22.185 Of the 1118 men in detention in June 1957, 65 per cent were below the age of 26, and nearly one in five was 19 or younger. Most had finished their elementary education, and many had migrated from their home villages to nearby towns.^[33]

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, extreme right-wing resistance group, named Organization X. After the war and during the Hellenic Civil War, he led Organisation X in opposing the leftist resistance guerillas of ELAS.^[34] Grivas assumed the nom de guerre Digenis in direct reference to the legendary Byzantine Digenis Akritas who repelled invaders from the Byzantine Empire.^{[citation needed]} 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 with no prior experience in military operations.^{[citation needed]}

File:First Release by EOKA.gif

The military campaign officially began on 1 April 1955. On that date, EOKA launched simultaneous attacks on the British controlled Cyprus Broadcasting Station in Nicosia, undertaken by a team led by Markos Drakos, on the British Army's Wolseley barracks, and on targets in Famagusta, by a team led by Grigoris Afxentiou. EOKA's campaign initially targeted the British and those Greek Cypriots identified with them.^[35]

Thereafter and unlike other anti colonial movements, EOKA confined its acts to sabotaging military installations, ambushing military convoys and patrols, and assassinating British soldiers and local informers. It did not attempt to control any territory, a tactic that according to Grivas would not have suited the terrain and size of Cyprus nor the imbalance of EOKA's conventional military capabilities with respect to the British Army.^{[citation needed]}

EOKA's main target, as stated both in its initiation oath and its initial declaration of existence, was the British military. In total, during the campaign, EOKA engaged in 1,144 armed clashes with the British Army. About 53% of clashes took place in urban areas, whilst the rest took place in rural areas.^[16]

During the course of the insurrection, 105 ^[c] British servicemen were killed as well as 51 members of the police.^[36]

Colonial and civilian police officers were targeted along with civilian British expatriates (including women and children) who were targeted due to their nationality.^[37]

Greek Cypriots suspected of being allied to the colonial forces and those believed to be informants were targeted. Although the extent of operations launched against Greek Cypriots was far smaller than those against the British military, they were much more efficient. In total, 230 assassination attempts were attributed to EOKA action. Of those, only 13 targets escaped unharmed, whilst 148 Greek Cypriots were killed and 69 were wounded.^[16]

Among the 148 killings, 23 have since the end of the struggle been characterised as leftists. After the end of the struggle, there has been debate whether EOKA was also used to target individuals on the basis of their political affiliations, in particular if they did not correspond to Grivas' right-wing ideology and/or as a vehicle for settling personal differences. The communist party of AKEL and the EOKA veteran fighters have both been outspoken on this issue.^[38][39]

One of the first actions of Field Marshal Sir John Harding, the newly appointed in 1955 governor of Cyprus, was to expand the numbers of auxiliary Cyprus Police. This was achieved by disproportionate recruitment from the Turkish-Cypriot community, an action that went against the advice of experienced colonial officials who knew that over-reliance upon a Turkish police force would alarm the Greek Cypriot population and likely lead to open conflict between the island’s ethnic communities ^[40] A new, separate "Special Mobile Reserve" unit was created, exclusively recruiting from the Turkish community.^[40] Although EOKA's primary targets were British interests, Cypriots of Turkish descent, especially those serving the colonial security forces soon became targets.^[40] Activity against Turkish Cypriots was initiated only after the anti-Greek Istanbul Pogrom of September 1955.^[41] as the community and Turkey increased opposition to enosis and called for partition of the island.^[35] The local Turkish community also used violence as the situation deteriorated.^[35]

Communal violence, rare in Cyprus before the insurgency, flared up in 1956 and increased throughout EOKA's campaign.^[40] In 1957, a Turkish Resistance Organization (TMT in Turkish) came into existence, being a rival paramilitary organisations. Though infrequently, EOKA and TMT did target each other's members with ferocity. In the worst period of such violence, in 1958, EOKA killed 55 Turkish Cypriots whilst TMT killed 60 Greeks.^[42]

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. Colonel Grivas immediately issued a statement denying a deliberate attempt to target American citizens. He further warned American officials, for their own safety, to avoid the establishments patronised by "our British enemy."^[43]

In October 1956, an EOKA leader was captured during the British forces' "Operation Sparrowhawk." The following year, Grigoris Afxentiou was cornered and forced into a firefight with a British detachment, where he eventually burned to death, in what became known as the Battle of Machairas.^{[citation needed]} A number of other Greek fighters were hanged by the British forces for acts of terrorism and sabotage, including 19-year-old Evagoras Pallikarides.^[44]

EOKA's activity continued until December 1959 when a cease-fire was declared which paved the way for the political rapprochement between Greece, Britain and Turkey that produced the Zürich agreement on the future of the country.

The EOKA campaign objectives were partially met when on 16 August 1960 Cyprus achieved independence from the United Kingdom, with the exception of two "Sovereign Base Areas" (SBAs) at Akrotiri and Dhekelia. The settlement explicitly denied Enosis, the union with Greece sought by EOKA. Although Cyprus gained its independence, this independence came with a complex constitution and the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee, a security arrangement comprising a three-way guarantee from Turkey, Greece and Britain that none of them would annex in the future the independent republic.

In 2011, veteran EOKA paramilitary figures announced that lawsuits were being planned against British authorities. This was re-iterated in 2012.^[45] 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.^[46][47] In 2018, Cypriot veterans won right to claim damages over UK torture claims at court. The Greek Cypriots also said that the International Red Cross archives containing eyewitness accounts from officials then working for the organization provide additional evidence of their claims.^[48]

In 2012, Foreign Office released highly classified documents which described claims of torture and abuse during the 1955-1959. In the reports there are stories about British soldiers and security services killing a blind man, telling another Greek Cypriot to dig his own grave and punching a pregnant woman who then miscarried. In another incident in 1958, colonial forces rounded up 300 civilians before beating them and leaving some for dead.^[48]

The EOKA campaign lasted officially until 31 March 1959. After independence, EOKA fighters formed regional associations, such as ΣΑΠΕΛ (acronym of "Σύνδεσμος Αγωνιστών Πόλεως και Επαρχίας Λεμεσού"; "SAPEL", "Union of Fighters of Limassol and district"), that have been participating in commemorations, museum collections etc. In the 1990s, a dedicated old people's home for ex-EOKA fighters was constructed in the village of Palodhia, near Limassol.^{[citation needed]}

A memorial museum dedicated to the EOKA campaign was created in 1960. It is located in the centre of Nicosia.^[49]

There are various monuments dedicated to the members of EOKA who died during the years of combat. Those people are largely regarded as war-time heroes by Greek-Cypriots.

In Larnaka, there are monuments dedicated to Michalakis Paridis, Grigoris Afxentiou, and on King Paul Square to Petrakis Kiprianou, a 17-year-old member of EOKA who was killed in the village of Ora on 21 March 1957.^{[citation needed]}

• In series three of the UK television series House of Cards, it is revealed that Prime Minister Francis Urquhart, during his military service in Cyprus in 1956, killed and burned the bodies of two young men who knew where EOKA fighters had stashed a cache of arms. Urquhart experiences guilty flashbacks throughout series three, and an important plotline revolves around several parties' investigations seeking documents related to the "EOKA graves".

• EOKA B
• Grigoris Afxentiou
• Evagoras Pallikarides
• Markos Drakos
• Michalis Karaolis
• Nikos Sampson
• Battle of Spilia
• Field Marshal Harding
• Migrated archives

In Greek

• Βαρνάβα, Αντρέας (2000) Η νεολαία στον απελευθερωτικό αγώνα της ΕΟΚΑ, Λευκωσία, Συμβούλιο Ιστορικής Μνήμης ΕΟΚΑ
• Ρίχτερ, Χάιντς Α. (2007). Ιστορία της Κύπρου, τόμος πρώτος (1878-1949). Αθήνα: Εστία. ISBN 9789600512946. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Kizilyurek, Niyazi (1990). Ολική Κύπρος. Λευκωσία: Κασουλίδη. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Κτωρής, Σώτος (2013). Τουρκοκύπριοι: από το περιθώριο στο συνεταιρισμό, 1923-196. Αθήνα: Παπαζήσης. ISBN 9789600228984. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Θρασυβούλου, Μάριος (2016). Ο εθνικισμός των Ελληνοκυπρίων, από την αποικιοκρατία στην Ανεξαρτησία. Θεσσαλονίκη: επίκεντρο. ISBN 978-960-458-686-8. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

In English

• Ganser, Daniele (2005). Nato's Secret Armies: Operation Gladio and Terrorism in Western Europe. Routledge. p. 213. ISBN 978-0-7146-5607-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Foleÿ, Charles; Scobie, W. I. (1975). The struggle for Cyprus. Hoover Institution Press. ISBN 978-0-8179-1371-7. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• French, David (2015). Fighting EOKA: The British Counter-Insurgency Campaign on Cyprus, 1955-1959. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-872934-1. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Mallinson, William; Bill Mallinson (22 July 2005). Cyprus: A Modern History. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 978-1-85043-580-8. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Robert Tynes (20 August 2018). Tools of War, Tools of State: When Children Become Soldiers. SUNY Press. ISBN 978-1-4384-7200-3. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Beckett, Ian Frederick William (2001). Modern Insurgencies and Counter-insurgencies: Guerrillas and Their Opponents Since 1750. Psychology Press. ISBN 978-0-415-23934-9. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Keith Emerick (2014). Conserving and Managing Ancient Monuments: Heritage, Democracy, and Inclusion. Boydell & Brewer Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84383-909-5. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Matthew Lange (12 December 2011). Educations in Ethnic Violence: Identity, Educational Bubbles, and Resource Mobilization. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781139505444. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Giampiero Bellingeri; T. Kappler (2005). Cipro oggi. Casa editrice il Ponte. ISBN 978-88-89465-07-3. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Daria Isachenko (20 March 2012). The Making of Informal States: Statebuilding in Northern Cyprus and Transdniestria. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9780230360594. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Simpson, Alfred William Brian (2001). Human Rights and the End of Empire: Britain and the Genesis of the European Convention. Oxford University Press. p. 893. ISBN 978-0-19-926789-7.

• Karyos, Andreas (2009). "EOKA and Enosis in 1955-59: Motive and Aspiration Reconsidered" (PDF). London School of Economics. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Kraemer, Joseph S. (Winter 1971). "Revolutionary Guerrilla Warfare & the Decolonization Movement". Polity. 4 (2): 137–158. doi:10.2307/3234160. JSTOR 3234160.
• Novo, Andrew R. (2012). "Friend or foe? The Cyprus Police Force and the EOKA insurgency". Small Wars & Insurgencies. 23 (3). Informa UK Limited: 414–431. doi:10.1080/09592318.2012.661609. ISSN 0959-2318. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Markides, Kyriakos C. (1974). "social change and the rise and decline of social movements: the case of Cyprus1". American Ethnologist. 1 (2). Wiley: 309–330. doi:10.1525/ae.1974.1.2.02a00070. ISSN 0094-0496. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

• The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica (2015). "EOKA". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. {{cite encyclopedia}}: |last= has generic name (help)
• Martha Crenshaw; John Pimlott (22 April 2015). "Terrorism in Cyprus". International Encyclopedia of Terrorism. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-91966-5. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

• Αργυρού, Σοφία (2014). The national movement of Greek Cypriots during the last period of British colonial rule 1945-1960 (PhD). Πάντειο Πανεπιστήμιο Κοινωνικών και Πολιτικών Επιστημών. Τμήμα Πολιτικής Επιστήμης και Ιστορίας. {{cite thesis}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Novo, A. R. (2010). On all fronts: EOKA and the Cyprus insurgency, 1955-1959 (PhD thesis). Oxford University, UK.

• Hadjistylianou, Michalis; Giorgos Ploutarhos (2005). "Οι δύο όψεις της ιστορίας για τους εκτελεσθέντες (The two views on the assassinations)". Simerini (in Greek). Archived from the original on 2008-02-25. Retrieved 2008-08-15. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
• Hazou, Elias (April 12, 2005). "Christofias comments spark EOKA storm". Cyprus Mail. Retrieved 2008-08-15.

Primary Sources

• Grivas, George; Charles Foley (1964). The Memoirs of General Grivas. London: Longmans.
• Makarios (Kypros, Archiepiskopos, III.) (1991). Hapanta Archiepiskopou Kyprou Makariou 3. Hidryma Archiepiskopou Makariou 3. ISBN 978-9963-556-44-1. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

Secondary Sources

• Holland, Robert (26 November 1998). Britain and the Revolt in Cyprus, 1954-1959. Clarendon Press. ISBN 978-0-19-820538-8. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)