EOKA

EOKA (Εθνική Οργάνωσις Κυπρίων Αγωνιστών, Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston (Greek for National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters)) but sometimes expanded as  Ethnikí Orgánosis Kipriakoú Agónos (Greek for National Organisation of Cypriot Struggle) was a Greek Cypriot nationalist paramilitary  organisation that fought a violent campaign for the end of British rule of Cyprus, as well as for self-determination and for union with Greece.

Background
The United Kingdom had promised Greece unification with Cyprus if Greece would enter World War I on the side of the Allies; but the Greeks declined this invitation because King Constantine I of Greece had been educated in Germany, was married to Sophia of Prussia, sister of Kaiser Wilhelm, and was convinced of the Central Powers' victory. Prime minister Eleftherios Venizelos on the other hand was an ardent anglophile, and believed in an Allied victory. Due to Venizelos' unsuccessful attempt to sway Constantine's opinion, the promise was never realised. In the 1950s, EOKA organised to mount a military campaign to achieve the unification with Greece and end the status as a British crown colony. The leadership of AKEL at the time (a political party with communist roots), opposed EOKA's military action, advocating the Gandhiesque approach of civil disobedience such as workers' strikes and demonstrations. This came into direct contrast with the previous leadership who some five years previously had organised the plebiscite of 1950, where the vast majority of Greek Cypriots who voted were for the union with Greece (98%).

Ideology
EOKA was a nationalist organisation with the ultimate goal of "The liberation of Cyprus from the British yoke", presenting itself as "anti-colonialist". Although not stated in its initial declaration of existence which was printed and distributed on 1 April 1955, EOKA also had a target of achieving enosis (union of Cyprus with Greece). Despite this ideology being reflected in many of its members (and chiefly its military leader George Grivas) throughout the armed campaign, it was not of universal acceptance. The head of the political arm of EOKA, Makarios, took a more compromising approach especially during the later stages of the struggle.

Ultimately, the intents of the struggle were political, not military. EOKA wanted to attract the attention of the world through high profile operations that would make the press headlines. In his memoirs Grivas admits to "by deeds of heroism and self sacrifice to draw the attention of international public opinion, especially among the allies of Greece".

Armed campaign


The military campaign officially began on April 1, 1955. On this date EOKA launched simultaneous attacks on the British controlled Cyprus Broadcasting Station in Nicosia (led by Markos Drakos), on the British Army's Wolseley barracks and on targets in Famagusta (led by Grigoris Afxentiou). 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.

Formation and structure
The organisation was headed by Georgios Grivas. Grivas had rich military experience having been educated at the Hellenic Military Academy, having served as an officer in the Greek army and having fought for Greece in both World Wars. In terms of ideology, of particular relevance was his action during the Hellenic Civil War where he led Organisation X, a right wing faction charged with opposing the leftist group ELAS . Grivas (who was believed to be a CIA agent along with Nikos Sampson ) assumed the nom de guerre Digenis in reference to the Byzantine Digenis Akritas, who repelled invaders from the Byzantine Empire during the Middle Ages.

Second in command was Grigoris Afxentiou who had also served in the Greek army. Afxentiou had graduated from the reserves Officers Academy in 1950 but had no prior experience in active military operations.

Alongside with these figures of the Greek-Cypriot campaign stands out the figure of Kostis Efstathiou, a Limassol based police officer from Kiti/Troullous, widely known in Cyprus as Pachykostis. Famous for his dedicated nationalism Pachykostis enjoyed unreserved trust of the leader of the EOKA movement, Grivas Digenis. In fact Digenis resorted to his help, while hiding from the British Army in the Kykkos mountains. At a critical moment Grivas was secretly and safely transferred to Limassol in Pachykostis' car, which is currently exhibited at the EOKA museum in Nicosia. Many times Pachykostis' connections with the intelligence proved vital for the lives of the EOKA leaders.

Recruitment of members was targeted at the younger population. The conditions for a mass uprising as witnessed in other colonial conflicts did not exist in Cyprus. There were no fundamental economic problems nor was there widespread poverty or food shortage. The working class was largely allied to the left wing party of AKEL which did not openly support an armed paramilitary campaign. Cyprus' privileged geographical position allowed the middle class to prosper through international trade, activities that were openly encouraged by the British administration. As a result EOKA's leadership directed recruitment to the idealist "passionate youth".

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

British
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 (47%) took place in rural areas.

During the course of the insurrection 105 British servicemen were killed as well as 51 members of the police.

Aside from British military personnel, EOKA targeted civilians connected to the British armed forces such as their families. colonial and civilian police officers were targeted along with British expatriates who were targeted due to their nationality

Greek Cypriots
Greek Cypriots suspected of being allied to the colonial forces and those believed to be informants were targeted, sometimes with severe brutality. Although the number of operations launched against Greek Cypriots were far less than those against the British military, they were much more efficient. In total 230 assassination attempts were attributed to EOKA action. Of these only 13 targets escaped unharmed, whilst 148 Greek Cypriots were killed and 69 were wounded.

Amongst the 148 killings, 23 were of known 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' extreme right ideology and or as a vehicle for settling personal differences. The communist party of AKEL and EOKA veteran fighters have both been outspoken on this issue.

Turkish Cypriots
One of the first actions of Field Marshal Sir John Harding, the newly appointed governor of Cyprus in 1955, 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 A new separate 'Special Mobile Reserve' unit was created exclusively recruited from the Turkish community. Although EOKA's primary targets were British interests, Cypriots of Turkish descent, especially those serving the colonial security forces soon became targets. Activity against Turkish Cypriots was initiated only after the anti-Greek Istanbul Pogrom of September 1955.

Communal violence, rare in Cyprus before the insurgency, flared up in 1956 and increased throughout EOKA's campaign. In 1957 the Turkish Resistance Organization (TMT) came into existence, a rival paramilitary organisation serving Turkish interests. Although infrequent, EOKA and TMT targeted 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.

Events
On the 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."

In October 1956 an EOKA leader, Pilots Christof, was captured during Operation Sparrowhawk. The following year, Grigoris Afxentiou was burned to death in the Battle of Machairas. A number of other Greek fighters were hanged, including the 19-year old, Evagoras Pallikarides.

EOKA's activity continued until December 1959 when a cease-fire was declared which paved the way for 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" (SBA) at Akrotiri and Dhekelia. The settlement explicitly denied enosis – the union with Greece sought by EOKA. Although Cyprus gained its independence, it 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 would annex the independent republic.

EOKA allegations of torture by British forces
In 2011, veteran EOKA paramilitary figures announced that lawsuits were being planned against British authorities. This was re-iterated in 2012. The veteran's association is claiming 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 alllegedly died during interrogation were aged 17. The action comes on the back of the uncovering of secret documents released in 2011 which document similar practices during the Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya, during the same period.

Dissolution and legacy
The EOKA campaign lasted – officially – until 31 March 1959. After independence EOKA fighters formed regional associations such as ΣΑΠΕΛ (Σύνδεσμος Αγωνιστών Πόλεως και Επαρχίας Λεμεσού; 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.

A museum dedicated to the EOKA campaign was created in 1960 and is located in the centre of Nicosia.

According to Dr. Vassos Lyssarides, the paramilitary methods of EOKA, and the nature of its campaign, has served as a widely studied example for "anticolonial, national-liberation struggles in the period of decolonisation."

Political perception
🇨🇾: In its official website, the Cyprus government mentions EOKA as an organisation that waged an "armed struggle" against the British.


 * Greek press refers to EOKA as an organisation that mounted a "liberation struggle" against British Colonial rule.

🇹🇷: The Republic of Turkey regards EOKA as a terrorist organisation.

but currently the BBC describes it a 'paramilitary organisation'. However, the British press didn't always refer to EOKA as "terrorist" organisation, calling its members "terrorists". This was happening mainly in the opposition's press. For example in the editorial on 9/5/56 "Making martyrs", Manchester Guardian didn't refer to EOKA as a terrorist organisation but as a "movement" avoiding to describe EOKA members as "terrorists". The significance of the specific editorial is that it was commenting the executions which were going to happen the day after (10/5/56).
 * Media in the United Kingdom referred to EOKA as a terrorist organisation during the conflict

🇺🇸: Press in the United States of America referred to EOKA as a terrorist organisation during the conflict, however current press such as the New York Times refers to the organisation as a 'guerilla movement'.

Monuments
There are various monuments dedicated to the members of EOKA who died during the 4-years of EOKA and are regarded as war-time heroes by the people of Cyprus.

In Larnaka there are monuments dedicated to Michalakis Paridis, Grigoris Afksentiou—and on King Paul Square—Petrakis Kiprianou, a 17 year old member of EOKA who was killed in the village of Ora in 21st of March 1957. The inscription reads, "ΠΕΤΡΑΚΗΣ ΚΥΠΡΙΑΝΟΥ ΑΓΩΝΙΣΤΗΣ Ε. 1956–1959 – ΠΕΣΩΝ ΣΤΗΝ ΟΡΑ ΛΑΡΝΑΚΑΣ 21.3.1957".