NCJ Number
62383
Date Published
1975
Length
203 pages
Annotation
THE INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT IN CYPRUS AND SUBSEQUENT DISPUTES BY POLITICAL FACTIONS FROM 1955 TO 1974 ARE DESCRIBED BY TWO NEWSMEN WHO REPORTED ON THE YEARS OF REVOLT FROM ENGLISH DOMINATION.
Abstract
TWO OF THE HEROES OF THE CYPRIOT REVOLUTION WERE GENERAL GEORGE GRIVAS, LEADER OF THE GUERRILLA MOVEMENT, AND POLITICIAN-PRIEST ARCHBISHOP MAKARIOS, WHO BECAME THE ISLAND'S FIRST PRESIDENT. THE ACTIVITIES OF THESE TWO MEN, PARTICULARLY DURING THE CRUCIAL YEARS LEADING TO INDEPENDENCE IN 1960, AND THEIR CONFLICTS OVER 'ENOSIS' (UNION WITH GREECE) ARE DESCRIBED, AS THE NARRATIVE FOLLOWS THE GUERRILLAS THROUGH MOUNTAIN SORTIES, STREET AMBUSHES, AND ASSASSINATIONS. GRIVAS'S SUCCESSFUL STRATEGIES ARE ANALYZED, AS WELL AS BRITISH COUNTERMEASURES, DURING THE YEARS OF UNDERGROUND ACTIVITY AND SUBSEQUENT CIVIL WAR. FACTORS LEADING TO THE EMERGENCE OF MAKARIOS AS THE VICTOR OVER GRIVAS DURING THE POSTINDEPENDENCE CONFLICTS ARE EXAMINED WITH A VIEW TO CYPRIOT FEELINGS CONCERNING ENOSIS AND URBAN GUERRILLA TACTICS. IN 1974, MAKARIOS WAS OVERTHROWN IN A MILITARY COUP ENGINEERED BY OFFICERS FROM ATHENS, BUT THE COUP FAILED WHEN TURKEY INTERVENED, LEADING TO THE EFFECTIVE PARTITION OF CYPRUS AND THE ARRIVAL OF MARKARIOS IN NEW YORK AS AN EXILE. POLITICAL MOTIVATIONS, IDEOLOGICAL CONFLICTS AMONG CYPRIOTS, INTERRACIAL CONFLICTS BETWEEN GREEKS AND TURKS, AND THE AREA'S STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE ALL PLAYED A PART IN THE TRAGEDY OF CYPRUS. NOTES, A BIBLIOGRAPHY, AND AN INDEX ARE INCLUDED. (WJR)