1955-1960 Enosis War
This brought the Greek Cypriots at war with the British and Turkish
Cypriots. The Greek Cypriots had enough of being ruled by conquerors
and thought that they had rights to unify with Greece. The Turkish Cypriots
saw this as going from one conqueror to another worse one which has
been their long time enemies with Turkey. Britain also didn’t
like the idea because they would lose their base in the
Middle East which is no longer a half way station to India but a spying
complex against the Russians. The US also didn’t want NATO to
lose a vital location in between three Continents. Oil was also an issue
which comes from the Suez Canal form the Persian Gulf which the UK and
US like Monitoring. The US thought that Cyprus becoming a Greek island
wasn’t bad because it meant that the island would come into the
NATO sphere with Greece. The UK didn’t agree because they didn’t
want to lose their private base to the Greeks and end up sharing bases
with NATO. Turkey didn’t agree because they argued, “why
should the island go to Greece when it is 40 miles of our coasts with
a Turkish community living on the island”. The US had to satisfy
its NATO members with Turkey demanding partition and Greece enosis.
The US told Britain that independence was the only answer on the condition
that they left bases their for Britain’s own use and if necessary
NATO with also Greece and Turkey having rights to keep Cyprus NATO influenced.
All sides agreed but the Greek Cypriots had doubts but their leader
who became President Makarios agreed as the only way out of British
control.
1960-1963 Republic of Cyprus
On the 16th of August 1960, Cyprus was declared an independent country
with the 1960 constitution agreement. The peaceful years of the republic
have started with the two communities living together. The first day
was the hosting of the new Cyprus flag which represents both communities
on the new House of Representatives. The next three years were peaceful
with everyday life and various elements of the constitution gradually
developing. By 1963 Makarios made an announcement to change 13 points
on the constitution to make it run more flexible. Turkey and the Turkish
Cypriots saw this as violating their rights. In a quick escalation of
gun battles, the Turkish Cypriots withdraw from the government and go
to live from their normal houses to fortified armed enclaves. This started
the civil war in which the Turkish Cypriots demanded partition as the
only way to protect their rights and the Greek Cypriots going back to
their enosis movement as the only way to protect them from Turkish assault.
1964-1974 Civil War
The civil war has now begun between the two communities with their main
allies supporting them which are Turkey and Greece. With the Greek Cypriots
now controlling the island and not getting enough support from Greece
because of American pressure, the Americans are frighten of the Soviets
using this as an excuse to turn Cyprus into the Mediterranean Cuba.
The Americans try to dispatch a NATO peace keeping force to the island
as a move to put a NATO foothold in the country but the Makarios government
blocks this move. Makarios did decide to allow a UN force to the island
to stop the gun battles between the communities which arrived in March
1964. Eventually despite Turkish objections, President Johnson allowed
the Greeks to send an armed force of 10,000 men along with Grivas as
the leader. Grivas was the leader of the enosis movement with the British
in the 50s and this made the British sour. This was the only NATO move
Makarios would allow since he saw it as a move for enosis. The US allowed
this to stop the Greek Cypriots going to the Soviets for support. In
June 1964 the Greek troops arrived with Grivas with Makarios awaiting
them and thousands of Greek Cypriots poured into the capital to welcome
him. As soon as Grivas arrived, he also built a Greek Cypriot army called
“the Cyprus National Guard” made up of only Greek Cypriots.
The National Guard combined with Police, Greek troops and reservists,
Makarios now had a force of 30,000 men which became a big obstacle for
the Turks. The Turks didn’t just have Makario’s army but
Greece. The US could not afford to allow two of its NATO members to
fight which would weaken NATO and strengthen the Soviets. For this reason
the Americans told Turkey to not react until the time was right to not
get Greece involved. George Ball came form the US to get Makarios to
accept the Acheason plan which would make Cyprus a Greek island with
a part being giving to the Turks. Both sides disagreed with it for their
own interests. By summer 1964 tensions started again with the Greek
Cypriots attacking a Turkish enclave. The Turks responded by sending
in an air strike which burnt a lot of people and forests. Again the
US told the Turks to not go in with a full invasion because the consequences
were far too high. By September 1964 Makarios needed some proper armour
for his army encase of more Turkish assaults. Makarios sent his Foreign
Minister Spyros Kyprianou to Moscow to sign an arms deal with Khrushchev.
This was to receive armoured cars, tanks, guns and anti tanks which
was a move that made him more of a Castro.
By 1967 another Turkish threat came when the Greek Cypriots attacked another Turkish enclave. Events here were different since only at the beginning of the year, a military Junta took over in Greece with support of the CIA. The Junta surprisingly recalled Grivas and the Greek troops which was the only obstacle to a Turkish invasion. The US move was to install a leader in Greece that wouldn’t go to war with Turkey if invasion of Cyprus happened. The only force Makarios had now was his National Guard of mainly conscripts.
From 1968 new events have occurred with the main one being Makarios is policy of “no more enosis only the independents of Cyprus will remain”. This caused an outburst within the Greek Cypriot community with half supporting Makarios and the other half supporting enosis. Makarios is reasons were he despised the Greek junta and knew that they were just a CIA move into the Cyprus government. Various assassination attempts were made against him by the Greek Cypriots who supported enosis. Grivas returned to the island secretly and built and underground movement called EOKA B which is similar to the movement in the 50s but this time he is not fighting the British but the Makarios government. This carried on until 1974 where Grivas died in January.
Greek Coup and Turkish Invasion
In July of 1974 was one of he most bitter months in Cyprus History.
On the 15th of July Makarios was overthrown by the Greek military junta
in Athens using the Cyprus National Guard as its machine gun throughout
the island. The National Guard were mainly conscripts and supported
Makarios but their orders were to wipe him out by the Greek generals
which controlled the National Guard who got their orders from Athens.
Makarios was replaced by Nikos Sampson which was another enosis fighter.
Makarios new that this was a CIA plan to give Turkey an excuse to invade,
he was convinced that the CIA got the Greek junta and the Turks to do
a deal to split Cyprus between them which is something that the democratic
Greece wouldn’t except. The main outcome of this plan resulted
in no support from any country mainly the Soviet Union since it was
a conflict within Cyprus.
On July the 20th Turkey with support from the US and Britain invaded Cyprus with a big Air force bombardment in the north part of the island. Paratroopers were dropped around the capital to defend Turkish enclaves and the Turkish Navy arrived on the northern shores. The Junta along with US arrangements totally demoralised the Greek Cypriots during the coup and turned them against each other, they were in no fit state to fight. During the invasion, the Junta gave manoeuvre orders to the Cyprus Army at the wrong times and weapons weren’t taken to their destinations. This was a junta plan to assure that the Greek Cypriots had no chance in fighting. Despite all this sergeants started to ignore orders and lead their own group of men to fight. The first stages of the Turkish invasion are where the Turks suffered the most facing high resistance not just from soldiers but police and farmers with shotguns. By the 22nd of July, the Greek Cypriots were achieving their goals until a new wave of Turkish ships arrived with reinforcements. Even after this the Greek Cypriots put up stiff resistance with the Turks bombing their own ships and Turkish soldiers always is abandoning their positions and equipment which was eventually used against them. By the 23rd a ceasefire was declared and most importantly, the junta fell in Greece and democracy was restored by Cyprus losing their freedom. On the 14th the Turks attacked again which resulted in occupation of one third of the island.
The aftermath of 1974
There were many suspicions’ that the CIA was the main supporters
of the Turkish invasion. The junta fell on the 23rd of July because
the US had no need for them anymore and they achieved their goal after
ten years of planning. The US satisfied Turkey, Britain and stopped
Greece and Turkey from attacking each other since the junta were satisfied
by being in power. There were also suspicions that the CIA betrayed
the junta by getting rid of them after they met their objective. Cyprus
was in pieces after the war but Makarios returning to reclaim his presidency
in December 1974 brought back high hopes for the future of Cyprus. Peace
talks began one after the other for a reunification of the island and
they are still carrying on today.
References
Dr. Stavros Panteli, 2005(The History of Modern Cyprus)
pgs 215 to 313.
Published by Tolphine Publishing
