Cyprus Emergency
The Cyprus Emergency[note 2] was a conflict fought in British Cyprus between April 1955 and March 1959.[8]
The National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters (EOKA), a Greek Cypriot right-wing nationalist guerrilla organisation, began an armed campaign in support of the end of British colonial rule and the unification of Cyprus and Greece (Enosis) in 1955. Opposition to Enosis from Turkish Cypriots led to the formation of the Turkish Resistance Organisation (TMT) in support of the partition of Cyprus. The Cyprus Emergency ended in 1959 with the signature of the London-Zürich Agreements, establishing the Republic of Cyprus as an independent state.[9]
Background[edit]
The island of Cyprus can trace its Hellenic roots back to the 12th century BC with the immigration of Mycenaean Greeks to the island.[10][11][12] Many civilisations passed through the island leaving remnants behind, including that of the Franks, Venetians, Assyrians etc.[13][14]
Cyprus was a territory of the Ottoman Empire from the late 16th century until it became a protectorate of the United Kingdom under nominal Ottoman suzerainty at the Cyprus Convention of 4 June 1878 after the Russo-Turkish War. In 1915, Cyprus was formally annexed into the British Empire after the Ottomans had entered World War I on the side of the Central Powers against the British, and it was initially governed by a military administration until 1925, when it was proclaimed the Crown Colony of Cyprus. From the 1910s to the 1950s, Greek Cypriots became increasingly dissatisfied with British rule and supportive of Enosis, the concept of political unification between Cyprus and Greece. Several unsuccessful offers made to Greece by the British to cede Cyprus in exchange for military concessions, as well as the noticeable lack of British investment on the island, caused a growing Cypriot nationalist movement.
In October 1931, Greek Cypriots rebelled against British rule and destroyed government property, however the demonstrations were suppressed and Britain took dictatorial measures against the Cypriot people, becoming as the "Palmerocracy", owing to the name of the Governor of Cyprus, Richmond Palmer.[15][16] These measures were in place until the start of World War II.[17]
In 1950, a referendum was held by the Church of Cyprus on the subject of union with Greece, with a 89% turnout rate and 95.7% of those in favour of union with Greece, the British government however, refusing to negotiate.[18][19][20]
In 1954, Britain announced its intention to transfer its Suez military headquarters (the office of the Commander-in-Chief, Middle East) to Cyprus.[21]
Emergency[edit]
Insurgency[edit]
On 1 April 1955, the EOKA started its insurgency with the 1 April Attacks. After a series of other incidents, the Governor General Sir John Harding declared a state of emergency on 26 November 1955.[22] Following the example of Malaya, Harding tried to co-ordinate the activities of the civil, military and police authorities, with the specific aim of collecting and processing intelligence. The British encountered great difficulty obtaining effective intelligence on EOKA, as it was supported by the majority of the Greek Cypriot population. As a result, the British were forced to rely on some 4,000 Turkish-Cypriot policemen, who were ostracised by the Greek-Cypriot communities and could provide little information about them.[23] Inevitably, the use of Turkish Cypriot policemen against the Greek Cypriot community exacerbated relations between the two communities.[24] In 1955 however, EOKA had sent letters to the Turkish-Cypriot community in Nicosia stating that their conflict was against the British and not them.[25]
EOKA focused its activity to urban areas totalling 104 house bombings, 53 riots, 136 acts of Sabotage, 403 ambushes, 35 attacks on police, 38 attacks on soldiers and 43 raids on police stations. EOKAS's aim to keep the British army away from the Troodos mountains where its main fighters were hiding.[26] Some of the attacks went awry most notably, the bombing of a restaurant by EOKA on 16 June led to the death of William P. Boteler, a CIA officer working under diplomatic cover.[27] Grivas immediately issued a statement denying a deliberate attempt to target American citizens.[28]
In October, with the security situation deteriorating, Harding, opened talks on the island's future. By this stage, Makarios had become closely identified with the insurgency, and talks broke up without any agreement in early 1956.[29] Makarios viewed with suspicion by the British authorities, was later exiled to the Seychelles.[30][31] News of his arrest triggered a week long general strike followed by a dramatic increase in EOKA activity: 246 attacks until 31 March including an attempt to assassinate Harding which failed as the time bomb under his bed failed to go off.[32]
Counterinsurgency[edit]
By mid-1956, there were 17,000 British servicemen in Cyprus and Harding was concerned to counter EOKA's mountain units in the Troodos. Nevertheless a number of operations were launched:[33][34]
Between 21 April and 7 May 1956, the British armed forces mounted an operation codenamed "Kennett", conducted in the Kyrenia range by 1,500 troops who cordoned and searched a dozen villages in a 50 square mile area and arrested eighteen suspects.[35]
From 17 May to 7 June, Britain launched operation "pepper pot", an operation that was carried out by the 16 Independent parachute brigade. The operation however, was leaked prior to Grivas by an informant he had inside the Special Branch and as such was able to better prepare prior to the operation and led to it having little effect against EOKA.[36][37]
From June 7 to June 23 1956–24, Britain launched operation "Lucky Alphonse" in an effort to cripple EOKA and capture George Grivas as a means to bring power to the negotiating table.[38] More than 5,000 British soldiers took part including mean from, Royal Marines, the Parachute Regiment, the Gordon Highlanders and the Royal Norfolk Regiment.[39] Although there were some minor successes, 7 British soldiers were killed with another 21 burned to death by accident during a fire in the Paphos Forest, furthermore failing to capture George Grivas.[40]
From 2 to 21 July, 16 Independent parachute brigade cordoned thirty villages in the Troodos; assisted by tracker dogs and informers, they arrested three members of three village groups in an operation called "Spread Eagle".[41]
From 22 to 25 July 1956, the British captured seventeen guerrillas and wounded several others trying to breach the cordons during operation "golden eagle".[42]
Some of the other operations were considered a success; some fifty guerrillas and a good haul of weapons were captured. Grivas managed to escape and was forced into hiding, leaving behind his diary which yielded important intelligence information. The leading EOKA assassin, Nikos Sampson, had also been captured.[43] Grivas eventually moved to Limassol where he established his new headquarters.[44]
