Cyprus-Forum.com

[Mr. T]

Searching the web it was strange to see a GC's nationalists entry that 198 EOKA fighters died bearing in mind the supposed 300 members only figure toted about on the forum.

Mind you as numerous GC's make up facts all the time, on searching the web it was not strange to see the true numbers much higher at between 1,000 and 1,250. Similarly the British forces numbers including the pay corps. administrators etc are much lower that quoted.

It is also interesting that as well as killing British civilians, women and a soldiers sonincluded EOKA killed more GC's that British forces members, often just because of their different political beliefs or because they were deemed to be against their cause.

A summary from a third part website follows,nothing to do with Britain, Greece or Turkey. It is apparent that EOKA whose numbers on various websites are quoted variously between 1,000 and 1,250 rather than the 300 toted on this forum were happy to kill those with different political views and those deemed to be against their cause.


' EOKA (Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston)

EOKA [Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston - National Organization of Cypriot Fighters] started a guerrilla campaign against British colonial rule aimed at self-determination and union with Greece (Enosis)on 01 April 1955. The campaign, which started when the first EOKA bombs exploded at 00.30 hours on 1st of April 1955, lasted until 1959 and caused the death of more Greek Cypriot civilians than the total of British killed. It created civil strife and mistrust between the two Cypriot communities. Tension increased in early 1957, when EOKA attacked Turkish police and auxiliaries. EOKA received direct support from Greece in money, arms, organization and propaganda. Greek-speaking Cypriots were awed by EOKA terrorists and subject to bombardment by Athens radio. Under a 1959 compromise settlement known as Zurich-London agreements, Cyprus became an independent Republic in 1960. Since then, April 1 is a national holiday. It was celebrated in memorial services in Churches and gatherings in cities and villages in the free part of Cyprus.
EOKA-B emerged twice, in 1963 and 1974, in collaboration and cooperation with Greece, to attack the Turkish Cypriots, one of the two co-founding partners of the Republic of Cyprus, with the aim of uniting the Island with Greece.
Between 1969 and 1971, several groups embarked on a renewed terrorist campaign for enosis. Grivas returned clandestinely to Cyprus sometime in the late summer or early fall of 1971 and set up a new guerilla organization, the national Organizaiton of Cypriot Fighters (Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agonistm B--EOKA B). Most members of the terrorist movement held regular jobs in the Greek Cypriot community; half were police officials and members of the National Guard.
There was also considerable evidence of support of EOKA B activities by the Greek junta, whose hostility to Makarios became increasingly apparent during the early 1970s. The junta was believed to be involved in several attempts on the life of President Makarios. In March 1970, Makarios narrowly escaped death when his helicopter was shot down. Makarios walked away from the crash, but his pilot was killed. Former minister of the interior Polykarpos Georkajis, in contact with local right-wing groups and the junta in Athens, was thought to be implicated, and was assassinated shortly afterward. A paramilitary presidential guard loyal to Makarios, called the Tactical Police Reserve, was organized in 1972. Consisting of fewer than 1,000 men, the Tactical Police Reserve succeeded in arresting large numbers of EOKA B guerrillas. In a further attempt to bring subversive forces under control, Makarios dismissed many National Guard and police officers suspected of EOKA B activity.
With the death of Grivas from a heart attack in January 1974, EOKA B came more directly under the control of the military junta in Athens, which, after a change of leadership, was even more hostile to Makarios. The archbishop, however, saw the Greekofficered National Guard as a more serious threat to his government than EOKA B. In a letter to the Greek president in early July, he accused the junta of attempting to subvert the government of Cyprus through the Greek officers of the National Guard, who in turn supported the terrorist activities of EOKA B. Makarion demanded immediate removal of the 650 Greek officers staffing the National Guard and their replacement by 100 instructors who would help reorganize the Greek Cypriot force.
The reply to the Makarios challenge came on 15 July 1974 in the form of a coup d'état led by Greek officers in the National Guard, under orders from Athens. The fierce fighting that broke out resulted in casualties estimated at over 500, but the lightly armed Tactical Police Reserve and irregular pro-Makarios units were no match for the heavily armed National Guardsmen and the EOKA B irregulars. Narrowly escaping capture when the presidential palace was bombarded, Makarios was flown to London from the Sovereyn Base Area at Akrotiri. Former EOKA gunman and convicted murderer Nicos Sampson, notorious for his brutality in the 1950s and 1960s, was proclaimed president. As Makarios had foreseen, but the Greek military leaders did not, Turkey reacted forcibly to the coup by landing a large number of troops on the northern coast of Cyprus. As a result, both the insurrectionary government in Cyprus and the military dictatorship in Greece fell from power. '

[zan]

Searching the web it was strange to see a GC's nationalists entry that 198 EOKA fighters died bearing in mind the supposed 300 members only figure toted about on the forum.

Mind you as numerous GC's make up facts all the time, on searching the web it was not strange to see the true numbers much higher at between 1,000 and 1,250. Similarly the British forces numbers including the pay corps. administrators etc are much lower that quoted.

It is also interesting that as well as killing British civilians, women and a soldiers sonincluded EOKA killed more GC's that British forces members, often just because of their different political beliefs or because they were deemed to be against their cause.

A summary from a third part website follows,nothing to do with Britain, Greece or Turkey. It is apparent that EOKA whose numbers on various websites are quoted variously between 1,000 and 1,250 rather than the 300 toted on this forum were happy to kill those with different political views and those deemed to be against their cause.


' EOKA (Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston)

EOKA [Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston - National Organization of Cypriot Fighters] started a guerrilla campaign against British colonial rule aimed at self-determination and union with Greece (Enosis)on 01 April 1955. The campaign, which started when the first EOKA bombs exploded at 00.30 hours on 1st of April 1955, lasted until 1959 and caused the death of more Greek Cypriot civilians than the total of British killed. It created civil strife and mistrust between the two Cypriot communities. Tension increased in early 1957, when EOKA attacked Turkish police and auxiliaries. EOKA received direct support from Greece in money, arms, organization and propaganda. Greek-speaking Cypriots were awed by EOKA terrorists and subject to bombardment by Athens radio. Under a 1959 compromise settlement known as Zurich-London agreements, Cyprus became an independent Republic in 1960. Since then, April 1 is a national holiday. It was celebrated in memorial services in Churches and gatherings in cities and villages in the free part of Cyprus.
EOKA-B emerged twice, in 1963 and 1974, in collaboration and cooperation with Greece, to attack the Turkish Cypriots, one of the two co-founding partners of the Republic of Cyprus, with the aim of uniting the Island with Greece.
Between 1969 and 1971, several groups embarked on a renewed terrorist campaign for enosis. Grivas returned clandestinely to Cyprus sometime in the late summer or early fall of 1971 and set up a new guerilla organization, the national Organizaiton of Cypriot Fighters (Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agonistm B--EOKA B). Most members of the terrorist movement held regular jobs in the Greek Cypriot community; half were police officials and members of the National Guard.
There was also considerable evidence of support of EOKA B activities by the Greek junta, whose hostility to Makarios became increasingly apparent during the early 1970s. The junta was believed to be involved in several attempts on the life of President Makarios. In March 1970, Makarios narrowly escaped death when his helicopter was shot down. Makarios walked away from the crash, but his pilot was killed. Former minister of the interior Polykarpos Georkajis, in contact with local right-wing groups and the junta in Athens, was thought to be implicated, and was assassinated shortly afterward. A paramilitary presidential guard loyal to Makarios, called the Tactical Police Reserve, was organized in 1972. Consisting of fewer than 1,000 men, the Tactical Police Reserve succeeded in arresting large numbers of EOKA B guerrillas. In a further attempt to bring subversive forces under control, Makarios dismissed many National Guard and police officers suspected of EOKA B activity.
With the death of Grivas from a heart attack in January 1974, EOKA B came more directly under the control of the military junta in Athens, which, after a change of leadership, was even more hostile to Makarios. The archbishop, however, saw the Greekofficered National Guard as a more serious threat to his government than EOKA B. In a letter to the Greek president in early July, he accused the junta of attempting to subvert the government of Cyprus through the Greek officers of the National Guard, who in turn supported the terrorist activities of EOKA B. Makarion demanded immediate removal of the 650 Greek officers staffing the National Guard and their replacement by 100 instructors who would help reorganize the Greek Cypriot force.
The reply to the Makarios challenge came on 15 July 1974 in the form of a coup d'état led by Greek officers in the National Guard, under orders from Athens. The fierce fighting that broke out resulted in casualties estimated at over 500, but the lightly armed Tactical Police Reserve and irregular pro-Makarios units were no match for the heavily armed National Guardsmen and the EOKA B irregulars. Narrowly escaping capture when the presidential palace was bombarded, Makarios was flown to London from the Sovereyn Base Area at Akrotiri. Former EOKA gunman and convicted murderer Nicos Sampson, notorious for his brutality in the 1950s and 1960s, was proclaimed president. As Makarios had foreseen, but the Greek military leaders did not, Turkey reacted forcibly to the coup by landing a large number of troops on the northern coast of Cyprus. As a result, both the insurrectionary government in Cyprus and the military dictatorship in Greece fell from power. '

What brave and deserving heroes hey!!!

[Mr. T]

Apart from the AKEL , all Cypriots supported EOKA .
The communists were against EOKA from day one.
EOKA , were a handful of committed fighters numbering about 300 men and supported by the political wing PEKA
and the youth movement ANE .
Their goal was the liberation of Cyprus from British rule and Union with Greece .
They were a well disciplined group and morally respectable. The nonsense talked about shooting people in the back are just that. One or two victims ONLY .

Were these one or two victims only

the civilian named Cooke and the Irishman Hale?
or was it Lane?
perhaps Shipman?
or could it be Cox?

By any man's maths that is NOT one nor two.

I know we are only talking about those murdered prior to independence so I will ignore any shot in the back after independence by these so called freedom fighters. How brave do you consider these terrorist heroes who ;

Killed Catherine Cutliffe by firing bullets into her body not just once but again when she fell to the floor. Her crime.... shoping for her trouseau.

Shot and killed a British surgeon in his car as he left hospital after treating a GC patient.

Shot and killed Dr. Charles Benson while he was working at Amiandos mine.

Murdered Theodore Bogdanovitch, a Serb by birth and very pro British.

Killed Brian Preece,the teenage son of a British soldier.

Killed Mrs. Karberry in a car ambush.

Murdered Francis Hellier while he was shopping. He may have been shot in the back but if in the side or front does it really make any difference.

Shot and killed QPM Demmon when he was in hospital

Murdered a civilian who suffered the results of having polio.

Murdered two civilians, Hallows and Miles, as they left a Masonic lodge meeting

Murdered a teacher, Thomas Mylrea

Shot and killed in the street (again I don't know whether in the back or not) Charles Woods, John Smith and Herbert Pritchard.

Would you like more names of murdered civilians? There are a lot more.

Fortunately the bomb, planted by the snivelling cowards but so called freedom fighters, on board a Hermes plane which was to take British familes back to Britain exploded prematurely or the list would be even greater.

Fortunately for EOKA the British prefer fair play, something they did not deserve and definitely something they would not have got from other colonial powers.

Greek Cypriots were much more politically naive and backward at that time tthan they are now and all they had to do was wait for independence which would have come before too long as it has to all countries that wanted it. After all a politicians 'never' can be an 'always' or 'definitely yes' the following week.

What did it achieve? 1974

[Nikitas]

MR T,

Agreed, the killing of civilians is a despicable act, but let us keep a sense of proportion here. Britain killed 80 000 civilians in one night in Dresden and justified this act as necessary to curb Germany's will to fight. If it is allright to do it by bombs then it is allright to do it with a bullet in the back too. If it is wrong to do it with bullets it must be wrong to do it with bombs. How would you judge the pilots over Dresden? As heroes or thugs?

The retort that the British are not Nazis does not hold water. A foreign occupier is the same. The Nazis in occupied Europe and the British in Cyprus are the same when they are occupiers of someone else's country. A position shared by Britain when it suited her and she dropped supplies and money to Greek guerillas doing to the Germans exactly what EOKA later did to the British.

And lets not forget the archetypal liberation struggle that started it all, the American Revolution. How would you rate George Washington's troops? Heroes or thugs? They killed plenty of civilians and scalped a fair number of British soldiers.

[Nikitas]

"Fortunately for EOKA the British prefer fair play, something they did not deserve and definitely something they would not have got from other colonial powers. "

This is where you are dead wrong. If the British had played fair they would have won! Instead Harding enforced a state of emergency which included the typical British mix of internment without trial, daily curfew on all Greek Cypriot civilians, suspension of civil rights, the death penalty (for Greek Cypriots only) for minor offences, the usual mix which was tried and failed in other countries too. And above all there was the idiotic policy of using the TC community and initiating civil strife. You need to read your Foreign Office released documents.

[Mr. T]

MR T,

Agreed, the killing of civilians is a despicable act, but let us keep a sense of proportion here. Britain killed 80 000 civilians in one night in Dresden and justified this act as necessary to curb Germany's will to fight. If it is allright to do it by bombs then it is allright to do it with a bullet in the back too. If it is wrong to do it with bullets it must be wrong to do it with bombs. How would you judge the pilots over Dresden? As heroes or thugs?

The retort that the British are not Nazis does not hold water. A foreign occupier is the same. The Nazis in occupied Europe and the British in Cyprus are the same when they are occupiers of someone else's country. A position shared by Britain when it suited her and she dropped supplies and money to Greek guerillas doing to the Germans exactly what EOKA later did to the British.

And lets not forget the archetypal liberation struggle that started it all, the American Revolution. How would you rate George Washington's troops? Heroes or thugs? They killed plenty of civilians and scalped a fair number of British soldiers.

Hi Nikitis

The bombing of Dresden by British and US air forces and the ensuing fires is the subject of much argument including one stating that it probably brought forward the end of the war and thereby a lower loss of total lives than would otherwise be the case. Deaths shortly after the war were stated to be in excess of 200,000 but modern historians believe the maximum number in that city was 40,000 but possibly as low as 24,000. I have read than Germany is to carry out a study and should come up with a figure fairly soon.

Whereas your written English is good your understanding of the meaning of the word 'nazi' is blatently wrong. It will do you no harm to look it up in a dictionary.

For some reason a lot of forum members also don't understand the meanings of several English words which they use constantly e.g. slavery and oppression. Anyone having English as a first language immediately realises that what is being said is rubbish whereas the writer may mean something different. You have probably noticed this.

Your Greek guerilla analogy does not hold water. That was during a war.
Britain was not at war with Greek Cypriots. If it had been the outcome would have been somewhat different.

[Get Real!]

Mind you as numerous GC's make up facts all the time, on searching the web it was not strange to see the true numbers much higher at between 1,000 and 1,250. Similarly the British forces numbers including the pay corps. administrators etc are much lower that quoted.

When it comes to making up stories NOTHING beats the Ottoman remnants... trust unkie GR.

Here are some selected portions from that American study I posted earlier that you did not bother to read, that puts ALL your theories to beddy-byes…


Although the insurgent military force (known by the Greek acronym EOKA) never amounted to more than 200-300 active fighters, they were able to mount a spirited campaign of bombings, small ambushes, and assassinations.

At the height of the insurgency in 1956-57, the British government deployed 40,000 military and security personnel to Cyprus to control a total population of 400,000 Greek Cypriots

The already low standards of the police force were lowered even further to allow the recruitment of Turks, who generally had a much lower education level than the Greeks, but were considered reliable and loyal by the colonial government.

Despite the recent example of Malaya with its sophisticated civil/military strategy, on Cyprus the governor general preferred a heavy-handed approach to counterinsurgency that would bludgeon the population into compliance with British rule. His willingness to employ firepower upset some of the colonial officials and senior officers.

Harding had approximately 40,000 military and police personnel under his command to oppose about 200 insurgents. However, lacking an effective special branch to provide intelligence and employing an overwhelmingly Turkish police force that was alienated from the Greek population, British intelligence on the rebels was consistently poor.

If Harding carefully had planned to alienate the entire Greek population of the island and push the moderate Greeks into full support of EOKA, he could not have done better than by his policy of unleashing a horde of untrained, poorly-led Turkish police on the
population.

http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.ar ... ?PubID=648

Seeing that you're a newbie here's a hinter... in future when someone posts a relevant CREDIBLE LINK make sure you read it or at least take a look at it so as to avoid making a fool of yourself later on.

[Mr. T]

Mind you as numerous GC's make up facts all the time, on searching the web it was not strange to see the true numbers much higher at between 1,000 and 1,250. Similarly the British forces numbers including the pay corps. administrators etc are much lower that quoted.

When it comes to making up stories NOTHING beats the Ottoman remnants... trust unkie GR.

Here are some selected portions from that American study I posted earlier that you did not bother to read, that puts ALL your theories to beddy-byes…


Although the insurgent military force (known by the Greek acronym EOKA) never amounted to more than 200-300 active fighters, they were able to mount a spirited campaign of bombings, small ambushes, and assassinations.

At the height of the insurgency in 1956-57, the British government deployed 40,000 military and security personnel to Cyprus to control a total population of 400,000 Greek Cypriots

The already low standards of the police force were lowered even further to allow the recruitment of Turks, who generally had a much lower education level than the Greeks, but were considered reliable and loyal by the colonial government.

Despite the recent example of Malaya with its sophisticated civil/military strategy, on Cyprus the governor general preferred a heavy-handed approach to counterinsurgency that would bludgeon the population into compliance with British rule. His willingness to employ firepower upset some of the colonial officials and senior officers.

Harding had approximately 40,000 military and police personnel under his command to oppose about 200 insurgents. However, lacking an effective special branch to provide intelligence and employing an overwhelmingly Turkish police force that was alienated from the Greek population, British intelligence on the rebels was consistently poor.

If Harding carefully had planned to alienate the entire Greek population of the island and push the moderate Greeks into full support of EOKA, he could not have done better than by his policy of unleashing a horde of untrained, poorly-led Turkish police on the
population.

http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.ar ... ?PubID=648

Seeing that you're a newbie here's a hinter... in future when someone posts a relevant CREDIBLE LINK make sure you read it or at least take a look at it so as to avoid making a fool of yourself later on.

Quite right I didn't read it.

A credible American link!!!!!!

A contradiction in terms.

Now as few as 200 terrorists. 198 killed. Who were the remaining two?

It is only a matter of time before foreign terrorists kill your countrymen.
Whoever they are they and their supporters will call them freedom fighters. I wonder what you will call them.

[Oracle]

'I swear in the name of the Holy Trinity that I shall work with all my power for the liberation of Cyprus from the British yoke, sacrificing for this even my own life... I shall never reveal to anyone any secrets concerning our Organization, neither the name of the Leader nor that of any of the members, even if I am caught and tortured... If I betray this oath, I shall deserve every punishment meted out to me as a traitor and may I suffer eternal shame.'

[zan]

Mind you as numerous GC's make up facts all the time, on searching the web it was not strange to see the true numbers much higher at between 1,000 and 1,250. Similarly the British forces numbers including the pay corps. administrators etc are much lower that quoted.

When it comes to making up stories NOTHING beats the Ottoman remnants... trust unkie GR.

Here are some selected portions from that American study I posted earlier that you did not bother to read, that puts ALL your theories to beddy-byes…


Although the insurgent military force (known by the Greek acronym EOKA) never amounted to more than 200-300 active fighters, they were able to mount a spirited campaign of bombings, small ambushes, and assassinations.

At the height of the insurgency in 1956-57, the British government deployed 40,000 military and security personnel to Cyprus to control a total population of 400,000 Greek Cypriots

The already low standards of the police force were lowered even further to allow the recruitment of Turks, who generally had a much lower education level than the Greeks, but were considered reliable and loyal by the colonial government.

Despite the recent example of Malaya with its sophisticated civil/military strategy, on Cyprus the governor general preferred a heavy-handed approach to counterinsurgency that would bludgeon the population into compliance with British rule. His willingness to employ firepower upset some of the colonial officials and senior officers.

Harding had approximately 40,000 military and police personnel under his command to oppose about 200 insurgents. However, lacking an effective special branch to provide intelligence and employing an overwhelmingly Turkish police force that was alienated from the Greek population, British intelligence on the rebels was consistently poor.

If Harding carefully had planned to alienate the entire Greek population of the island and push the moderate Greeks into full support of EOKA, he could not have done better than by his policy of unleashing a horde of untrained, poorly-led Turkish police on the
population.

http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.ar ... ?PubID=648

Seeing that you're a newbie here's a hinter... in future when someone posts a relevant CREDIBLE LINK make sure you read it or at least take a look at it so as to avoid making a fool of yourself later on.

Quite right I didn't read it.

A credible American link!!!!!!

A contradiction in terms.

Now as few as 200 terrorists. 198 killed. Who were the remaining two?

It is only a matter of time before foreign terrorists kill your countrymen.
Whoever they are they and their supporters will call them freedom fighters. I wonder what you will call them.

He'll be quoting Wikipedia next........Authored by GR!!!!!!