Cyprus-Forum.com

[Tim Drayton]

What did EOKA have to do with the fighting in 1963? EOKA was finished and disbanded by late 1959.How many were honored at this ceremony? We did not see a number.

Exactly, and yet EOKA is nearly always mentioned as taking part in the attacks of the 60's, something which baffles me…

Then who were the armed forces attacking TC's in the GC's struggle for ENOSIS? Please explain!

I often read ill-informed propaganda about Cyprus in mainland Turkish publications in which we hear about "EOKA this" and "EOKA that", when in fact we are talking about a number of totally different organisations which were formed at different times and with different aims. For example, despite having similar names "EOKA" and "EOKA-B" were organisations formed at very different times, under very different circumstances and with different political aims. Anybody wishing to engage in serious debate about Cyprus, I believe, needs to do their homework a bit better.

The finger of blame for the incidents following the "bloody Christmas" of 1962 needs to be pointed at an organisation named the "National Cyprus Organisation" formed shortly after the founding of the Republic under the leadership of Interiro Minister Polykarpos Georgadjis, who adopted the pseudonym of 'Akritas' within the organisation.

The EOKA organisation formed in the fifties engaged in a heroic struggle to throw off the yoke of British imperialism. Yes, it did so in the name of Enosis, which undoubtedly was an expression of the political will of the Greek Cypriot population at that time. That this aim was not viable given the multiethnic nature of Cyprus was not apparent at that time; I believe all but a small number of fanatics now realise this. This organisation certainly cannot be accused of engaging in acts of deliberate ethnic cleansing aimed at the Turkish Cypriot population.

So let's get our facts straight and direct our accusations in the right direction. I think Cypriots need to raise their game above that of the crude propaganda emanating from mainland Turkey. To bandy uninformed comments about "EOKA" insults the memory of those who laid down their lives in the aim of freeing their people from British imperialism.

[T_C]

I have a fantastic issue of Life magazine infront of me from 1964 with great coverege of the Limassol resistence....unfortunately it's A3 size and I can't find ANYWHERE to scan it....tell a lie I found one place but they're asking me for £10 a page!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm going to scan it anyways and fill in the gaps where necessary...

[DT.]

I have a fantastic issue of Life magazine infront of me from 1964 with great coverege of the Limassol resistence....unfortunately it's A3 size and I can't find ANYWHERE to scan it....tell a lie I found one place but they're asking me for £10 a page!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm going to scan it anyways and fill in the gaps where necessary...

don't bother

[T_C]

But thats just the cover...

[Natty]

What did EOKA have to do with the fighting in 1963? EOKA was finished and disbanded by late 1959.How many were honored at this ceremony? We did not see a number.

Exactly, and yet EOKA is nearly always mentioned as taking part in the attacks of the 60's, something which baffles me…

Then who were the armed forces attacking TC's in the GC's struggle for ENOSIS? Please explain!

Hi Umit07, I honestly couldn't tell you who exactly was involved in the attacks against innocent TC's, that period of Cyprus history is very murky to me. I'd look elsewhere for that kind of information (Nikitas and Tim Drayten I think have done a pretty good job of explaining who) but what I do know is that EOKA couldn't possible have orchestrated those attacks, for, as others have mentioned, the official organization was disbanded in 1959!

[Nikitas]

All of you in here are either too young or too senile to remember what was happening on both sides of the ethnic divide after 1960.

It was still during the cold war, in fact at its height. Cyprus was newly independent and we had for the first time in our history official American presence in the form of the US embassy. The Americans funded right wing anticommunist organizations on both sides. Thugs from both sides found easy money in these organizations. On the GC side it was called EDMA and had offices and cars and payroll provided by the Americans. Their cars were the joke of the island back in the 60s because they had sequential registration numbers. As the older members must recall, in those days we used to memorise friend's registration numbers because cars were so few in Cyprus. It was funny seeing these cars with their sequential numbers parked in Democratias avenue in Famagusta.

A natural target for these right wingers were the left wingers on both sides. The left were tradtiionally the people who rejected the national divide even during British rule. The left were persecuted by these right wingers, with beatings in village cafes, threats, discrimination in employment.

Many in here stress that Sampson was an EOKA fighter in the 60s. He was also a member of parliament after 1960 and publisher of a major newspaper. Where did the money come from to fund his political campaigns and his publishing business. Before that he was a low paid photoreporter.

[Nikitas]

Wise words from a GC doctor: "if you see sudden and large wealth in Cyprus, then look for a connection with drugs, antiquities dealing, or treason".

[Natty]

All of you in here are either too young or too senile to remember what was happening on both sides of the ethnic divide after 1960.

I'd have to put myself in the first category; I was born after the 1974 and grew up in a foreign country, so I only got to experience (from a distance) the aftermath of the invasion. Although my family have experiences of living in Cyprus during the troubles, I pretty much use this forum to read others experiences and to learn about what happened and why it happened. Reading your posts Nikitas definitely helps me to do this.