Cyprus-Forum.com

[brother]

Unfortunately that is very true what bananiot is saying as i heard that from many cypriots that leaving ensured their survival and most were happy to get away from the EOKA animals.

[Main_Source]

Brother, I have never heard what Bananiot was saying said by any GC. Yes EOKA B were killing various GC but not to the extent that they caused a mass emigration. Bananiot is trying to claim a form of ethnic cleansing...and his bullshit is going over the top this time. I have never EVER heard any GC...even the ones that are blatently communist, say they moved to the UK to escape EOKA B. They all generally say it was to create a better life forthemselves. I cant speak on the behalf of the TC...but I have never heard of a mass emigration by the GC left because of EOKA B systamatic killings.

The main reasons why many Cypriots moved to the UK was for the same reasons why many other ex-British colonials did, because Britain opened its gates to rebuild the UK.

This Bananiot ass just seems to make a point of being contreversial for the sake of it.

[Bananiot]

You create your own daemons, it seems. I was talking about EOKA not EOKA B' and the era of 1955-1959 when the tide turned into a flood. But, it is not easy to talk to arteriosclerotics.

[Main_Source]

Bananiot, your talking crap. The 50's was the period when Britain opnened her gates to foreign colonials, to rebuild Britian after WW2. Again, I have never heard, from any GC overhere, that they came to this country to flee EOKA. Your talking skada as per usual and trying to seek attention.

[cannedmoose]

Have to admit Bananiot, all the GCs I know that came over here long ago came for economic, rather than political reasons.

[Bananiot]

Skada = faeces

Another barbarian who learned Greek and thinks he is the ancestor of Socrates and Plato.

Historical fact: In 1957, after a spree of EOKA murders, when the butchers of Grivas turned their guns on the Cypriots, many leftists took their families and left. The same is true for the TC community. When TMT started killing moderate TC's, many left.

Of course, I must be over the top trying to install the truth, into a foul mouthed arteriosclerotic.

Just seen your input cannedmoose. Remember that many of the leftists were branded traitors before they left. At large they would give the excuse that they came purely for economic reasons. This is only natural, for one cannot go around saying that I left my country because i was kicked out as a traitor. I believe Prof. Yangoulis (historian) touches this subject in a number of his books. I think he is still living in London.

[cannedmoose]

Just seen your input cannedmoose. Remember that many of the leftists were branded traitors before they left. At large they would give the excuse that they came purely for economic reasons. This is only natural, for one cannot go around saying that I left my country because i was kicked out as a traitor. I believe Prof. Yangoulis (historian) touches this subject in a number of his books. I think he is still living in London.

I agree that there were probably a number of GCs who left because they felt political persecution, but I honestly don't believe that these poor individuals formed the majority of the tens of thousands of emigres from Cyprus during the 1950s. As others have said, the 1950s saw the massive relaxation of British immigration law to encourage foreign workers to come and rebuild the country/do the shit jobs that British people didn't want to do. As a result, hundreds of thousands of Commonwealth and Empire citizens came to Britain on that principle, to work and improve their families lot. You must remember that Cyprus was not a 'boom-town' during the 1950s, in some part due to the EOKA resistance. So, if EOKA had a hand in any side of the emigre's story, it would have been their effect on the Cypriot economy that drove more people to resettle, rather than their aggressive activities against leftists and supporters of the British.

[Bananiot]

Of course relaxing entry laws made it easier for people to leave Cyprus. Yet, Cypriots lived in very closely knitted communities and leaving Cyprus was not always the first option. However, the constant harassment drove even mothers to push their sons to leave. In those times, leaving Cyprus was tantamount to dying. There were no telephones, faxes, e-mails etc and money was scares (for visits) so many tragic family stories were written and many novels and songs about "ksenitia" meaning foreign lands.

Whole villages in Mesaoria and Karpasia, where many leftists were murdered were desimated in 1957-8. Let me mention just two communities. Milia and Koma tou Yialou. Especially the last village, where Ilias Tofaris was brutally murdered, saw most of its male population move to England during this period. Later, when people became well off due to hard work, they brought to England relatives and even friends, but the original surge had a lot to do with EOKA violence.

[cannedmoose]

But Bananiot, if that is the case and your suggestion that a good percentage of the GCs were political refugees so to speak, why does there remain a solid bedrock of support for EOKA in the UK. GC organisations in the UK tend to regard EOKA as the liberators of the island, I don't think I've seen one that talks about them as murderers or terrorists. Surely all the organisations can't have been hijacked by right-wingers. I would have thought if many of the GCs over here had seen family members butchered by EOKA, they'd be damned to deify them. I'm not saying that EOKA did not carry out reprisals against left-wingers and supporters of the British administration, there is clear evidence of this. But I've yet to be convinced that the en masse movement of GCs to the UK was a bi-product of EOKA persecution rather than one of seeking economic salvation. As for the mass movement of all males from certain villages, would there not have been a 'club mentality' in this? An ethos that if we all stick together we can help each other in a new and strange land? Look at the number of GC business partnerships in the UK, is that not evidence to a degree of this kind of mentality? And look at how most young Cypriots react when they come to a British university. The first thing on the itinery isn't usually timetables or freshers week outings, it's the annual 'find the Cypriots' hunt, if they haven't already done this during the summer in Cyprus. It's natural for people from the same place to group together like this.

However, if you have documentary evidence from reliable sources that proves your statements about the villages you mentioned, I would be happy to revise my opinion.

[Viewpoint]

Bananiot is the only forum member brave enough to voice the truth that EOKA & TMT were the casue of many GCs & TCS leaving Cyprus in the 1950/60, hes not saying it was the only cause of all the departures but the fear of repraisals for siding with the enemy was also another factor which contributed to fear for ones life and the need to flee your homeland.