Police Station Attacks | |||||||
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Part of Cyprus Emergency | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
EOKA | British Empire | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Unknown | 1 policeman |
The Police Station Attacks were a series of guerrilla style attacks by the EOKA on police stations in Cyprus during June 1955 which led to the start of the Cyprus Emergency. The attacks took place:
Nicosia, also known as Lefkosia and Lefkoşa, is the capital and largest city of Cyprus. It is the southeasternmost of all EU member states' capital cities.
Makarios III was a Greek Cypriot archbishop, primate, statesman and politician who served as the first President of Cyprus between 1960 and July 1974, with a second term between December 1974 and 1977. He was also the Archbishop of the autocephalous Church of Cyprus from 1950 to 1977.
Glafcos Ioannou Clerides was a Cypriot statesman, who served as President of Cyprus in 1974 and from 1993 to 2003.
The Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston was a Greek Cypriot nationalist guerrilla organization that fought a campaign for the end of British rule in Cyprus, and for eventual union with Greece.
Georgios Grivas, also known by his nickname Digenis, was the Cypriot founder and leader of the Greek and Greek Cypriot paramilitary organisations Organization X (1942–1949), EOKA (1955–1959) and EOKA B (1971–1974).
Nikos Sampson was a Greek-Cypriot journalist, militant and politician, who was installed as acting President of Cyprus during the 1974 coup.
The Turkish invasion of Cyprus began on 20 July 1974 and progressed in two phases over the following month. Taking place upon a background of intercommunal violence between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, and in response to a Greek junta-sponsored Cypriot coup d'état five days earlier, it led to the Turkish capture and occupation of the northern part of the island.
Evagoras Pallikarides was a Greek-Cypriot poet and revolutionary who was a member of EOKA during the 1955–1959 campaign against British rule in Cyprus. He was arrested on 18 December 1956 when he was caught carrying weaponry on a donkey, to which he confessed in his trial. He was sentenced to death by hanging for firearms possession on 27 February 1957 and was the youngest insurgent to be executed in Cyprus. His death generated widespread controversy due to his young age and the circumstances of his arrest.
Vassos Lyssarides was a Cypriot politician and physician who was a central figure in the politics of Cyprus after the island's independence.
Grigoris Pieris Afxentiou was a Greek-Cypriot insurgent leader who led campaigns against the British colonial government as a member of EOKA. He was second-in-command to general Georgios Grivas and used the pseudonym Zidhros (Ζήδρος), the name of a famous 18th-century brigand.
Markos Drakos was a Greek Cypriot guerrilla fighter who was killed in the EOKA struggle (1955–1959) against the British. His nom de guerre was Lykourgos. He was born in Nicosia District, on 24 September 1932 and studied accounting. He worked for the Hellenic Mining Company in Cyprus until 1954. When EOKA was formed, Drakos was among the first to join, training others in the use of arms and recruiting members. Drakos was mild-mannered and enthusiastic to learn about military operations, as well as being devoutly religious, and EOKA commander Georgios Grivas "Dighenis" quickly took a liking to him. He saw great potential in Drakos as a leader, and he was quickly promoted to a senior position in EOKA.
Several distinct periods of Cypriot intercommunal violence involving the two main ethnic communities, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, marked mid-20th century Cyprus. These included the Cyprus Emergency of 1955–59 during British rule, the post-independence Cyprus crisis of 1963–64, and the Cyprus crisis of 1967. Hostilities culminated in the 1974 de facto division of the island along the Green Line following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. The region has been relatively peaceful since then, but the Cyprus dispute has continued, with various attempts to solve it diplomatically having been generally unsuccessful.
Kyriakos Matsis was a Greek Cypriot guerrilla and member of EOKA.
Stylianos Lenas was a member of EOKA, and one of the Cypriots who were wounded in battle against British soldiers.
Michalis Karaolis was a Cypriot public official and revolutionary. Born in the village of Palaichori Oreinis of Pitsilia, Karaolis worked as a government clerk and a member of EOKA. He was the first to be sentenced to death and hanged alongside Andreas Dimitriou on 10 May 1956.
The Cyprus Emergency was a conflict fought in British Cyprus between April 1955 and March 1959.
The 1 April Attacks were a series of attacks across Cyprus in 1955 by the Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston (EOKA) which led to the start of the Cyprus Emergency. Multiple British locations were attacked after midnight by EOKA members. This attack was accompanied by the distribution of leaflets across Cyprus.
The Battle of the Pine is the name given in Greek Cypriot sources to an attack on a British army vehicle by the EOKA on 24 November 1955. A team of EOKA guerrillas ambushed the vehicles on the road from Kyperounda to Chandria killing one soldier, Sapper Robert Melson.
The Nicosia cinema bmbing took place on 24 May 1955. A cinema in Nicosia was bombed by the EOKA as part of an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate British governor Sir Robert Armitage. The bomb went off a few yards from where Armitage had been sitting a few minutes earlier; however by the time of the explosion most of the cinema had been vacated. The cinema had been screening the movie Forbidden Cargo on Empire Day as a fundraiser for the British Legion Fund.
The Battle of Famagusta was a military engagement during the Cyprus Emergency. It involved a battle between British troops and members of EOKA.