European Union delegate cyprus
European Union delegate cyprus
Country: Cyprus
topic: Addressing the rise of far right and nationalist movements in Europe.
In 1878 British control had extended to the island of Cyprus. The majority of Greek Cypriots
desired the removal of British rule and the union of Cyprus with Greece that started the Enosis
movement in 1955 where the launched their campaign on 1 April with a series of bombing
against government offices in the islands capital Nicosia .Furthermore , there were no deaths
recorded but a campaign of assassinations began aimed at Greek members of the police force and
who disagreed with idea of enosis which was led by Archbishop Makarios and by Colonel
George Grivas , Head of Ethiniki Organosis Kuprion Agoniston which was also known as the
National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters (EOKA) who aimed to achieve their goal through
mobilizing the civilian population to drive the British away . Due to unsuccessful efforts, a state
of emergency was declared by Lord Harding in November that year. The following year in
March, Makarios was exiled to the Seychelles and a huge number of reinforcements arrived and
began a series of operations against EOKA on the Troodos mountains. By 1957, many leaders of
the EOKA had been either captured or killed. Attacks continued till 1958, even though Makarios
dropped the initial idea of Enosis. They finally ended in February 1959 when an agreement was
reached in London for Cyprus to become an independent republic even though 2 sovereign base
areas such as Akrotiri and Dhekeila had been retained. After 4 years of liberation of struggle, in
1974 a Greek military coup which aimed to unite the island with mainland Greece, led to a
military intervention from turkey in which Turkish troops controlled about 37% of the island.
Since then Cyprus has been divided into the Republic of Cyprus controlling two-thirds of the
island in the south and the Turkish Cypriot one-third in the north with a buffer zone maintained
buy UN peacekeeping forces.
Nikos Christodoulides (Current president of Cyprus having assumed office on 28 February
2023) has previously considered the main problems facing Cypriots were “the cost of living and
housing, immigration and the Cyprus problem”, referring to the divisions in the country
describing it as “the most distorted and enduring experience in the modern Anglo-Hellenic
encounter.” These occurrences have often given rise to movements such as nationalism and
populism where 40% of the Greek Cypriot population were forced to leave their homes in the
occupied areas and targeting individuals based on their ethnicity in addition to that xenophobia
and racism have also been encouraged in these instances manifested in the form of hostility
towards the Turkish Cypriot minority and other non-Greek communities on the island with both
communities experiencing communal violence and displacements .
“I look you in the eyes and give you a promise – I will do everything worthy of your trust.” He
said he is open to forming alliances with extreme right parties such as ELAM , the
ultranationalists who placed 4th in the election .
Bibliography:
klaus kästle - nationsonline.org. “Cyprus - Island Profile - Nations Online Project.” Nationsonline.org,
2015, www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/cyprus.htm Accessed 16 Jan. 2024.
Yiangou, Anastasia. “Decolonization in the Eastern Mediterranean: Britain and the Cyprus Question,
1945-1960.” Cahiers Du Centre d’Etudes Chypriotes, vol. 50, no. 50, Dec. 2020, pp. 45–63,
https://journals.openedition.org/cchyp/494?lang=en. Accessed 17 Jan. 2024.
Committee: European Union
Country: Cyprus
Union