Enosis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Enosis (Greek: Ένωσις) is the Greek term for "union." During the time when Cyprus was a British colony (1878-1960), and since Cypriot independence, the word has generally referred to a proposed union between the island of Cyprus and Greece. Similar movements had previously developed in other Hellenic regions such as Crete and the Dodecanese, resulting in the incorporation of these areas into the Greek state.
The enosist movement was the natural outgrowth of national awareness of the Hellenic population of Cyprus that made up the overwhelming majority of the population of the island coupled with the growth of the anticolonial movement amongst the people of Cyprus. In fact the anti-colonial movement in Cyprus was identified to the enosist movement, enosis being, in the minds of the Hellenic population of Cyprus, the only natural outcome of the liberation of the Cypriot people from British rule.
In a referendum held under the initiative of the Cypriot Orthodox Church, over 98% of the Greek population of Cyprus voted in favour of ridding Cyprus of British rule and the unifying the island to the independent Greek state.
In 1955, the guerrilla movement EOKA was formed in Cyprus in order to end British rule and unite the island with Greece. However, faced by an immediate threat of the British administration of partitioning the island of Cyprus between Turkey and Greece, the Greek Cypriots and the leadership of the Greece were forced into accepting the formation of a fragile independence for Cyprus in 1960, and the Republic of Cyprus was set up.
The first Cyprus President Makarios III as well as all Greek Cypriot political groups representing the whole of the political spectrum, continued after independence to advocate enosis as just and natural. The Cypriot leadership, however, gradually recognised enosis as politically unfeasible. During the presidential campaign for the 1968 elections, Makarios said that enosis was "wishable" whereas independence was "possible". This differentiated him from the hardline pro-enosis elements which formed EOKA-B and participated in a coup against him in 1974. The coup was sponsored by the military dictatorship of Greece, which triggered the Turkish invasion of Cyprus and resulted in partition of Cyprus and massive population transfers. Today, enosis is not officially supported in Cypriot politics.[citation needed]
