Information AboutEnosis |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT ENOSIS | |
| nationalist movements in europe | |
| eoka struggle 1955-1959 | |
| foreign relations of greece | |
| foreign relations of turkey | |
| cyprus dispute | |
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''Enosis'' ( (i.e country of origin). It should be borne in mind that the term "union" in the context of the ''Enosis'' movement is used somewhat inaccurately, as what was actually sought was the full annexation of the island to Greece, and not the creation of a union of political entities in the sense of the UK, the USA, the EU or the USSR. Similar movements had previously developed in other regions with ethnic Greek majorities such as Crete and the Dodecanese . These regions were eventually incorporated into the Greek state. The enosist movement was the natural outgrowth of national awareness among the ethnically Greek population of Cyprus (around 80% http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-3504.html between 1882 and 1960), coupled with the growth of the anti-colonial movement throughout the British empire after the Second World War. 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 Ottoman rule and later the British rule. A string of British proposals for local autonomy under continued British suzerainty were roundly rejected. Enosis was put to a referendum held under the initiative of the Cypriot Orthodox Church . The referendum was boycotted by the sizable Greek-Cypriot Left, as well as the Turkish Cypriot population. Among the rest, over 98% voted in favor of extracting the island from the British Empire and annexing it to the Kingdom of Greece. In 1955, the guerrilla movement EOKA was formed in Cyprus in order to end British rule and annex the island to Greece. It was gradually recognized, however, that ''enosis'' was politically unfeasible due to the presence of the Turkish community and its increasing assertiveness. Instead, the creation of an independent state with elaborate power-sharing arrangements among the two communities was agreed upon in 1960, and the fragile Republic Of Cyprus was born. The idea of ''enosis'' was not immediately abandoned, though. During the presidential campaign for the 1968 elections, Makarios said that ''enosis'' was "desirable" 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 the partition of Cyprus and massive Population Transfers . The coup and subsequent events seriously undermined the ''enosis'' movement. The ethnic homogeneity of the Republic of Cyprus which resulted after partition further eroded support for annexation to Greece, as the Greek Cypriot population started to strongly identify with the new polity "of the people, by the people, for the people". Enosis is nowadays no longer advocated by any mainstream political group. SEE ALSO |
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