Greek Cypriot nationalism, also known as Cypriot Hellenism, is a form of ethnic nationalism emphasising the Greekness of the Cypriot nation. It is not the same as Greek nationalism, the main goal of which is the integration of Cyprus into Greecea process known as ''

enosis ''Enosis'' ( el, Ένωσις, , "union") is the movement of various Greek communities that live outside Greece for incorporation of the regions that they inhabit into the Greek state. The idea is related to the Megali Idea, an irredentist conc ...

''. Having abandoned the idea of ''enosis'', Greek Cypriot nationalists now aim to establish a Greek Cypriot-controlled state with close relations to Greece, which they see as their "motherland". Variants of Greek Cypriot nationalism have been espoused across Cyprus' political spectrum by the centre-left

Movement for Social Democracy The Movement for Social Democracy ( el, Κίνημα Σοσιαλδημοκρατών, translit=Kinima Sosialdimokraton, EDEK) is a Greek Cypriot, social-democratic political party in Cyprus. Overview The party was founded by Vasos Lyssaridis i ...

, the centre-right

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

and Democratic Rally, and the right-wing

New Horizons ''New Horizons'' is an Interplanetary spaceflight, interplanetary space probe that was launched as a part of NASA's New Frontiers program. Engineered by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and the Southwest Research ...

, as well as the

Church of Cyprus The Church of Cyprus ( el, Ἐκκλησία τῆς Κύπρου, translit=Ekklisia tis Kyprou; tr, Kıbrıs Kilisesi) is one of the autocephalous Greek Orthodox churches that together with other Eastern Orthodox churches form the communio ...

. The

Turkish invasion of Cyprus 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 Cypriot intercommunal violence, intercommunal violence between Greek Cypriots, Greek and Turkish ...

in 1974 led to an initial marginalisation of Greek Cypriot nationalism and the consequent rise of Cypriotism, in opposition to traditional Greek nationalism; however, the 1981 election of Andreas Papandreou as Prime Minister of Greece with his policies of "nationalising" the Cyprus problem and his February 1982 visit to Cyprus led to a renewal of Greek Cypriot nationalism. In November 1993, Papandreou and President of Cyprus

Glafcos Clerides Glafcos Ioannou Clerides ( el, Γλαύκος Ιωάννου Κληρίδης; 24 April 1919 – 15 November 2013) was a Cypriot politician and barrister who served as the fourth president of Cyprus from 1993 to 2003. At the time of his death, h ...

announced the merging of Greek and Cypriot foreign and defense policies under a new "Joint Defense Space Doctrine", and Cyprus became a member of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

in 2004, which was seen as the best possible alternative to full-blown ''enosis''. Opponents of the move included Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktaş, who called it "''enosis'' through the back door".Christalla Yakinthou, Political Settlements in Divided Societies: Consociationalism and Cyprus, p.203, 2009, quoting Rauf Denktaş Greek Cypriot nationalism and Cypriotism contrasts, with opposing views on the causes and solutions for the

Cyprus dispute The Cyprus problem, also known as the Cyprus dispute, Cyprus issue, Cyprus question or Cyprus conflict, is an ongoing dispute between Greek Cypriots in the south and Turkish Cypriots in the north. Initially, with the Modern history of Cyprus#In ...

, which correspond to rightleft political opposition. The slogan for Greek Cypriot nationalism is "Cyprus is Greek", while Cypriotism's slogan is "Cyprus belongs to its people".

History

The Ottoman Empire ceded administration of Cyprus to the United Kingdom with the secret Cyprus Convention (1878). During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the British formally annexed Cyprus as a

crown colony A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony administered by The Crown within the British Empire. There was usually a Governor, appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the UK Government, with or without the assistance of a local Counci ...

. The 1950 referendum on unification with Greece, organized by the Orthodox Church, with only Greek Cypriot vote eligibility, ended with 96% approval. Greece appealed to the UN in 1954 to apply the right for self-determination on Cyprus. The Cypriot intercommunal violence led UN peacekeeping establishment on the island. The London-Zürich Agreements led to the independence of Cyprus, proclaimed on 16 August 1960. Several coups were staged by Orthodox bishops against Makarios III in March 1972 to July 1973. The

1974 Cypriot coup d'état The 1974 Cypriot coup d'état was a military coup d'état sponsored by the Greek Army in Cyprus, the Cypriot National Guard and the Greek junta, Greek military junta. On 15 July 1974 the coup plotters removed the sitting President of Cyprus, Arch ...

, staged by the Cypriot National Guard and Greek military junta, was successful, but short-lived, as it sparked the

(1974) that led to the fall of the junta and the Turkish occupation of 36.2% of Cyprus' territory. In 1983, the "Turkish Republic of

Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus ( tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs), officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC; tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti, ''KKTC''), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the Geography of Cyprus, isl ...

" was unilaterally declared, but has so far failed to achieve international recognition (it is recognised only by

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

), and has been under a severe international embargo.

Political parties

;Active * Democratic Rally (DISY), centre-right, strongly pro-European and Atlanticist party that includes both Greek-Cypriot nationalist as well as moderate factions that supported the Annan Plan of 2004 , 17/56 seats *

(DIKO), centrist, founded in 1976, 9/56 seats *

(EDEK), left-wing in economic theory and in most social policies but nationalist and hard-line in the Cyprus issue, founded in 1969, 4/56 seats * National Popular Front (ELAM), founded in 2008, 4/56 seats (also strongly Greek nationalist and pro-

Enosis ''Enosis'' ( el, Ένωσις, , "union") is the movement of various Greek communities that live outside Greece for incorporation of the regions that they inhabit into the Greek state. The idea is related to the Megali Idea, an irredentist conc ...

) *

Movement of Ecologists – Citizens' Cooperation The Movement of Ecologists – Citizens' Cooperation (KOSP) ( el, Κίνημα Οικολόγων – Συνεργασία Πολιτών), formerly known as the Ecological and Environmental Movement ( el, Κίνημα Οικολόγων Περι ...

(KOSP), founded in 1996, 3/56 seats * Solidarity Movement, Nationalist and soft eurosceptic, founded in 2016, 0/56 seats ;Defunct * Patriotic Front, active 1959–69, split into United Party, Progressive Front, Progressive Party and Democratic National Party * Progressive Front, active 1970–76, merged into Democratic Rally * Democratic National Party, active 1968–77, merged into Democratic Rally * United Party, active 1969–76, split into Democratic Rally and Democratic Party * European Party, active 2005–15, merged into Solidarity Movement

References

Sources

* * * *

History

Political parties

See also

References

Sources

Further reading