The National Popular Front (also known as the National People's Front; el, Εθνικό Λαϊκό Μέτωπο (), ''Ethniko Laiko Metopo'' (ELAM)) is a far-right,

ultranationalist Ultranationalism or extreme nationalism is an extreme form of nationalism in which a country asserts or maintains detrimental hegemony, supremacy, or other forms of control over other nations (usually through violent coercion) to pursue its sp ...

movement (and later, political party), founded in 2008 in the

Republic of Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

. It describes its ideology as "popular and social nationalism". As of May 2011, it has been approved as a legal

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

. On 28 December 2010, ELAM organised a march against Turkish Cypriots and migrants.Antifascist Initiative
Press release condemning the Hate March at Larnaca
KISA, Retrieved 2011-05-16. ELAM is a Eurosceptic political party which also praises Greek former prime minister

Ioannis Metaxas Ioannis Metaxas (; el, Ιωάννης Μεταξάς; 12th April 187129th January 1941) was a Greek military officer and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Greece from 1936 until his death in 1941. He governed constitutionally for t ...

.Πισώπλατη μαχαιριά της Ε.Ε στην Κύπρο! Ερντογάν: “Ανοίγει το 17 Κεφάλαιο των ενταξιακών”
, ELAM 30-11-2015
, ELAM 28-01-2016 It was also accused of supporting Neo-Nazism, due to its past connections with the Golden Dawn.

Background

Prior to the official formation of the National Popular Front, the organisation existed under the name "Golden Dawn: Cypriot Kernel". The kernel was established in late 2000, and was led by the current ELAM president Christos Christou, who was an active member of the Golden Dawn political party in Greece. The kernel attempted to register as a political party with the same name, but the name was rejected by the state's authorities, resulting in the use of the name "National Popular Front" as an alternative.

Electoral results

President of Cyprus The president of Cyprus, officially the president of the Republic of Cyprus, is the head of state and the head of government of Cyprus. The office was created in 1960, after Cyprus gained its independence from the United Kingdom. Currently, t ...

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

Program

The party's 2011 manifesto proclaims that the party promotes a strict anti-federalist line concerning the Cyprus dispute, a zero-toleration anti-immigration policy concerning illegal immigration, a strict Greek-centered public education to counter the "slavery of globalization"; and an energy policy that would take full advantage of Cyprus' exclusive economic zone. In 2019, The Party submitted a bill seeking to impose a ban on all Muslim headgear in public spaces, including schools.

Violence involving ELAM

The party has been the subject of controversy in the Cypriot media and the broader political scene. It has been repeatedly accused of promoting racism and being involved in acts of violence. In July 2010, it was reported that after the condemnation ceremonies against the Turkish invasion of 1974 on 20 July, people with ELAM T-shirts attacked a Nigerian man in Makariou street in Nicosia. On 19 March 2011, eyewitnesses reported that members of ELAM beat up a lottery seller in Lidras street in Nicosia after a disagreement in political views. Furthermore, it was reported that eight ELAM members, one of which ranked as a second lieutenant in the

Cypriot National Guard , name2 = National Guard General Staff , image = Emblem of the Cypriot National Guard.svg , image_size = 100px , caption = Emblem of the National Guard of Cyprus , image2 = Flag of the ...

, were arrested by the police in connection to an attack against university students during the student elections of the

University of Nicosia The University of Nicosia was established in 1980 and its main campus is located in Nicosia, the capital city of Cyprus. It also runs study centres in Athens, Bucharest and New York. The University comprises the School of Business, School o ...

on 6 December 2011. In addition, local newspaper ''

Haravgi ''Haravgi'' ( el, Χαραυγή / "Dawn") is a Greek language newspaper published in Cyprus since 1956. It is one of the largest newspapers on the island and is affiliated to AKEL, the Progressive Party of Working People.{{cite book , last1=Ch ...

'' reported that on 11 May 2012, a second lieutenant was found training ELAM members in shooting

mortars Mortar may refer to: * Mortar (weapon), an indirect-fire infantry weapon * Mortar (masonry), a material used to fill the gaps between blocks and bind them together * Mortar and pestle, a tool pair used to crush or grind * Mortar, Bihar, a villag ...

in a National Guard's shooting ground. The

Ministry of Defense {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

confirmed that an officer had been charged for calling a non-authorized person for shooting in a shooting ground, but specified that it was a

rifle shooting Shooting sports is a group of competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms ( firearms and airguns, in forms suc ...

. The Ministry made no comment on possible political connections to the incident. On 26 March 2014, ELAM members attempted to interrupt and stop a reunification conference in Limassol, in which one of the speakers was the

Turkish Cypriot Turkish Cypriots or Cypriot Turks ( tr, Kıbrıs Türkleri or ''Kıbrıslı Türkler''; el, Τουρκοκύπριοι, Tourkokýprioi) are ethnic Turks originating from Cyprus. Following the Ottoman conquest of the island in 1571, about 30,0 ...

politician

Mehmet Ali Talat Mehmet Ali Talat (born 6 July 1952) is a Turkish Cypriot politician who served as the president of Northern Cyprus from 2005 to 2010. Talat was the leader of the social democratic Republican Turkish Party ( tr, Cumhuriyetçi Türk Partisi, CTP) ...

. It was reported that members of ELAM broke through the police lines, broke a window and threw a flare in the conference hall, while a Turkish Cypriot journalist was slightly injured. ELAM was protesting against the presence of Mehmet Ali Talat in the conference, calling him a "war criminal". ELAM has officially opposed its association with the incidents mentioned, stating that no ELAM members have been convicted for the specific crimes that its members have been accused of. It further accused the media and other organisations for intentionally connecting the movement with the incidents, in order to damage its public image.

Past connections with Golden Dawn

ELAM had been openly connected with Greek far-right political party Golden Dawn, which it described in the past as a "brother movement". Members and supporters of ELAM celebrated in the streets after the Greek legislative electoral results of May 2012, which gave Golden Dawn representation in the Greek parliament for the first time. The party officially congratulated the leader of Golden Dawn,

Nikolaos Michaloliakos Nikolaos G. Michaloliakos ( el, Νικόλαος Γ. Μιχαλολιάκος, ; born 11 December 1957) is a Greek politician and convicted criminal. He is the founder and leader of the far-right party Golden Dawn. In October 2020, he and 67 oth ...

, for their electoral success. ELAM's anti-occupation march against the ongoing Turkish occupation that was held on 20 July 2012 at

Ledra Palace The Ledra Palace Hotel is located in central Nicosia, Cyprus, and until 1974 was one of the largest and most glamorous hotels of the capital. The hotel was designed by the German Jewish architect Benjamin Günsberg and was built between 1947 and ...

was also attended by Golden Dawn MP Polibios Zisimopoulos, who was invited by ELAM and gave a speech concerning the Greek economic crisis and the Turkish occupation of Cyprus. In late December of 2012, ELAM announced its candidate Georgios Charalambous; for the upcoming presidential elections; in the presence of two notable members of Golden Dawn, Giannis Lagos and

Ilias Kasidiaris Ilias P. Kasidiaris ( el, Ηλίας Π. Κασιδιάρης; born 30 November 1980) is a Greek politician and founder of the political party Greeks for the Fatherland and author. He was a member of the Greek parliament, and one of the former l ...

. It was reported that in the presentation Ilias Kasidiaris stated that "ELAM and Golden Dawn are not simply brother parties" and that "ELAM is the Golden Dawn of Cyprus". In October 2013 Greek Golden Dawn MPs Ilias Kasidiaris and Artemis Matheopoulos stated that ELAM is being financed by Golden Dawn. In June 2020, ELAM explained it had officially cut ties with Golden Dawn. Its leader cited that the party was following its own strategy, acting independently.