PEKA, the Political Committee of the Cypriot Struggle (), was the political wing of the

EOKA The Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston (EOKA; ; el, Εθνική Οργάνωσις Κυπρίων Αγωνιστών, lit=National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters) was a Greek Cypriot Greek Cypriots or Cypriot Greeks ( el, Ελληνο� ...

movement which fought against the British and Turkish Cypriots for the union 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 geo ...

with

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

between 1955 and 1959. It was founded in the summer of 1956 with the specific aims to: 1. Co-ordinate the political and military struggle. 2. Raise the morale of the Greek-Cypriot people. 3. Enlighten world public opinion as to the struggle, its origin and its aims. 4. Keep Greek-Cypriots united in their demand for

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 ...

. PEKA published numerous leaflets with the goal of 'public enlightenment' and morale boosting, written by and for Greek Cypriots, and encouraged resistance against the British colonial forces led by

Field Marshal Harding Field Marshal Allan Francis Harding, 1st Baron Harding of Petherton, (10 February 1896 – 20 January 1989), known as John Harding, was a senior British Army officer who fought in both the First World War and the Second World War, served in th ...

. Harding censored the local press and censored and fined the leaflet distributors before resigning as Governor of Cyprus in later 1957. PEKA was first headed by Renos Lysiotis, who was succeeded by Michalis Maratheftis, and finally in 1958 by

Tassos Papadopoulos Efstathios "Tassos" Nikolaou Papadopoulos ( el, Ευστάθιος (Τάσσος) Νικολάου Παπαδόπουλος; 7 January 1934 – 12 December 2008) was a Cypriot politician and barrister who served as the fifth president of Cyp ...

, former President of Cyprus.

References

EOKA {{Cyprus-poli-stub