Terrorism has been and continues to be a significant issue in the world today. The nationalistic and endemic terror groups create anti-imperialistic waves in their home country and use terror campaigns to target security forces. The Anti-colonial terror group in Cyprus is one example of a long-term nationalistic and endemic terror group whereby the young Cypriot groups have different attitudes and hostilities towards each other (Leonard, 2013). Commonly known as the National Organization of Cypriot Fighters (EOKA), the nationalistic and endemic terror group fought against British, France, Russian Federation, and Turkey in smaller groups of the Kenyan Mau Mau Movement, the Algerian National Liberation Front, Chechens rebels, and Kurdish Workers Party.
National Organization of Cypriot Fighters (EOKA)
EOKA is a controversial terror group that is considered a heroic movement that brought about the liberation of Cyprus from British rule. AKEL, Cyprus’ Communist Party was against the terror group due to its violent methods of making things happen, and yet it preferred strikes and demonstrations to set up unity with Greece (Voeltz, 2017). According to Voeltz (2017), part of the group’s initial agenda was to attack the Cypriots from Turkey who did not want Cyprus taken over by Greece since the memoirs of the fighters show that at times the group targeted Greek and Turkish Cypriots who were in support of the British presence. For that reason, EOKA’s attacks were targeting the British government and its rule.
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The British rule in Kenya also brought about economic problems to the country resulting in the uprising or the Mau Mau rebellion in 1952. The loss of financial independence angered Kenyans especially the Kikuyu who then formed the Mau Mau Rebellion to fight the White settlers in the state. According to Voeltz (2017), the British Empire conquered, oppressed, and subjugated millions of people in various countries across the globe. Moreover, the British Empire through danger films tried to appeal to the American nations by playing the Empire’s ideal as that which upholds and protects the western values clear on various cultural, political, and social fronts (Voeltz, 2017). As a result, the British authorities portrayed the Mau Mau as a primitive tribal reaction to modernization, but Kenyans knew that they were fighting for economic freedom.
EOKA also formed smaller groups in other African regions like Algeria and Chechnya which were fighting against the rule by white settlers in the areas. During this time, journalists were reluctant to take sides as there was oppression even against the freedom of the press (Antoniades, 2018). The Algerian National Liberation Front was formed to fight against the French colonies as the French colonial government mistreated Algerians resulting in dissatisfaction in their own country. At the same time, the Chechen nationalist and Islamist forces fought against the Russian government to gain independence from Russian troops but have not yet managed to break free from the oppressive rule. These African nations formed EOKA groups to fight nationalistic wars and win freedom from the ruling countries.
Conclusion
EOKA was a Greek Cypriot resistance group that fought to free Cyprus from British Sovereignty by attracting the world public opinion and support to the cause through popular passive resistance, armed attacks against troops, and sabotage against the British installations. Oppressed nations formed smaller nationalistic groups to fight for their freedom and save its people from political and economic problems. Most of them have succeeded in the fight while only a few nations are still fighting on for independence.
References
Antoniades, E. (2018). The Liberation struggle in Cyprus and the Greek Cypriot Press. Media History , 24 (3/4), 514–527.
Leonard, M. (2013). Young people’s perspectives on conflict, reconciliation and reunification in Cyprus. Children’s Geographies , 11 (3), 326–339.
Voeltz, R. A. (2017). In Service of Empire and Heart: Dirk Bogarde, Cyprus, and The High Bright Sun (1965). Interdisciplinary Humanities , 34 (2), 59–73.
