Makarios biography
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It was the only elective job allowed under British rule and it meant that, like so many of his predecessors under foreign rule — notably that of the Ottomans — he also assumed the role of Ethnarch, or national leader.
Unsurprisingly, Britain viewed him as the political leader of a Greek Cypriot struggle to end its colonial rule. On September 18, 1950, Bp.
Makarios, at the age of 37, was elected to succeed to the see of Archbishop and Ethnarch of Cyprus as Makarios III. As ethnarch, Abp. Makarios became the de facto national leader of the Greek community of Cyprus in British controlled Cyprus, placing him at the center of Cypriot politics.
The Eoka campaign was accompanied by wide-scale civil disobedience.
Makarios negotiated with the island’s British governor but when these talks proved fruitless, he was arrested for sedition in March 1956 and exiled to the Seychelles.
Many Greek Cypriots, meanwhile, quit the police force, either in solidarity with Eoka or because of intimidation by it.
In the spring of 1948, Fr. Makarios was advised that he had been elected bishop of Kition and was asked to return to Cyprus. By the time he began to address Turkish Cypriot concerns he had already lost their confidence.
Abroad, opinion was also mixed, although no-one doubted he was charismatic. Regardless of what people thought of him, Makarios' leadership created an identity for Cypriots that went beyond being Greek or Turkish.
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Turkey rejected the proposed changes, as did the Turkish Cypriots, who saw them as an attempt to undermine their political power in the Republic.Violent clashes erupted in December 1963 and a dividing ‘green line’ was established in Nicosia.
Makarios quickly became involved in the movement for “enosis”, the desire of the Greek Cypriots for an end to British rule and union of Cyprus with Greece. The occupied territories ultimately became the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" - a state which only Turkey recognises. He thought Makarios a “stinker of the first order”, according to a US diplomatic cable.
Life
The future Abp. Makarios III was born Mihail Christodoulou Mouskos on August 13, 1913, into a family of a goatherd in the village of Ano Panayia in western Cyprus. In future, Cyprus would need to consist of two units, with the Turkish Cypriots enjoying a large degree of autonomy.
Following Makarios’ death in August 1977, some 250,000 Greek Cypriot mourners filed past his coffin.
Archbishop Makarios II
Archbishop Makarios III of Cyprus became the nation's first President when Britain granted the island independence in 1959.
Greek Cypriots alone were represented in the government, which was recognised internationally as the island’s only legitimate authority. A four-year armed insurrection was launched in April 1955 by a right-wing underground guerilla organisation, Eoka (the National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters) led by General George Grivas, a Cypriot-born Greek army officer.
Greece was forced to bring home thousands of its troops and to recall Grivas: this was, in effect, proof that Athens would not be able to come the aid of Greek Cypriots in any showdown with Turkey.
Makarios now accepted that enosis was not possible for as long as Turkey was determined to prevent it and declared that while union with Greece was desirable it was not feasible in the prevailing circumstances.
He became a symbol for those looking to ending colonial rule in sub-saharan Africa. He then began to use his unique legitimacy as the Greek Cypriots’ spiritual and temporal leader to wean his community away from the notion of enosis: independence was the only practical solution.
Uniting with a Greece ruled by a right-wing military dictatorship that had seized power in a coup in Athens the previous year held little appeal for most Greek Cypriots, not least followers of the large communist party, Akel, whose support Makarios enjoyed.
He proved to be an excellent student. Many of its members were Makarios loyalists who had been in the original Eoka in the 1950s and used their experience against Eoka B. Surprise raids on its hideouts led to many arrests.
Makarios’ enemies in Athens were no match for him at the political level. The Diocese of Kition was one of four sees of the Church of Cyprus.
He was reelected in 1968 and 1973, with overwhelming majorities. When Turkey invades the island it precipitates the fall of the Junta in Athens. Makarios also enjoyed the support of Cyprus’ large communist party, Akel.
In June 1950, the Archbishop of Cyprus, Makarios II, reposed.