The beginning of the armed Eoka struggle in 1955 was a “new era for Cypriot Hellenism,” President Nikos Christodoulides said on Saturday inaugurating the 70 Years of Eoka 1955-1959 exhibition in Nicosia.

“[I am] proud of our ancestors, of the people of our homeland, who, literally and figuratively burning with love for freedom and the Union with Greece and defying all danger and hesitation, joined the struggle and generously offered their services,” he said.

The exhibition, organised by the government Press and Information Office (PIO), features archived newspapers, photographs and other artefacts dating back to the period in which Eoka was active, many of which are on public display for the first time.

“The struggle of Eoka 55-59 may not have led to the coveted union with Greece, but it did bring about the most valuable asset to date, our statehood, our greatest bargaining power, the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus,” Christodoulides said.

He said the displayed materials made visitors feel the “accumulated resentment” from decades of foreign occupation after WWII, which marked a period of “decolonisation” for the island.


“[You feel the people’s] disappointment, as their demands for self-determination and union with Greece were rejected again and again,” he said, emphasising that the memories of the Eoka period had been passed on for generations.

He praised Eoka and its fighters, including Kyriakos Matsis, Gregoris Afxentiou, Markos Drakos, Evagoras Pallikarides, referring to them as “seeds in the land of Cyprus which bore fruit in its freedom and independence.”

In view of the agreement by the island’s two leaders to have a joint meeting with UN envoy Maria Holguin next month, the president was keen to emphasise that the exhibition in no way undermined current efforts to resolve the Cyprus problem.

“Because the viability, the functionality of a possible solution goes to a very large extent through respect for the historical identity of each person and certainly not through self-abolition. We therefore have a moral obligation and duty to support and maintain our mental faith and endurance,” he said.

Eoka’s declared primary objective was to fight British colonial rule, which eventually came to an end with the declaration of independence of the Republic of Cyprus in 1960.

The 70 Years of Eoka 1955-1959 exhibition opens to the public on Sunday. It will remain open at the old Nicosia Old Town Hall until December 12, and can be visited for free from Monday to Friday 4pm to 7pm and Saturday and Sunday 10am to 6pm.