Image Details

David Lees/Corbis

Archbishop Makarios III (1913‒1977), former head of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus, led the Greek Cypriot campaign for enosis (unity with Greece) in the 1950s, when the island was a British colony. In 1960 an independent Republic of Cyprus was established, with Makarios serving as president with a vice-president of Turkish descent. After a period of Christian-Muslim bloodshed, Makarios was overthrown in a coup whose leaders desired unification with Greece. In 1974, to protect Turkish Cypriots, Turkey invaded Cyprus and occupied the northern part of the island, which is now called the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. When the coup collapsed, Makarios resumed the presidency of Greek Cyprus, serving until his death in 1977.