Archbishop Makarios III of Cyprus has become…

Archbishop Makarios III of Cyprus has become identified with the movement for enosis (union with Greece), the archbishop of Cyprus having traditionally played an important political role during the Turkish occupation as ethnarch, or head of the Greek Christian community.

Opposing the British government's proposals for independence or Commonwealth status, as well as Turkish pressures for partition in order to safeguard the island's sizable Turkish population, Makarios meets with Greek prime minister Papagos in February 1954 and gains Greek support for enosis.