Cyprus of Turkish territory. Meanwhile, by 1964, "enosis" was a Greek policy that could not be abandoned; Makarios and the Greek prime minister Georgios Papandreou agreed that "enosis" should be the ultimate aim and King Constantine wished Cyprus "a speedy union with the mother country". Greece dispatched 10,000 troops to Cyprus to counter a possible Turkish invasion. On 15 July 1974, the Greek military junta under Dimitrios Ioannides carried out a coup d'état in Cyprus, to unite the island with Greece. The coup ousted president Makarios III and replaced him with pro-enosis nationalist Nikos Sampson. In response to the coup, five
Rugby union in Greece national team participating in the European Nations Cup in 2005, and the establishment of annual league competitions from 2005 to the present. This is partly due to pressure from rugby league in Greece which has started aggressive recruitment in recent years, and has set up a national team composed mostly of Greek Australians, managed by Colin Mylonas, himself an Australian. Although rugby union has a much longer history in Greece, the Greek Rugby League was set up in 2003. The domestic championship began in 2005–06 and has been dominated by Athens RFC who won the first four championships. In 2005–06