Cyprus the Archbishop of Cyprus, Kyprianos, and four other bishops. In 1828, modern Greece's first president Ioannis Kapodistrias called for union of Cyprus with Greece, and numerous minor uprisings took place. Reaction to Ottoman misrule led to uprisings by both Greek and Turkish Cypriots, although none were successful. After centuries of neglect by the Turks, the unrelenting poverty of most of the people, and the ever-present tax collectors fuelled Greek nationalism, and by the 20th century idea of "enosis", or union, with newly independent Greece was firmly rooted among Greek Cypriots. Under the Ottoman rule, numeracy, school enrollment and literacy rates
Turkish invasion of Cyprus paramount, and may have further reinforced their division from their Greek Cypriot neighbors. In the early fifties a Greek nationalist group was formed called the "Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston" (EOKA, or "National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters"). Their objective was to drive the British out of the island first, and then to integrate the island with Greece. EOKA wished to remove all obstacles from their path to independence, or union with Greece. The first secret talks for EOKA, as a nationalist organization established to integrate the island with Greece, were started under the chairmanship of Archbishop Makarios III in Athens on