1931 Cyprus revolt 1931 Cyprus revolt The 1931 Cyprus revolt or October Events (, "Oktovriana") was an anti-colonial revolt that took place in Cyprus, then a British crown colony, between 21 October and early November 1931. The revolt was spearheaded by Greek Cypriot nationalists who advocated the Enosis (Union) of the island with Greece. The defeat of the rebels led to a period of repressive British rule known as "Palmerocracy" (Παλμεροκρατία), that would last until the beginning of World War II. At the outbreak of the First World War, Cyprus was nominally a part of the Ottoman Empire, while in fact being administered
Turkish invasion of Cyprus later EOKA revived its attempts to achieve the union of Cyprus with Greece. Turkish Cypriots were recruited into the police by the British forces to fight against Greek Cypriots, but EOKA initially did not want to open up a second front against Turkish Cypriots. However, in January 1957, EOKA forces began targeting and killing Turkish Cypriot police deliberately to provoke Turkish Cypriot riots in Nicosia, which diverted the British army's attention away from their positions in the mountains. In the riots, at least one Greek Cypriot was killed and this was presented by the Greek Cypriot leadership as an act