Formation of The Akritas Plan
Leaders of the Greek Cypriots had expressed their disapproval with the constitution and of their failure to achieve Enosis (union with Greece). A plan of action was required to firstly alter regime (where power and government positions were given on the criteria of religion, instead of qualifications), to declare a referendum, and according to the result to achieve Enosis. It was called the Akritas plan.
The Akritas plan was drawn by the minister of the interior who was a close associate of the Greek Cypriot leader Archbishop Makarios, although there is no evidence that Makarios advocated the Akritas plan. The plan’s course of action was to firstly persuade the world community that too many rights had been given to the Turkish Cypriots and the constitution had to be re-written if the government was to be workable. Britain and the USA had to be convinced that the Turkish Cypriots need have nothing to fear from Greek Cypriot political dominance of the island. The next step of the plan was to cancel international treaties that existed to safeguard the republic. If a way could be found to legally dissolve the treaties, then Union with Greece would be possible. The Treaties and Guarantees had been put into place by Britain, Greece and Turkey, they existed to safeguard the Republic and to protect the rights of the Greek and Turkish Cypriots. The plan stated that if the Turkish Cypriots objected the changes and "attempted to block them by force," then they should be ‘’violently subjugated before foreign powers could intervene’’.
In November 1963, the Greek Cypriot leader Makarios made a 13 point proposal to make the constitution more workable, these were rejected by the Turkish Cypriot Leadership on December the 16, 1963, which said that the proposed amendments would undermine the constitution and weaken the Turkish Cypriot wing of the government.
Between 21–22 December 1963 up to 133 Turkish Cypriots were killed by Greek Cypriots in what became known by Turkish Cypriots as Bloody Christmas (1963). About a quarter of the Turkish Cypriots, some 25,000 or so, subsequently fled their homes and lands and moved into enclaves.
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