Northern Cyprus: Social Resistance Day

In the 1950s an armed campaign for enosis — the union of Cyprus with Greece — began on the island, threatening the very existence of the Turkish Cypriots. In response the Turkish Cypriots organised their own defence; 1 August 1958 is regarded as the founding date of the Turkish Resistance Organisation (TMT).

Communal resistance, led by figures such as Dr. Fazıl Küçük and Rauf Denktaş, became a symbol of the Turkish Cypriots' will to live on their own land and preserve their identity, and the struggle later paved the way to their own state.

The holiday

1 August is celebrated in the TRNC as Communal Resistance Day, with ceremonies at the TMT monument and martyrs' cemeteries in Lefkoşa, tributes to the veterans of the struggle, and events in schools and cultural centres.