The Cyprus Emergency was a conflict fought between The British and the EOKA rebels from April 1956 to March 1959.

EOKA (The National Organisation For Cypriot Fighters) fought for the unification (Enosis) of the island with Greece and to end British Colonial Rule.  Turkish Cypriots opposed this which resulted the formation of the Turkish Resistance Organisation (TMT) in support of the partition of Cyprus.

The Insurgency began on 1 April 1956 and after a series of incidents the British Governor declared a State of Emergency.

EOKA focussed its activity in urban areas trying to prevent the British finding their hideouts in the Troodos mountains.  By mid 1956, there were 17,000 British servicemen in Cyprus.  Numerous operations were carried out to root out the EOKA guerillas with mixed success.  The advent of the Suez Crisis gave EOKA some respite.  Following the conclusion of the Suez Crisis British troops were redeployed to Cyprus.  By April 1957, the majority of the EOKA leaders had been killed or captured.  With the insurgency seemingly defeated EOKA declared a ceasefire

During the ceasefire EOKA took the opportunity to re-arm and reorganise before stepping up its actions.  In November 1957, EOKA attacked RAF Aktortiri destroying four English Electric Canberras and one De Havilland Venom.  Attacks continued throughout 1958.

Intercommunal and Intracommunal violence escalated in the summer of 1958; there were approximately  55 assassinations by Turks on Greeks and 59 assassinations by Greeks on Turks. A substantial number of Turkish Cypriots were displaced due to the violence.

By the end of 1958, EOKA had been dealt a body blow by the continued exertion of pressure by British Forces.  During the final month of 1958 all parties favoured a compromise.  Greek Cypriots were concerned that partition of the island was becoming more likely, Greece was concerned about war with Turkey and the British could see that the defeat of EOKA was unlikely and did not wish to see NATO destabilised by a Greek-Turkish war.

The Emergency ended in March 1959 with the signing of the London-Zurich agreements establishing the independent Republic of Cyprus.

In the course of the conflict, in addition to the resident casualties and deaths, 371 of the British 
military lost their lives, as did 21 British police officers.