Battle of Omorphita

On December 21, 1963, Greek Cypriot police officers stopped two Turkish Cypriots in their vehicles near the Turkish quarter of the Nicosia city and requested they present their IDs, the two refused and soon a crowd of Turks began gathering, and two people were shot and killed.^[2][3] Soon after, as news of this event began spreading, almost the entire island erupted in chaos with organizations on both sides beginning to fire and get into battle positions.^[4]

Omorphita was a majority Turkish Cypriot town at the time of these events and as a result of this, at the beginning of the fighting between the two sides, they held a considerable advantage in terms of strength against the Greek Cypriots in the area.^[5][6]

The siege began on the 23 of December 1963 when Turkish paramilitaries, mainly belonging to TMT began firing on the Greek Cypriots in the area and (later) with aid from the Cyprus Turkish Regiment, tried to overrun the Greek outposts which were being held by an officer of the Cypriot Army (Predecessor of the Cypriot National Guard), Lieutenant Giorgios Olympiou and his volunteers of around 36 men.^[7][8][9]

The Turkish Cypriot attack was heavy and encircled the Greek fighters and by the evening, their ammunition was running low and as such, a message was communicated to the Greek headquarters that Olympious men were in dire need of assistance.^[10]

On December 24, under the leadership of EOKA veteran Nikos Sampson, and in coordination with Lieutenant Georgios Olympiou, Sampson organised a team of around 41 men (including himself) and they began to move towards the town to aid Olympiou and his volunteers of around 36 men.^[11] There was heavy fighting on that day and by December 25–26, after the Turkish Air Force flew over the island using F-104 Starfighters and F-100 Super Sabres, the Greek paramilitaries had successfully forced the Turkish military and fighters to leave the area.^{[12][13][14][15]}