Inter-communal conflicts 1958
The 1958 inter-communal conflicts between the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots were caused due to the pre-existing Greek Cypriots’ wish for official union (énosis) with Greece and the subsequent Turkish Cypriot pursuit of partition, known as taksim. During the EOKA 1955-59 struggle against the British rule and pro the official union with Greece, the adversary eventually turned out to include the Turkish Cypriots. The reason given was because the British conscripted Turkish Cypriots into the police force that patrolled Cyprus. Although sporadic conflicts between the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots had started from 1956, they exploded in 1958. That year the Turkish Cypriots rioted in Nicosia with an aim of persuading the British authorities that the taksim would be the only viable solution for the two communities. The riot turned into a bloody conflict between the two ethnic communities with losses in both sides.