In 1878, the British colonial administration of

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...

raised a

Gendarmerie Wrong info! --> A gendarmerie () is a military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (literally, ...

force, the Cyprus Military Police (CMP), replacing the

Ottoman Ottoman is the Turkish spelling of the Arabic masculine given name Uthman ( ar, عُثْمان, ‘uthmān). It may refer to: Governments and dynasties * Ottoman Caliphate, an Islamic caliphate from 1517 to 1924 * Ottoman Empire, in existence fro ...

local police force of Zaptiehs. The popular designation for members of the new force continued to be "zaptieh". The Zaptiehs' original duties had been almost entirely confined to tax collection under the Ottomans. Under British administration, the role of the CMP was expanded to include guard, escort and prison duties, as well as tackling the high crime rate. In 1879 a new corps called the Cyprus Pioneers was raised to undertake works of public utility. The Cyprus Pioneers played an invaluable part in assisting recover from the disastrous Limassol floods of 1880. Shortly after this, it was decided to integrate the military police and

pioneer Pioneer commonly refers to a settler who migrates to previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land. In the United States pioneer commonly refers to an American pioneer, a person in American history who migrated west to join in settling and dev ...

s into a single force consisting of an establishment of 8 British officers, 9 Cypriot officers, 220 mounted and 473 foot rank and file, governed by a chief commandant and six local commandants responsible for the six administrative districts of Cyprus. By the late 1890s the Cyprus Military Police had become a well-trained force drawn from both the

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities ...

and

Greek Cypriot Greek Cypriots or Cypriot Greeks ( el, Ελληνοκύπριοι, Ellinokýprioi, tr, Kıbrıs Rumları) are the ethnic Greek population of Cyprus, forming the island's largest ethnolinguistic community. According to the 2011 census, 659,115 ...

communities, under the control of a single island-wide command. CMP personnel were housed in barracks under military discipline, with the eight most senior officer positions being filled by secondment from the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...

. The force's personnel were initially predominantly drawn from the minority Turkish Cypriot population, although by 1897, the force claimed to have recruited almost equal number of Greek Cypriots, in line with British

martial race Martial race was a designation which was created by army officials in British India after the Indian Rebellion of 1857, in which they classified each caste as belonging to one of two categories, the 'martial' caste and the 'non-martial' caste. T ...

theory. Mounted zaptiehs, armed with carbines and sabres, were portrayed in contemporary illustrations patrolling rural roads in twos, providing a visible safeguard against property crime in rural areas. A detachment of mounted zaptiehs participated in

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

Diamond Jubilee A diamond jubilee celebrates the 60th anniversary of a significant event related to a person (e.g. accession to the throne or wedding, among others) or the 60th anniversary of an institution's founding. The term is also used for 75th annivers ...

celebrations of 1897, where their fezzes and blue and scarlet

zouave The Zouaves were a class of light infantry regiments of the French Army serving between 1830 and 1962 and linked to French North Africa; as well as some units of other countries modelled upon them. The zouaves were among the most decorated unit ...

-style jackets attracted much attention. By 1907 the zouave uniforms had been replaced by khaki drill for ordinary duties, although the fezzes were retained. Cyprus was annexed by Britain during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, when Turkey entered the war on the side of the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...

, and was declared a British crown colony in 1925. The CMP focused attention on counter-espionage activities during the war, patrolling the extensive coastline. The police force had retained its quasi military governance under the command of Lt-Col. A.E. Gallagher from 1915 until his retirement in 1933. Two years later, the police force reorganised as a civilian "Cyprus Police Force", replacing seconded Army officers with inspectors and commissioners appointed from British and other colonial police forces.

References

British Cyprus Military police by country 1880 establishments in Cyprus 1935 disestablishments in Cyprus Defunct gendarmeries {{Cyprus-stub

See also

References