The Presidential Guard Unit () is responsible for the protection of the

President of Cyprus The president of Cyprus, officially the president of the Republic of Cyprus, is the head of state and the head of government of Cyprus, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Cypriot National Guard. The office was established by the Constitu ...

and his family. It was officially established in 1979 and is part of the

Cyprus Police The Cyprus Police (, ''i''), is the national police service of the Republic of Cyprus, falling under the Ministry of Justice and Public Order since 1993. The duties and responsibilities of the Cyprus police are set out in the amended Police La ...

History

Though the Presidential Guard was only officially established in 1979, the President of Cyprus (And others placed under their protection), has always had his personal protection detail and was especially active between 1970 and 1974 in which multiple attempts against Makarios' life were made. On March 8, 1970, Makarios was going to go from the

Archdiocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...

to Machairas Monastery to commemorate Grigoris Afxentiou, an

EOKA The Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston (EOKA ; ) was a Greek Cypriot nationalist guerrilla organization that fought a campaign for the end of Cyprus#Cyprus under the British Empire, British rule in Cyprus, and for enosis, eventual union with K ...

hero who was burned by the British after a botched raid of his cave. Due to the fact that there had been intelligence that an attempt on his life would happen at the Monastery, the Presidential Guard increased security there but not at the Archbishops Palace thus leaving Makarios exposed and as such, on the 8th, as Makarios' helicopter took off from the Archbishops palace, the helicopter was met with automatic gunfire by a group of people on the roof of the

Pancyprian Gymnasium The Pancyprian Gymnasium (), is the oldest still operational Lyceum, high school in Cyprus, founded in 1812. History In the location of the current school, an older school existed, established in 1753 known as Ellinomouseion (). The ''Pancypri ...

with his helicopter pilot being hit but managing to land the helicopter safely and the attempt as a consequence failing. On July 15, 1974, the

Cypriot National Guard The National Guard of Cyprus (), also known as the Greek Cypriot National Guard or simply the National Guard, is the military force of the Republic of Cyprus. It consists of air, land, sea and special forces elements, and is highly integrated wit ...

with small elements of EOKA B executed a coup against President Makarios and one of the main objectives was the takeover of the

Presidential Palace A presidential palace is the official residence of the president in some countries. Some presidential palaces were once the official residences to monarchs in former monarchies that were preserved during those states' transition into republics. ...

and the assassination of Makarios. Armoured units and special forces got into a heavy gunfight with the presidential guard and in the meantime, Makarios, alongside his detail, managed to escape through a backdoor and was escorted by his detail to

Paphos Paphos, also spelled as Pafos, is a coastal city in southwest Cyprus and the capital of Paphos District. In classical antiquity, two locations were called Paphos: #Old Paphos, Old Paphos, today known as Kouklia, and #New Paphos, New Paphos. It i ...

and the next day was airlifted to

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

by the

British Armed Forces The British Armed Forces are the unified military, military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its British Overseas Territories, Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests ...

. The post

invasion An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory (country subdivision), territory controlled by another similar entity, ...

period has been mostly peaceful with regards to the Presidential Guard's duties but there have been isolated incidents of alleged attempts against Cypriot presidents, one of which being when Antonis Fanieros (A Cypriot businessman who didn't get along well with Clerides) entered the yacht (After allegedly being told by friends of his in the

Police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

) belonging to then-President

Glafcos Clerides Glafcos Ioannou Clerides (; 24 April 1919 – 15 November 2013) was a Cypriot statesman, who served as President of Cyprus in 1974 and from 1993 to 2003. A barrister and former Royal Air Force pilot, Clerides played an important role in the ...

and being arrested by the Presidential Guard for allegedly attempting to assassinate the President, something which Faniero denied.

References

{{Cyprus Police Police, Presidential Guard 1979 establishments in Cyprus

History

See also

References