ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the political context wherein the shift from a religious to a national identity occurred. The proportion of Muslim members in both the Legislative and the Executive Councils was heavily criticised by the Greek Cypriot political elite. The Greek Cypriot leaders advocating Enosis called on their Muslim compatriots to support their cause. The National Organization of Cyprus was founded in 1930 by the Church, the Greek Cypriot members of the Legislative Council and other Greek Cypriot representatives. The October Revolt of 1931, also known as Octovriana, is considered to be the major turning point by scholars engaged with the Cyprus issue in the interwar period. In 1927 an imperial Order in Council reorganised the judicial system of Cyprus. Since the end of the Great War there had been two major threats to the British presence on the island: Greek Cypriot nationalist agitation and the potential development of a communist movement in Cyprus.
