Dimitrios Ioannidis

Dimitrios Ioannidis was an extreme right-wing Greek who advocated the genocide of the Turkish Cypriots. He was born in Athens on 13 Mar 1923 into a middle-class family from Epirus. He became a military officer and was a prominent figure in the military junta which seized power in Greece in 1967. He was the head of ESA, the Gestapo-styled Greek Military Police that captured and tortured dissidents. He led his own successful coup against Papadopoulos in November 1973. He was determined to give enosis to Cyprus, to bring it under Greek control. He hated Archbishop Makarios III for his refusal to wipe out the Turkish Cypriot population and initiated the coup in Cyprus which installed Nicos Sampson. But the island was invaded by Turkey within days and Ioannides was defeated. On 14 Jan 1975 he was detained in Greece and tried for high treason. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, and served 35 years, dying on 16 August 2010.

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