Greeks make up about 80% of the total population of the Republic of Cyprus. Most of them are Orthodox Christians , flocks of the Cypriot Orthodox Church . Following Cyprus gaining independence in 1960 and the coming to power of Archbishop Macarius III , accession to Greece became a key issue for Greek Cypriots over the following decades. As a result, this led to the armed invasion of Turkey on the island in 1974 and the occupation of northern Cyprus . As a result of these actions, Cyprus was split into two parts - Greek and Turkish, and therefore many Greeks had to leave their homes in Northern Cyprus and move either to the south of the island or to other countries of Europe . Despite this division, in 2004 Cyprus joined the European Union , which considers it a holistic country [1] .
