Polycarpos Giorkatzis

Though Giorkatzis planned and executed an operation to assassinate the President of the Republic, and though his role in this has been acknowledged by the courts, the yearly church service in his memory is attended by prominent figures among the Greek Cypriot political leadership and at least one street has been named after him. A museum honoring the most distinguished aspects of his life is active in his birthplace in Palaichori, formally opened in 2002 by the then President Glafkos Clerides.

In 1970, juntist Greek officers of the National Guard in Cyprus planned a coup against Makarios (Operation Hermes). They approached Giorkatzis, who was still sidelined after his resignation, but continued to command a deep network inside the state, and the police force in particular. They asked him to plan and execute the assassination of Makarios which was intended to spark off unrest, so that the National Guard could then intervene and "restore order". Giorkatzis agreed to co-operate.

In 1968, Giorkatzis offered assistance to Alekos Panagoulis, a Greek political activist (and later politician), who opposed the rise of the military junta in Greece, in his attempted assassination of dictator Georgios Papadopoulos on 13 August 1968. Panagoulis was arrested shortly after the failure of the attempt. It is not likely Giorkatzis was acting out of ideology. It is much more probable that he attempted to use Panagoulis as part of some greater plan, since there were growing signs of disagreement between the government of Cyprus under President and Archbishop Makarios and the military junta in Greece. What is known is that Giorkatzis simultaneously attempted to ship explosives and weapons to Greece using diplomatic bag prerogatives.

As Minister of the Interior, Giorkatzis quickly became notorious for using the police as his personal army. It is rumoured that he also set up a vast information network. He was also the leader of the underground Greek Cypriot pro-Enosis movement, initially known simply as the Organisation, which later clashed with the Turkish Cypriot TMT in the intercommunal strife which began in December 1963. Giorkatzis' code name in the Organisation was "Akritas", another name for the legendary Byzantine hero Digenis, an obvious link to the pseudonym of EOKA leader Georgios Grivas. Giorkatzis is alleged to have authored the so-called Akritas plan (plan of action in case of clashes between the Greek and Turkish communities in Cyprus). The document became famous after it was leaked to the press, and acquired its popular name from the codename signed under it. With Glafkos Clerides he established the first centre right party of Cyprus, attracting many of the EOKA members in its ranks.

Following the first elections in 1960, Archbishop Makarios III, officially swapped the ministries between the two men. Typically for the ex-EOKA ministers in Makarios' first Council of Ministers, Giorkatzis was very young at the time, aged 29. He also had no higher education.

Giorkatzis joined the ranks of EOKA, the Greek Cypriot organization fighting against British rule in Cyprus, in his twenties and assumed the nom de guerre Laertes. He became regional commander of EOKA operations in Nicosia. He was nicknamed "Houdini" in reference to his several successful escapes including from the Nicosia hospital on 31 August 1956 and from Nicosia Central Prisons on 2 May 1958. After the end of the struggle he claimed to have been tortured whilst held captive by the colonial security forces.

Polykarpos Giorkatzis (Greek: Πολύκαρπος Γιωρκάτζης (locally [poˈlikaɾ̥poz‿ʝoɾ̥ˈkat͡ʃis]); 5 July 1932 – 15 March 1970) was a Greek Cypriot politician. He served as the first Minister of the Interior of the Republic of Cyprus. He also served as provisional minister of Labour in the period leading to Cyprus being proclaimed an independent state. Before entering the political stage he fought for EOKA. His political career evolved from a staunch supporter of Makarios to becoming one of the archbishop's principal political rivals. He was assassinated in 1970.