Dimitrios Ioannidis Member of the Greek junta of the "Black Colonels" in 1967-1974 and its head in 1973-1974. Date of Birth: 13.03.1923 Country: Greece

1. Early Life and Military Career
2. Role in the Junta
3. Ascension to Power
4. Cyprus Coup and Turkish Invasion
5. Overthrow and Imprisonment

Early Life and Military Career

Dimitrios Ioannidis, born on March 13, 1923 in Athens, was a middle-class businessman's son from Epirus. He participated in the Greek Civil War on the government side and later served at the Makronisos concentration camp, where communist prisoners were held. In 1963, he served in Cyprus.

Role in the Junta

Ioannidis played an active role in the April 21, 1967 coup that brought Georgios Papadopoulos to power. He headed the Greek military police, which became a powerful authority under his command. In 1970, he was promoted to the rank of colonel, and in 1973, to brigadier general.

Ascension to Power

In 1973, junta leader Papadopoulos initiated an inconsistent liberalization policy. While unpopular, it raised concerns among his colleagues. Ioannidis began plotting a coup in the summer of 1973. Citing student unrest in November 1973 as a pretext, he ousted Papadopoulos and appointed his countryman Fedon Gizikis as President of Greece, reverting to a "hard line" policy.

Cyprus Coup and Turkish Invasion

With Ioannidis's support, a coup took place in Cyprus on July 15, 1974, with the objective of annexing the island with Greece. However, it triggered an unexpected Turkish invasion, resulting in a brief but bloody war that forced Greeks to evacuate northern Cyprus.

Overthrow and Imprisonment

Public outrage in Greece led to the junta's loss of control and its formal ousting by a group of senior Republican politicians, joined by President Gizikis at the last moment. Former Prime Minister K. Karamanlis was invited to form a government.

Ioannidis was sentenced to death, later commuted to life imprisonment, which he continues to serve in Korydallos prison.