Presidential elections were held in Cyprus

Cyprus

Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...

 for the first time on 13 December 1959. Only two candidates contested the election; Makarios III

Makarios III

Makarios III , born Andreas Christodolou Mouskos , was the archbishop and primate of the autocephalous Cypriot Orthodox Church and the first President of the Republic of Cyprus ....

, who was backed by EOKA

EOKA

EOKA was an anticolonial, antiimperialist nationalist organisation with the ultimate goal of "The liberation of Cyprus from the British yoke". Although not stated in its initial declaration of existence which was printed and distributed on the 1st of April 1955, EOKA also had a target of achieving...

 and John Klerides, who was supported by AKEL

Progressive Party of Working People

The Progressive Party of Working People is a communist party in Cyprus. It supports an independent, demilitarized and non-aligned Cyprus, and a federal solution of the internal aspect of the Cyprus problem. It places particular emphasis on rapprochement with the Turkish Cypriots. It supported...

. The result was a victory for Makarios III, who won 66.8% of the vote, although he did not take office until 16 August 1960. Voter turnout was 91.2%.

Results

Candidate	Votes	%
Makarios III Makarios III Makarios III , born Andreas Christodolou Mouskos , was the archbishop and primate of the autocephalous Cypriot Orthodox Church and the first President of the Republic of Cyprus ....	144,501	66.8
John Klerides	77,753	33.2
Invalid/blank votes	1,702	–
Total	217,956	100
Source: Nohlen & Stöver