Filiki Eteria

Filiki Eteria or Society of Friends (Greek: Φιλική Εταιρεία or Εταιρεία των Φιλικών) was a secret 19th-century organization whose purpose was to overthrow the Ottoman rule of Greece and establish an independent Greek state. Society members were mainly young Phanariot Greeks from Russia and local chieftains from Greece. One of its leaders was Alexander Ypsilantis. The Society initiated the Greek War of Independence in the spring of 1821.