BEHIND THE BLOODSHED IN .CYPRUS
For the past several months, the big powers of the West, parti-~ cularly Great Britain and the United States, have allotted psectacular publicity day after day to a tiny island in ’ the castern end of the Mediterranean whose total population amounts to some 565,000. ‘The fratricidal conflict between the communities of Greek and Turkish origin in Cyprus is pictured as a deadly threat to world peace, re= quiring immediate armed intervention,
The seemingly senseless bloodshed between two peoples that have lived peaceably together for centuries does, indeed, seem strange; and it would seem in order to send troops to put a stop to it, Yet there are aspects to this clamor that are suspicious, to say the least.
First of all, there is the odd reluctance of Great Britain and and United States to ask the United Nations to take full charge, They “have been insisting on sending NATO troops strictly controlled by them. This is all the more intriguing in view of the proved capacity of the
United Nations to uphold imperialist interests in such situations as the war in Korea and the civil strife in the Congo, Why are. President ' Johnson and Prime Minister Sir Douglas-Home so concerned about.block-~ ing the United Nations if the threat to world peace is as grave as it is pictured and.if the United Nations really is, as they claim, an instrument for peace?
_ And what is actually stirring up the 450,000 people of Greek origin and the 115,000 of Turkish origin in face of the fact that under some three centuries of Turkish domination, they traditionally united. in opposition to the oppressor? . ;
The. truth is hinted at in an editorial. in the February 15-16 New York Times [international edition]. Archbishop Marakios, head of the Republic of Cyprus, is berated for rejecting "the Anglo-American ~ plan for an allied peace-keeping force on Cyprus": and for being "adae mant on taking the issue to the United Nations, insisting: that the | force be put under control of the Security Council,'
Marakios, it seems, is afraid that the island will be partitioned. What he wants’ is to stop the slaughter, guarantee the island's territorial integrity and prevent any foreign intervention. “What this would really mean is that the peace-keeping force would be obliged to _ prevent the island's threatened partition. . . and that it would prevent Turkey, Greece and Britain from exercising their * troaty rights to intervene," | Hite
This voice of American imperialism then admits: "Behind these issues looms the Russian shadow, which long antedates the cold war, It was to keep Russia out of the eastern Mediterranean that Cyprus was first put under British rule at the Berlin Congress of 1878, and it is for the same reason that Britain and the United States seek now to keep .Russia from creeping in again through the United. } Nations and the large Communist element on Cyprus,"
In brief, a dirty game of imperialist power moves is involved,
The Greek community, which constitutes a majority of threequarters of the population, goes back more than 2,000 years, They have maintained their identity through many invasions. The Turks came to the island in 1570, seized some of the best land and founded families that are still living in Cyprus, British imperialism displaced Turkish rule and brought the island into the Empire,. The inhabitants of the island, through long association and mutual interests, considered themselves more and more as Cypriotes, The division along religious lines (Greek Christians and Turkish Moslems) offered no major obstacle to this deve lopment . ; But Cyprus. became ‘caught up in the big political currents that stirred the postwar world, With the decline of the Empire and the rise of Arab nationalism, the British imperialists had.to retreat in the Middle East, finally being forced to give up even their Suez:- "life line," They converted Cyprus into a new military anchor.
At the same time, the Cypriotes began a heroic struggle to break Great Britain's grip on their island. How was London to meet this political threat to its military bases there? Endowed with centuries of experience in such things, the British rulers applied a tried and tested strategem: divide et impera -- divide and rule.
How Turkey Became Involved
Here is how Eric Rouleau describes it in Le Monde [February 7]:
"Thus British diplomacy was led to resort to an astute expedient aimed at neutralizing the action of the Greek Cypriotes in favor of Enosis {union with Greece], but which: was- subsequently to lead to the sharp crisis now agitating the Atlantic powers. The expedient consis~ ted of introducing Turkey into the foreground of the Cypriote scene — aa a counter to Greece, which, on August 20, 1954, officially asked the UN to recognize the Cypriote right to self-determination,
"Having ceded Cyprus to the English in 1878, and renouncing all .Claims to the island in 1923 with the signing of the Lausanne treaty, Turkey up until then had showed no interest in its former province, _Greck incorporation of Cyprus even appeared undisputed, since Mr, Churchill himself, like most of the British leaders, had held from the beginning of the century. that Enosis constituted tan ideal worthy of being pursued seriously, stubbornly and energetically! by. the Hellenic people of. Cyprus," oe oo
In face of the Greek move to take the matter to the United Nations, coupled with an armed insurrection on the island against British occupation, Sir Anthony Eden, in 1955, made a sensational decision, “He invited the Greek and Turkish to a tripartite conference for the pur- ‘pose of examining ‘political and military problems concerning the eastern Mediterranean, including Cyprus, Ankara’ was jubilant, The invitation conferred on Turkey, for the first time in thirty years, a say in Cypriote affairs. In Athens it was believed at first that what was.involved was a move toward a three~way settlement, if not 'capitulation! of the British government to the pressure of the movement for Enosis,
However, new complications swiftly appeared. "The Turkish delegation, in fact, adopted an intransigeant attitude. It opposed Enosis, claiming that Cyprus as 'former Ottoman territory! had never belonged to Greece, It objected to independence for the island by talking about 'the Communist influence,! which, according to the delegation, was preponderant among the Greek Cypriotes, and would constitute a threat to the security of Turkey. Finally, it raised the problem of the future of the Turkish minority. The conclusion was predictable: only the maintenance of the politico-military role of Great Britain could offer the indispensable guaranties to Ankara,"
Since then, Turkey has become more and more involved in Cypriote| affairs, doing its utmost to stir up the grossest passions of the Turkish.community and playing the role required to make it appear
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that Great Britain is indispensable in Cyprus as a mediator,
The Cypriotes continued their struggle against. British domination; and the custodians of the declining Empire finally had to concede the island its political independence in 1960. However, they tied up the package with quite a few strings, World's Longest Constitution
First of all, Turkey was granted the right to bring troops: into the island -- for the first time since they were expelled in 1878, Turkey was given the right to intervene in Cyprus affairs if the status quo should be threatcned,
Second, the British forced the Cypriotes to grant the Turkish minority special privileges such as they had never known in the .past -even under Turkish rule. These included many economic advantages. The effect of granting such privileges to the Turkish minority was to poison relations between the two communities.
‘Third, the British foisted a constitution on the republic that probably is without parallel, It has 199 Articles and hundreds of paragraphs, regulating life down to ridiculous detail,
The main principle of this constitution is the abrogation of — majority rule by giving the Turkish minority absolute veto power over any essential proposed legislation or governmental decisions, Thus the Makarios regime was bound hand and foot in face of worsening economic conditions on the island and rising popular demands. When. Makarios last November 30 issued a memorandum proposing amendments to this legislative strait jacket, the response was provocation of civil strife,
. Last, but far from least, in granting Cyprus nominal independence, the British asserted sovereignty over two military bases, In addition they set aside a dozen areas for training purposes,
The basic imperialistic stake in Cyprus is Akrotiri and Dhekelia, the twin military bases that constitute Britain's Mediterranean. Guantdnamo, An estimated 12,000 troops are stationed here on constant alert, ready for action in any of the Middle East or African theaters,
The United States shares the facilities, Atomic bomber patrols fly their missions from the island, where nuclear weapons are report-= edly stockpiled, Cyprus is an important link in the American commun= ications network, both for relaying coded messages from Washington and for. recording broadcasts in the Middle East region for later study by “agents of the F.B.I. and the C.1.A.," according to Eric Rouleau.
It is concern over maintaining this military stronghold that is behind the British policy of stirring up murderous conflict. between _ the Greek and Turkish communities to whom | Cyprus be Longs.
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