CYPRUS: Badgered Pawn

Statistics: Location: 40 miles from Turkey, 530 miles from Greek mainland. Area: 3,572 sq. mi., twice the size of Long Island. Pop. 520,000, of which 80% is Greek, the rest nearly all Turkish.

Ancient History: As early as the 15th century B.C., Greeks settled Cyprus, came in successive waves for hundreds of years. A much-badgered pawn of empires, Cyprus was conquered by Sargon II, and Darius before Alexander the Great captured it m 333 B.C. Later it became Roman. But for centuries after the division of the Roman Empire, Cyprus was subject chiefly to the rule of the Byzantine Empire, which was culturally if not politically Greek. The Ottoman Turks, who conquered Constantinople in 1453, began their 300-year rule of Cyprus in 1570-71. Greece, itself conquered by the Ottomans in 1460, did not win its independence as a modern nation until the 1820s, when it began its long agitation to reunite its scattered peoples. In 1878 that great champion of empire, Britain's Benjamin Disraeli, acquired Cyprus from Turkey in exchange for help against the Russians. Said a onetime Cyprus governor, Sir Ronald Storrs: "No sensible person will deny that the Cypriot is Greek-speaking, Greek-thinking, Greek-feeling, Greek."

Modern History: Cypriots were agitating for enosis or reunion with Greece as early as the 19th century. In 1931 Orthodox priests led a brief revolt, declaring that the Patriarch of Cyprus had proclaimed the end of British rule "because the people will it." Greek Premier Venizelos disowned the revolt, the riots subsided, and two bishops were deported to England.

Current Crisis: Enosis revived in 1950 when Makarios, soon to be appointed archbishop, organized an unofficial plebiscite that showed 95% favoring union with Greece. King Paul of Greece some time later reportedly asked Anthony Eden (then Foreign Secretary) about Greece's prospects of regaining Cyprus, and was startled by Eden's reply: "I will not discuss it."

In 1954 Greece began demanding an immediate plebiscite on enosis, offered pledges that British bases would be allowed to remain, but found its case blocked in the U.N. Assembly by Britain. In July 1954, Minister of State for Colonial Affairs Henry Hopkinson blurted that Cyprus would "never" be allowed full independence. Last August Britain at last recognized Greece's interest in Cyprus by inviting the

Greek Foreign Minister to London. But the British also invited Turkey. The conference broke up in bitterness. A bomb exploded in the Turkish consulate at Salonika (Greece); in retaliation Turks erupted in savage riots against Greek minorities in Istanbul, Izmir and Ankara. By now Greeks were thoroughly aroused against both their NATO partners, Britain and Turkey; they got mad at the U.S. as well when the State Department ineptly expressed equal concern to both Turkey and Greece.

Recent Events: Alarmed by increasing violence on Cyprus, Britain sent Field Marshal Sir John Harding (who had directed from London the effective war on the Mau Mau) to Cyprus with orders to crack down on terrorists but to make a deal if possible with Makarios. Makarios countered by ordering "a systematic campaign of passive resistance." Makarios offered to give up the demand for an immediate plebiscite on enosis if the British would promise eventual self-determination. Harding asked in return a declaration from Makarios condemning violence, which the archbishop would not give him. As terrorism continued, the British retreated: Harold Macmillan, then Foreign Secretary, said Cyprus might some day get self-determination--but would not say when. Makarios rejected the pledge as too vague.

By January Harding was offering Cyprus what Makarios had asked in the first place. Makarios accepted continued British control of defense and foreign policy, and guarantees of equality for the island's Turkish minority, but he countered with demands for amnesty for terrorists. The British refused, also refused his demands for a time limit when police powers should pass to the Cyprus government. Prime Minister Eden is now convinced that if all the archbishop's demands had been met, "other demands would immediately have been flung up in their place." But, looking back, even many in Britain agree that one short year ago they might have had a settlement (and none of the resultant rancor) by offering what has now been refused.

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