The Survivor

For His Beatitude Archbishop Makarios, 58, the bearded, black-robed spiritual and political leader of Cyprus, last week brought a splendid succession of personal tributes. Nicosia's schoolchildren left classes to march on the presidential palace and shout, "Don't give in, Makarios! We are with you." Moved by the cheers of another gathering of 5,000, the archbishop told them: "I am not alone because you, the people, have embraced me with your confidence."

Makarios needed all the embraces he could find. His island of 650,000 or so uneasy Greeks and Turks was gripped by its most severe crisis since 1967, when war between Greece and Turkey nearly broke out over Cyprus. The majority (78%) Greeks and the minority Turks are still unable to agree on a compromise form of government that would acknowledge Greek power but protect Turkish rights. Since last summer the Greek and Turkish governments have both indicated willingness to help find a solution; both intend to participate in renewed talks scheduled for next month between the two Cypriot communities.

New Threat. The main stumbling block now is Makarios, who opposes any settlement that would diminish Greek Cypriot rule over the island --or, by extension, his own power --and who obviously has the Greek Cypriots strongly behind him. To budge the archbishop, therefore, Greek Premier George Papadopoulos two weeks ago sent him a three-point "recommendation" so sharp that the normally benign churchman could be heard through stout oaken doors fuming against "a humiliating, unacceptable ultimatum."

The ultimatum's first point dealt with guns and indicated how near the sunbathed, lemony island is to what Papadopoulos termed "fratricidal killing and destruction." Makarios puts little trust in the 12,000-man Cyprus national guard, whose 1,300 officers and noncoms have been hand-picked by the Greek general staff. He has also faced another threat since September. Legendary General George Grivas, 74, who in the 1950s directed the battle for independence from Britain and enosis (or union with Greece), reputedly slipped back to the island after enforced residence in Athens. Grivas, who is Makarios' rival and who apparently had Greek help in returning, has not been seen since he arrived, but old friends are disappearing into the Troodos mountains, and last month a store of guns was stolen from a local armory. Fourteen of Grivas' supporters have been charged with the theft.

To counter Grivas' threat, Makarios' archbishopric and the wealthy monks of the Kykko monastery together spent $2,500,000 to purchase rifles, machine guns and bazookas from Czechoslovakia. When Greek Ambassador Constantine Panayiotakos complained, Makarios insisted he knew nothing about such weapons. All the while, apparently, they were being trucked into the cellar of his archiepiscopal palace. Papadopoulos, responding to this open defiance, requested the archbishop to turn over the weapons to United Nations troops keeping peace on the island.

National Unity. The Greek Premier warned Makarios, in effect, to let the Greco-Turkish talks proceed and abide by their formulas, whatever the outcome might be. The Premier also advised Makarios to form a government of "national unity" with Grivas supporters as part of it.

"I have survived 13 Greek Prime Ministers," Makarios joked to aides recently. "I hope to survive the 14th." Last week Makarios utilized some well-tested survival techniques. Besides rallying popular support, the archbishop stalled by not making a formal reply to Athens. Meanwhile, he maneuvered for help. Both the Soviet and Polish press criticized the idea of outside forces interfering with the internal decisions of Cyprus. Moscow apparently connects the Cyprus crisis with a recent agreement between the U.S. and Greece that allows dependents of men serving with the Sixth Fleet to be based around Athens. Moscow fears that Greece and Turkey might amalgamate sections of the island directly into their two nations. In that case, Cyprus could become an extension of NATO and another possible shelter for the U.S. fleet.

Makarios at week's end appeared to have won the first round of the confrontation. The Greeks, still waiting for his answer, had few options but to try to oust him from office if he defied them; that would provoke Cypriots who support him. "What we have going now," one Western diplomat said, "is a cat-and-mouse game where everyone thinks he is the cat."

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