CYPRUS: Man with an Olive Tree

“I was counted among the dead, but here I am among the living.” Thus, with tears rolling down his cheeks, Archbishop Makarios returned to Cyprus, five months after he had been ousted as the island’s President by the Greek military junta’s coup d’état. A crowd of 200,000, shouting “Makarios! Makarios!” welcomed him and offered its support for a settlement between Greeks and Turks. “Proceed, proceed,” the crowd chanted. “The people are with you.” Though he would never accept a partition of the island, Makarios said, “it is possible to safeguard the rights of both Greeks and Turks.”

More Trouble. The prelate-President returned to Cyprus amid Turkish objections and dire threats of still another assassination attempt against him by the EOKA-B Greek Cypriot underground, the terrorist group that favors enosis, or union with Greece. Declaring that he was holding out “not just an olive branch but a whole olive tree,” Makarios tried to dispel fears that his return could lead to more trouble for the war-ravaged island.

The main danger springs from the deep and bitter division between the overwhelming majority of Greek Cypriots who are loyal to Makarios and the small (2,000 members) but powerful EOKA-B organization. During last summer’s coup, the EOKA-B sided with the then ruling Greek military junta to overthrow the archbishop. Unlike the leaders of the Athens junta, most of whom are now under arrest and awaiting trial on a Greek isle, the EOKA-B gunmen remain at large, mainly because Greek Cypriot authorities are eager to avoid another violent showdown after the debacle of the Turkish invasion.

Turkey is also opposed to Makarios’ return. Last week Ankara placed its 35,000 troops on the island on maximum alert, and warned that if there were renewed fighting among Greek Cypriots, it would intervene to protect the 30,000 Turkish Cypriots living in the Greek-controlled part of the island. As tensions mounted, a Cypriot government spokesman charged that the Ankara government was looking for a pretext to launch a fresh military operation—the dreaded “third round” that Greeks fear would enable Turkey to overrun the rest of the island (it now controls 40% of the territory).

While the archbishop’s return poses problems for Cyprus, a viable settlement without him is out of the question. The wily prelate, who has been President since 1960, commands wide popular support, and he is fully aware that he holds the key to a permanent solution. As he reportedly told U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in Washington, “I cannot do anything about the settlement that is made on Cyprus by the superpowers, but it is well within my power to destroy what you decide.”

Such a settlement will almost certainly involve some kind of federation between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities, perhaps in the form of a union of Swiss-style cantons. Before returning home last week, Makarios conferred in Athens for two days with Greek Premier Constantino Caramanlis and Glafkos Clerides, who has been Acting Cypriot President in his absence. The three leaders reportedly agreed in principle that conditions for a federation should include 1) the right of the 180,000 Greek Cypriot refugees to return to their homes in Turkish-occupied parts of the island; 2) Turkish withdrawal to a territorial salient approximating the proportion of the Turkish Cypriot population, i.e., about 20%; 3) no forcible population movements by either side; 4) creation of a strong central government with well-defined powers; and 5) complete demilitarization of Cyprus.

Real Culprits. Meanwhile, Kissinger last week called the American ambassadors in Athens and Ankara home for consultations on Cyprus. The Secretary’s role as a mediator was not helped, however, by State Department confirmation that U.S. military aid to Ankara jumped to $40.5 million following the Turkish invasion, an increase of more than $13 million over the previous quarter. The State Department claimed that the increase was due to delivery of four F-4 fighters that had been ordered in 1972. Greek Cypriot newspaper reaction was bitter. Editorialized the right-wing Agon, official newspaper of Clerides’ Unified Party: “Our conclusion can only be one: that if Turkey carries out its threat [for renewed fighting], the real culprits will not be in Ankara but in Washington.”