The
role of the "usual suspect" Henry Kissinger
“More
than one quarter of the population of Cyprus was expelled from the
occupied northern part of the island where Greek Cypriots constituted
80% of the population. A little over a year later in 1975, there was
also a flow of roughly 60,000 Turkish Cypriots from the south to the
north after the conflict.”
“In the
spring of 1974, Greek Cypriot intelligence discovered that EOKA-B was
planning a coup against President Makarios which was sponsored by the
military junta of Athens.”
“In the
meantime, Nikos Sampson was declared provisional president of the new
government. Sampson was a Greek ultra nationalist who was known to be
fanatically anti-Turkish and had taken part in violence against
Turkish civilians in earlier conflicts. The Sampson regime took over
radio stations and declared that Makarios had been killed, but
Makarios, safe in London, was soon able to counteract these reports.
In the coup itself, 91 people were killed. The Turkish-Cypriots were
not affected by the coup against Makarios; one of the reasons was
that Ioannides did not want to provoke a Turkish reaction.”
“Turkey
invaded Cyprus on Saturday, 20 July 1974. Heavily armed troops
landed shortly before dawn at Kyrenia (Girne) on the northern coast
meeting resistance from Greek and Greek Cypriot forces. Ankara said
that it was invoking its right under the Treaty of Guarantee to
protect the Turkish Cypriots and guarantee the independence of
Cyprus. The operation, codenamed 'Operation Atilla', is known in the
North as 'the 1974 Peace Operation'.”
“On 23
July 1974 the Greek military junta collapsed mainly because of the
events in Cyprus. Greek political leaders in exile started returning
to the country. On 24 July 1974 Constantine Karamanlis returned from
Paris and was sworn in as Prime Minister. He decided against further
military involvement as the Turkish forces were much stronger.
Shortly after this Nikos Sampson renounced the presidency and Glafcos
Clerides temporarily took the role of president.”
“On 14
August Turkey launched its 'Second Peace Operation', which eventually
resulted in the Turkish occupation of 40% of Cyprus. Britain's
then foreign secretary (later prime minister) James Callaghan, later
disclosed that U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger 'vetoed' at
least one British military action to pre-empt the Turkish landing.”
“In
the process, many Greek Cypriots became refugees. The Cypriot
government estimates their numbers at about 200,000, with other
sources stating 140,000 to 160,000. The ceasefire line from 1974
separates the two communities on the island, and is commonly referred
to as the Green Line.”
“The
missing persons list of the Republic of Cyprus confirms that 83
Turkish Cypriots disappeared in Tochni on 14 August 1974. Also, as
a result of the invasion, over 2000 Greek-Cypriot prisoners of war
were taken to Turkey and detained in Turkish prisons. Some of them
were not released and are still missing. In particular, the Committee
on Missing Persons (CMP) in Cyprus, which operates under the auspices
of the United Nations, is mandated to investigate approximately 1600
cases of Greek Cypriot and Greek missing persons.”
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Kissinger
and Callaghan continued to have problems with trans-Atlantic calls
but US-UK communications increased during the unfolding Cyprus
crisis. Wanting to avoid antagonizing the Greek junta which had
sponsored the 18 July 1974 coup against Archbishop Makarios,
Kissinger opposed putting any pressure on them. As he had
explained to his State Department “Cyprus group”, “To
attempt to overthrow the Greek Government to satisfy our souls and
bring Makarios back is a high price to pay.”
Turkey
invaded Cyprus on 20 July and two days later, the day the Greek
military dictatorship fell, on 22 July, Callaghan and Kissinger
discussed developments. Both agreed that Nicos Sampson, the
gunman whom the Greek junta had installed to rule the island, had
to go, because of his role in provoking the Turkish invasion, but
the junta’s collapse quickly put Sampson out of power. Thus,
the banter about Kissinger being “filthy” to Sampson was
irrelevant.
Plainly
Callaghan and Kissinger had different takes on the situation, with
Callaghan stating that Archbishop Makarios, the deposed President,
was the “legitimate President,” while Kissinger took a
“noncommittal” stance. Kissinger wanted freedom of action
on the Cyprus problem and did not want to support Makarios, whom
he had seen as too independent. While the conversation was
affable, Kissinger later declared that “Basically Callaghan
screwed up all along” by not pressing the Greeks to be a more
forthcoming toward Turkey.
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Photos
of derelict homes, hotels and airports in Nicosia:
A
revealing documentary by Michael Cacoyannis about the Turkish
invasion in Cyprus on July 20 1974:
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