This is a post from a very good friend of mine Bananiot who is a GC living in Cyprus, a very educated man of years of standing.

I read an article by Pavlos Dinglis the other day and I would like to share with forum members his thoughts. Pavlos comes from AKEL and he was a member of the leadership until the late 80's. He was the General Secretary of PEO, the biggest trade union in Cyprus. He challenged Christofias for the leadership of AKEL when Papaioannou died and of course that was his downfall.

Pavlos writes:

1. By 1962 Makarios had decided for the modification of the Constitution. Greece was dead against it and Kennedy also told him not to go ahead. Ismet Inonu warned Makarios not even to think about it. AKEL suggested to Makarios to unilaterally declare void the guarantor agreement, before changing the Constitution.

2. Makarios totally ignored everyone and his 13 points released a storm and even today we get what we asked for. At the Security Council, during early 1964, Spyros Kyprianou (Foreign Secretary) told members that no one was legalised to intervene in the internal affairs of a sovereign state.

3. On April 4 1964, Makarios denounced the alliance agreement. Turkey and Britain ignored him. A political issue could not be tackled with legalistic mumble.

4. The notorious Akritas Plan laid the political and material foundation for the path to change the Constitution. Papadopoulos was the main author of the Plan and the vice leader of the Organisation. Yiorgatzis was the leader. The target was Enosis but this was concealed under the veil of self determination. According to the plan, the modifications were to be enacted unilaterally since the Turkish side would never agree to them. The imposition of the changes would be achieved with the help of “the state forces” or even “friendly military forces”. These so called friendly military forces comprised of 1800 armed men belonging to the paramilitary groups of Sampson, Yiorgatzis and Lissarides.

5. The Plan itself gives a striking answer to those that kid themselves that it was just a proposition. Makarios had decided to impose the Plan unilaterally and dynamically. Something that shows that this was the case is the refusal of Makarios in 1965 to accept a proposal by the Turkish Cypriot MP’s to return to their seats, provided that the Zurich agreements would be reiterated. Klerides, who was the President of the House at the time, wrote in a statement that separate majorities were done with and the signature of the Vice President was no longer required and the Turkish Cypriot MP’s had no legal status. Thus, the position of the Vice President was, for all intense and purposes, abolished. In this way we lost a golden opportunity to return to normalcy, changing in the meantime the Constitution unilaterally, according to the Akritas Plan.

6. Lesson to be learnt:

• International agreements cannot be thrown into the dustbin, especially unilaterally. This applies especially for small countries like Cyprus. We have no sense of our size, it seems.
• The Cyprus issue is a political issue and not a legal one.
• Compromises are an inseparable part of policies
• The path of recrimination and collision is a terrible one to take. We need to take the path of reconciliation and debate.

How much wiser are we from our tragic past? The way Papadopoulos has handled the issue for the last 4 years has shown that the mentality of the 60’s is on the forefront. The path to disaster which started by Makarios is still followed. We are led towards the upgrading of the “state”, towards the two states, without inverted commas. Can we hold on to the last weed on the edge of the cliff?

The downing of the wall was a positive step. Hopefully it was not a result of outside pressure not a pre election gimmick. Talat made unacceptable arguments regarding the opening of Ledra and Limnitis. The Greek Cypriot side must regain the initiative. We need to undertake bold initiatives. No more preparations. It’s time for deeds. Papadopoulos should accept the invitation to meet Talat. No more legalistic and formalistic approaches. The road to reunification must open!