For a few days now, fierce fighting has been raging in Cyprus between Turkish forces and the National Guard. The reason for this was the Turkish Cypriot rebellion that had erupted since December 1963, following the refusal of the Turkish Cypriot community to accept the 13-point amendments to the Cypriot Constitution proposed by the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Archbishop Makarios III. Thus, riots broke out, leading, in 8-9 August 1964, to the dispatch of Greek warplanes to the island for the first time in modern history. A mission that remained secret for many decades. This story was a clear “prelude” of the “suicide missions” of the tragic summer of 1974.

The historical context

The state of the Republic of Cyprus was founded as a single bi-communal state on 16 August 1960, gaining its independence after almost a century of British rule (1878-1960). There were two legally equal communities on the island, the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots. In 1960, the Greek Cypriots constituted approximately 78.2% – 81.14% (depending on whether the statistics include the Maronites, Armenians and Latins, who were included in the Greek Cypriot community by virtue of the Constitution). The Turkish Cypriots constituted approximately 18.1% – 18.86%. Also, a percentage of 1% to 3% consisted of citizens of third countries.

It is noted that neither community was fully satisfied with autonomy, as the Greek Cypriots considered it their right to unite Cyprus with Greece (union), while the Turkish Cypriots fought for partition (“taksim”). After two relatively peaceful years, in November 1963 tensions increased when the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Archbishop Makarios III, proposed 13 constitutional changes that were met with anger by the Turkish Cypriots.

Intercommunal Riots of 1963-64

On 30 November 1963, President Makarios sent to the Vice President of the Republic of Cyprus, the Turkish Cypriot Fazil Küçük, a memorandum containing 13 points for the revision of the constitutional regime. A common component of the 13 points was the abolition of the separate majority (Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot) for the passage of laws, as well as the establishment of single municipal councils in the municipalities. Furthermore, the first of the 13 points aimed at the abolition of the right of veto of both the President and the Vice President of the Republic.

Makarios’ proposals had been preceded by consultations between him and the British High Commissioner to Cyprus, Sir Arthur Clarke, who had encouraged Makarios to proceed with the amendments.

At the same time, the Turkish Cypriots also maintained contacts with the British. In fact, on 1 December 1963, the Deputy Speaker of the Cypriot House of Representatives and President of the Turkish Cypriot Parliament, Rauf Denktaş, arrived in London for talks with the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs, Sir John Tilney.

It should be noted that Makarios’ proposals were formulated at a time when there was governmental instability in both Greece and Turkey, the two countries which together with Great Britain were the guarantor powers of the Republic of Cyprus, according to its constitution. Although Makarios’ goal was to form a unified authority in Cyprus, the crisis that followed was the beginning of the de facto separation of the two communities. On 29 December 1963 the partition of Nicosia was imposed with the famous “green line”, as it was called a little later.

Küçük responded negatively to Makarios’ proposals, stating on 3 December 1963 that the then-current constitution should be applied in its entirety. On December 10, the Cypriot Foreign Minister Spyros Kyprianou met in Athens with the Greek Prime Minister Georgios Papandreou and informed him of the situation on the island. On December 16, the Turkish ambassador to Nicosia, Emin Dirvana, delivered Ankara’s rejection of Makarios’ proposals, which the Cypriot president had simply “notified” to the guarantor powers. Makarios, in turn, rejected the Turkish response as interference in the internal affairs of the Republic of Cyprus. Three days later, the Foreign Ministers of Greece, Sophocles Venizelos, Cyprus’ Spyros Kyprianou and Turkey’s Kemal Erkin met at the Greek embassy in Paris. Despite Venizelos’ optimism, the meeting did not reduce the tension that had meanwhile been building in Cyprus.

It is worth mentioning here that the US President John F. Kennedy had prevented Makarios from proceeding with the revision of the constitution as early as of 1962, presenting the argument of not disturbing the stability of the island. Athens had also maintained a similar position under prime minster Konstantinos Karamanlis and later. Despite this, Makarios decided to proceed with the proposal for the constitutional........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)