IN THE years before Cyprus gained its independence, Great Britain was concerned about the prospects for peaceful coexistence between the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, according to new files released Friday by the British Foreign Office.
A couple of years before Cyprus gained its independence, Conservative Prime Minister Harold Macmillan described the Cyprus problem as a primarily international problem and not a colonial one.
Correspondence in early 1958 between Macmillan and the Cyprus governor Sir Hugh Foot shows the prime minister was also concerned about the financial cost of keeping a large number of troops on the island.
The problem involves two nations and two peoples living close to Turkey and away from Greece, Macmillan said referring to the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots and their perceived ethnic identities.
However, Turkey thought Cyprus was strategically dangerous and with both Greece and Turkey being NATO allies, Great Britain’s problem was finding a mutually agreeable solution, Macmillan said.
According to one of the released files, Sir Hugh had expressed his concern to the foreign office about handing over control of some inter-communal bodies – such as the English School and media services – to the Greek Cypriots.
Sir Hugh said relations between the two main communities had deteriorated and he feared it would take time for distrust and fear to be dissipated.
Macmillan considered the Cyprus issue to be partly a military issue but primarily an international issue, according to the files. If it were simply a colonial matter it could be solved in the way that other colonial problems had been solved, Macmillan said.
If a solution could be found on an international level then it would not be hard to work out a plan that could lead to an autonomous government, Macmillan said.
A separate document from 1955, also released this week, showed that the British administration was thinking of constructing a military airport in Xylofagou or Salamis but were concerned over a water shortage problem and negative public reaction.
Alternative spots were suggested in the Ayia Napa and Paralimni areas.
Cyprus Mail