THE QUESTION OF CYPRUS IN AN IMPASSE "Perfidious Albion" has never ceased to engage in ruses about the fate of the Cypriot masses. To keep its domination over the island, which holds an important strategic position in the Eastern Mediterranean basin, the British bourgeoisie as used all means: repression, concessions, postponements lational divisions. Most of the time, indeed, it has user all these means together. For some time now, faced by the powerful national-liberation movement of the Greek masses of Cyprus, London has decided to bring into the game Turkey and the island's Turkish minority, some 80,000 strong. By turning Turkey against Greece, and the island's Turkish minority against the some 400,000 Greek Cypriots, London has reserved for itself the role of indispensable arbiter, needed to maintain order and unity in the island.
was in favor simply of the British status quo in the island, has now gone over to the unrealistic position of dividing up the island, in order to bring the question of the country's self-determination to an impasse. Not satisfied to agitate for this position, now a matter of "principle," Turkey is stirring up the Turkish Cypriot minority to genuine pogroms against the Greek population — with, naturally, the obvious complicity of the British authorities. It is enough to mention in this connection that a large part of the British auxiliary police — about 4,000 men -is recruited from the very numerous illiterate unemployed among the Turkish minority, and that these police have, on several occasions of late, joined their compatriots in the attacks launched against the Greek Cypriots. In this connection there may be quoted, among others, the
14 stated that the collusion between the British police and army and the Turkish minority is completely obvious (NY Times, 10 June 1958). Turkey is currently demanding the dividing up of the island in face of the demand for self-determination and union with Greece asked for by Athens and the EOKA - which allows London to prepare a "compromise" of co-dominium of the island by the Greeks and the Turks under the control of Great Britain. And this for a period of seven years, after which the people of Cyprus would be called on to decide about their self-determination. The solution of the question of Cyprus is complicated by the interplay of various contradictory forces. London wants to keep the island as an important military base, whose usefulness was demonstrated not only at the time of the Suez expedition, but also at present with the situation existing in Lebanon. Washington, more and more worried about the Middle East and at present considering a joint intervention with London against the anti-imperialist Arab forces in Lebanon, lines up with London's position about the island, despite the difficulties that this position invalves concerning its alliance with Athens. Athens as well as Ankara are exploiting the Cyprus question as a counter-irritant to their reactionary and anti-popular
On the island itself, the national-liberation movement is divided between a right wing led by the Archand the terrorist organization EOKA, the hands of agents of the general staff of the Greek army, on the one hand, and, on the other, the AKEL, an organiza-
FOURTH INTERNATIONAL tion controlled by the Stalinists. On its side, the Turkish minority is led by the agents of Ankara and London. Under these conditions, the national-liberation movement, though ted by an indomitable revolutionary combativity on the part of the island's peasant and worker masses, does not succeed in putting forward a programme and a leadership capable of thwarting the intrigues of imperialism and the Greek and Turkish bourgeoisies. This programme ought to set clearly forth that the goal of the struggle is self-determination for the island within the framework of a Cypriot workers' and peasants' government which would give satisfaction to the economic and social aspirations of the peasant and worker masses of the island, both Greek and Turkish. The Greek majority would have the right, if it wished, to carry out a federative union with Greece. The Turkish minority would see its rights as a national minority absolutely guaranteed by the workers' and peasants' government of the island. Only such a programme, firmly defended against imperialism, he Greek and Turkish bourgeoisies, and their agents, woul lave any serious chance of reestablishing class unity among the poor Greek and Turkish masses of Cyprus, prospect of genuine national and social liberation for these The Cyng s utine in jamie nationaliberation The Cypriot revolutionary duty of movement as it now exists.