216. Editorial Note
On December 27, Lincoln White, Acting Chief of the Department’s News Division, made the following statement to correspondents:
“The United States has noted with sympathetic interest the long and earnest labors of Lord Radcliffe to find a formula for self-government for Cyprus. The making by the United Kingdom of proposals for self-government could be the first step toward an eventual peaceful and generally acceptable final solution of the Cyprus problem. The formula now produced by Lord Radcliffe seems to be unacceptable in certain respects by some who are concerned with the matter. Nevertheless, the United States still hopes that our three allies who, together with the people of Cyprus, are deeply concerned with this issue, will strive to agree upon a way of moving together toward a solution which is so important to themselves and to the entire free world.” (Department of State Bulletin, January 14, 1957, page 54)
On December 29, Allen reported from Athens that Averoff, on instructions from Karamanlis, had asked him to call on December 28. According to the Ambassador, Averoff made a “strong but friendly” protest against the United States statement on the grounds that the United States had taken sides with Turkey and the United Kingdom against Greece. According to the Foreign Minister, the statement had caused great embarrassment to Karamanlis. Allen informed Averoff that he had personally opposed the statement, but that there were bound to be differences among nations and if every nation protested each time another took a position in the United Nations or elsewhere, “we would spend all our days protesting”. (Telegram 2324 from Athens, December 29; Department of State, Central Files, 747C.00/12–2956)
On January 18, Secretary Dulles had a conversation with Foreign Minister Averoff. A memorandum of conversation reads:
“At the Greek Ambassador’s dinner for the Greek Foreign Minister, I spoke alone to the Foreign Minister before dinner during the cocktail period, saying that I was greatly surprised that the Greeks had interpreted the State Department’s statement about the Radcliffe Plan as endorsing that plan. I said that, in fact, it did not do so and to do so had not been our purpose. Mr. Averoff passed the matter off merely saying that we were here for a social dinner and not to discuss business, and the Cyprus matter was not again mentioned either before dinner or after dinner during our talk.” (Ibid., 747C.00/ 1–1857)