Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961–1963, Volume XVI, Eastern Europe; Cyprus; Greece; Turkey

262. Memorandum From the Executive Secretary of the Department of State (Brubeck) to the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy)⁰

Washington, July 13, 1962.

SUBJECT

• Results of the Makarios Visit; Maintaining the Momentum it Generated

REFERENCE

• NSAM 169 of June 28, 1962¹

We believe the Makarios visit strengthened our prestige and influence in Cyprus and furthered specific U.S. objectives for the island. The goodwill the visit generated has, in our opinion, improved our prospects for continued undisturbed access to our communications facilities. Makarios returned to the island convinced of the need to act on our VOA proposal and asked the Cypriot Council of Ministers for a decision. The prospects for early approval seem good. During the visit we were also able to persuade Makarios of the need for more effective Cypriot planning for economic development, a basic requirement for the strong US aid program we expect to mount during coming months.

In more general terms, the visit served as a public affirmation of our intention to play an active and constructive role in Cypriot affairs, a policy first enunciated in NSAM 98 of September 25, 1961.² This intent has now been recognized and gratefully accepted by all sectors of the Cypriot public except the communists. As a result, we believe our prestige and influence in Cyprus are at an all-time high.

Vital U.S. interests—our communications facilities, the need to counter the communist threat, and preservation of peaceful relations between the Greek and Turkish communities—require us to maintain our influence at a high level. For this purpose our most immediately applicable instrument of policy is our economic aid program. We believe this program is developing into an effective means of advancing both short term and long term U.S. objectives on the island. Annex 1 summarizes recent progress toward giving tangible shape and substance to our aid program, as well as further steps we propose to take during the next several months.

As to the specific projects discussed during the visit and cited in NSAM 169: AID is providing technical assistance in the field of water development and is considering a loan for heavy equipment to be used in part for the Cypriot water program. We have indicated the improbability of our being able to fund their social insurance project but are implementing our commitment to provide technical assistance for it. An AID expert has completed a preliminary investigation in Cyprus of the possibility of establishing an American-sponsored educational institution. His principal conclusions are that any such effort should initially be on a modest scale, and further study is necessary. AID is currently reviewing the proposal and consulting private foundations and educational institutions, preparatory to discussing the matter with the Cypriots in more specific terms.

USIA has increased the scope of its Cyprus program recently and has assigned first priority to that program for any augmented appropriations available to the Near Eastern area operations of the Agency in FY ’63. (See Annex 2)

A major facet of our present policy in Cyprus is to encourage other Western countries and international lending organizations to contribute more actively toward building up a dominant Western presence on the island. The IBRD, with our encouragement, has offered substantial amounts of loan capital for the Cypriot economic development program, and the West Germans have, on their own initiative, committed themselves to a sizable aid program. During the past year we have consulted frequently with the Governments of the Guarantor Powers (the UK, Greece and Turkey) on our common problems and objectives in Cyprus. We believe this consultation has contributed to the fact that the Greek and Turkish Governments are now consulting regularly with each other and cooperating closely on Cypriot affairs, and in particular are in complete agreement on the need to support the existing constitutional framework. Given the continuing impasse between the two communities on various constitutional issues, this cooperation between Athens and Ankara is most important. We intend to explore further with the Greek, Turkish, and British Governments, as well as with appropriate Cypriot leaders, ways and means by which our joint influence can be brought to bear to create areas of agreement between the two communities and to discourage efforts of some Cypriots to upset the existing constitutional order.

Two of the aid projects we are currently beginning to implement—the police training program and the labor program—are specifically designed to increase Cypriot capabilities for resisting communist subversion. On the diplomatic level, we intend to continue our efforts to persuade President Makarios and other Cypriot leaders to pursue more active anti-communist policies, following up the President’s remarks on the subject during the visit. While we cannot count on any sudden and radical stiffening in Makarios’ policies in this regard, we hope that our efforts will have a significant cumulative effect over coming months. Already there are signs the Cypriot Government is planning increased support for the anti-communist wing of the labor movement.

The Central Intelligence Agency is submitting a separate memorandum which deals with certain other plans and actions directed against the communist threat in Cyprus.

William H. Brubeck³

0. Source: Department of State, S/S–NSC Files: Lot 72 D 316, NSAM 169. Secret. Drafted by Coon and cleared by Bergesen and Talbot, AID, and USIA. Two annexes, “Progress Report on U.S. Economic Programs in Cyprus” and “USIA Plans for Expanded Cyprus Programs,” are not printed.
1. Document 261.
2. Document 250.
3. Printed from a copy that bears this typed signature. George Anderson signed for Brubeck.