353. Memorandum From the Executive Secretary of the Department of State (Eliot) to the Presidentʼs Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger)1
SUBJECT
- Cyprus—Recent Developments and Current Assessment
Recent Developments:
On March 8 as-yet unidentified assailants narrowly missed assassinating President Makarios when they peppered his helicopter with bullets as it took off from the Archbishopric in Nicosia. After the attempt, suspicion focused on former Interior Minister Polycarpos Georkadjis and a right-wing terrorist organization, the National Front. Makarios forced Georkadjis to resign his ministerial post in 1968 after the Greek Government implicated him in an abortive attempt to assassinate Prime Minister Papadopoulos. The National Front is a secret terrorist group that vehemently opposes Makariosʼ policy of abandoning enosis (union with Greece) and negotiating with the Turkish Cypriots on the basis of a “feasible” (independent) solution to the Cyprus problem.
After being prevented by police from leaving Cyprus on March 13, Georkadjis was gunned down outside of Nicosia on March 15. The murderer or murderers have not been identified but the most plausible theory at this point suggests that co-conspirators in the Makarios assassination attempt were responsible for Georkadjisʼ death.
Greco-Turkish Implications:
Since Turkish Cypriots are not suspected of involvement in either of the recent shootings, the impact on the volatile intercommunal situation has been marginal. The negotiations between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities are expected to continue although little progress is expected in view of the entrenched positions of the respective protagonists.
While Athens and Ankara are concerned over recent events, they appear determined to continue their commitment to resolving the Cyprus question peacefully through the local talks. In spite of a growing volume of evidence implicating mainland Greek military officers [Page 872] in Cyprus in the recent shootings, we believe that Papadopoulos government does not condone such activities and that it is taking steps to bring such dissidents to heel.
Outlook:
We expect Makarios to retain his preeminent position as political and spiritual leader of the Greek Cypriots and to continue to play a major role in the sensitive on-going negotiations with the Turkish Cypriots. For all his faults—and they are many—only he commands the overwhelming popular support that is a stabilizing factor within the Greek Cypriot community and a base from which compromise and flexibility are at least possible in the talks. In the longer run, however, his narrow escape will set a precedent and remove a psychological restraint on others with similar intentions.
The Georkadjis murder is likely to lead to more intracommunal bloodletting as loyal former EOKA henchmen seek vengeance for the slaying of their patron and leader. Again, however, although it cannot be completely ruled out, we do not foresee this violence spilling over to the Turkish Cypriot community which is still uninvolved in the gun-toting turmoil of the Greek Cypriot community.
U.S. Position:
We are monitoring events closely and encouraging Athens and Ankara to continue pursuing their positive approach to this problem. We see little benefit in actively inserting ourselves into the situation in Cyprus at this time. In fact, we would like to conserve our capital at this time since we may find more pressing occasions to spend it in the future.
- Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 592, Country Files—Middle East, Cyprus, Vol. I. Jan 1969–June 30, 1974. Secret. A notation by Saunders on the memorandum reads: “Encorporated in daily Brief. HS”↩