Why Cyprus is important (1958)

From the September 1958 issue of the Socialist Standard

Should anyone have lingering doubts about why the British Government is making such determined efforts to keep control of Cyprus, the following remarks from an authoritative source may help to dispel the doubts.

Field-Marshal Lord Harding, previous Governor of Cyprus, writing in the Daily Express on 6th August about his meetings with Makarios, has this to say:—

  “I told him that we needed the use of the island for military purposes for an indefinite period because of our obligations to our Allies and friends and the unsettled state of the whole Middle East area, exposed as it was to the threat of international Communism."

Thus all the high-flown sentiments about helping its Greek and Turkish Cypriots is just diplomatic window dressing. The real soiled goods are in the shop behind.

Gilmac.