Cyprus-Forum.com

[denizaksulu]

I have always wondered whether the Greek Cypriots would have
achieved Enosis, had Turkey not intervened in 1974.

Opinions among GCs and G's seem to vary with no concensus of opinion.

Did Enosis really die when President Makarios uttered the famous words about 'Enosis being desirable but not feasible'.

I and many TC's and others believe that this is the case; Enosis would have happened.

What do you think?

[Piratis]

Union of Cyprus with Greece, just like union of Cyprus with EU, or union of Cyprus with anything else, should happen if this is what the Cypriots themselves democratically choose.

I believe that from 1950s (or even earlier) a referendum should have been allowed in Cyprus so the Cypriot people could vote and peacefully and democratically decide the destiny of their own island.

The resolution about De-colonization clearly states that "integration into an independent State" is a "legitimate option" for the people being decolonized to choose in a democratic way.

http://www.un.org/Depts/dpi/decolonizat ... ration.htm

Therefore union with Greece should have been an option in such a referendum.

Unfortunately the invaders of Cyprus didn't want to allow the Cypriot people to democratically decide the destiny of their own island, and they, using some small minority as an excuse, denied to the Cypriot people the right of self-determination.

If democracy had been allowed by the British and Turks (instead of insisting to impose their will by force) then nobody would suffer, there would be no conflicts and no wars and no 1974.

If the Cypriot people had democratically chosen union with Greece, then the Greek Cypriot majority and the Turkish Cypriot minority in Cyprus would continue to live on this island as they used to live under Ottoman or British rule, but this time as free equal citizens of the state they democratically choose to be part of, and not as subjects of a foreign empire impose on them by force.

[Piratis]

In 1974 (and since 1967) Greece was ruled by a military junta. The Cypriot people did not want to be under the rule of junta, and therefore during that period the Cypriot people would prefer Cyprus to remain separate and Junta free.

So in 1974 there would be no union with Greece, because the Cypriot people themselves wouldn't want or allow this. (unlike the TCs who are more than happy to be ruled by the military junta of Ankara)

[doesntmatter]

I have always wondered whether the Greek Cypriots would have
achieved Enosis, had Turkey not intervened in 1974.

Opinions among GCs and G's seem to vary with no concensus of opinion.

Did Enosis really die when President Makarios uttered the famous words about 'Enosis being desirable but not feasible'.

I and many TC's and others believe that this is the case; Enosis would have happened.

What do you think?

If it wasn't Makarios who declared enosis, it would have been someone else, so yes, had Turkey not intervened enosis would have happened.

The USA didn't care one way or another as long as Cyprus did not fall in to the hands of the USSR. It was only Turkey's threats of war and the intervention in 1974 that stopped enosis from being achieved. Second factor was that Makarios did not want to lose his power as the "President" of Cyprus.

Archbishop Makarios would reject any arrangement that detracted
from the concept of a unitary state run by the Greek Cypriots. He regrets
signing the London–Zurich Agreements because they granted a
separate status to the Turkish Cypriots. His desire to achieve a unitary
state in Cyprus is evident in the intercommunal talks, where he has been
willing to cooperate on minor issues, but not on the concept of majority
rule. The Archbishop also wants Cyprus to be a totally independent state,
free from outside interference. Although he is a devoted believer in Hellenism
—the cultural identity of Greeks—he opposes enosis in the belief
that political union between Cyprus and Greece would greatly diminish
his power. His public position is, “enosis is fine, but not now.”

Makarios would like to be rid of the General, but is constrained
by certain factors. Grivas is a hero of the struggle for independence,
and to arrest him would risk alienating the enosists among the Greek
Cypriots. Moreover, Makarios must be concerned over Athens’ reaction.
As a result, the Archbishop has been limiting his actions to rounding
up Grivasites and to denigrating his group as “bandits.”

http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/96606.pdf

[Get Real!]

Having experienced Cyprus in the early seventies and right up to the Turkish invasion, I was quite convinced at the time that enosis with Greece had already happened... the national anthem was Greek, the flags, the school materials were provided by Greece, subsidized tertiary education in Greece, everyone went on about Athens this and Athens that, the army was controlled by Greece, etc, etc, etc.

The only thing left that wasn't Greek was the government and that was forcefully replaced via the coup.

How much more Greece could they have possibly shoved down my throat with an “official” enosis?

What would an “official” enosis with Greece possibly involve that wasn’t already implemented?

[zan]

Having experienced Cyprus in the early seventies and right up to the Turkish invasion, I was quite convinced at the time that enosis with Greece had already happened... the national anthem was Greek, the flags, the school materials were provided by Greece, subsidized tertiary education in Greece, everyone went on about Athens this and Athens that, the army was controlled by Greece, etc, etc, etc.

The only thing left that wasn't Greek was the government and that was forcefully replaced via the coup.

How much more Greece could they have possibly shoved down my throat with an “official” enosis?

What would an “official” enosis with Greece possibly involve that wasn’t already implemented?

Totally getting rid of me (TCs)!!!!

[Get Real!]

Having experienced Cyprus in the early seventies and right up to the Turkish invasion, I was quite convinced at the time that enosis with Greece had already happened... the national anthem was Greek, the flags, the school materials were provided by Greece, subsidized tertiary education in Greece, everyone went on about Athens this and Athens that, the army was controlled by Greece, etc, etc, etc.

The only thing left that wasn't Greek was the government and that was forcefully replaced via the coup.

How much more Greece could they have possibly shoved down my throat with an “official” enosis?

What would an “official” enosis with Greece possibly involve that wasn’t already implemented?

Totally getting rid of me (TCs)!!!!

Damn... then I missed out!

[Byron]

We do not need political union to have enosis. The fact that we share the same culture, religion, language and history is ENOSIS. We are all HELLENES.

[Get Real!]

We are all HELLENES.

Stop disrespecting all those Cypriots who have NOTHING to do with Greece or want anything to do with Greece... ok?

[Oracle]

The junta wasn't after Enosis, otherwise why did they merely replace Makarios and continue the "self-determination" as a Republic. Their goal was to replace Makarios with someone more obedient, that is all, and not Enosis.