What kind of president takes power and immediately begins the destruction of that state?
One name dominates our bloodied and tearful history
By Loucas Charalambous
THESE anniversary programmes on television and the long articles about the history of the Cyprus problem can sometimes be productive. True, you hear and read a lot of stupidities and exaggerations but there are exceptions to this general rule.
Some of the protagonists of the events, either through stupidity or naivety, reveal things that are of great importance to anyone interested in exploring the reasons for our trials and tribulations. Hidden in the myths, lies, exaggerations and boastings, a careful person who is interested in ascertaining the true facts will always find testimonies that shed light on what really happened and who the culprits were.
Apart from the responsibilities of individuals and organisations for specific events, the person who should take the largest share of the blame for the tragic course of our history, stained with blood and tears, was the late Archbishop Makarios – not only because he was president, but also for his actions. He created the setting for the frightening events that unfolded.
This is supported by the shocking testimonies that have seen the light in the last few years. After all, the most important question is who set the tragic events in motion? Who, in 1963, opened the wound which gave the opportunity or the pretext to every charlatan and idiot, inside and outside Cyprus, to pose as a doctor? The remedies prescribed made the wound gangrenous and eventually killed the patient.
It could be said that history is now taking revenge on Makarios in the most merciless way, as the most damning evidence has been provided by people from his own circle who were actively involved in the events.
The latest case was Nicos Koshis, one of the most active and zealous of Makarios paramilitary chiefs. In a CyBC show last week, Koshis clearly stated that the infamous Akritas organisation, of which he was ‘chief of staff’, had been set up on the instructions of Makarios, who was directing its operations at special sessions held at the presidential palace. Makarios would even decide who would be given guns, said Koshis.
His testimony backs what Christodoulos Christodoulou – the deputy chief of staff of Akritas – said in an interview published by Simerini nine months ago. Christdoulou said that Makarios was the “invisible leader” of the organisation.
According to the testimonies of people who were involved in the events and which have not been challenged by anyone, we can conclude the following: a few months after the establishment of the Cyprus Republic, its president sets up an illegal, armed organisation with the objective of destroying the new state. This is a unique case in world history – a head of state plotting to dissolve his own state. (Testimonies of Koshis and Christodoulou.)
This organisation instigated violent conflict, resorting to acts of provocation in order to turn the population against the Turkish Cypriots. In September 1963, it sets fire to the Ayios Kassianos school and the following December it places a bomb at the statue of the EOKA hero Marcos Drakos in Nicosia. (Confession by the arsonist and testimony by Chrysafis Chrysafi and Andreas Azinas.)
Under these conditions and with a man like Makarios in charge of its fate, did Cyprus have any chance – even the tiniest – of avoiding the disastrous course it followed in the first 10 years of its existence as a state?
Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2009
Hey! I thought you said you all died from the genocides??? 
