Piratis,
Makarios cannot escape blame for Grivas's attempt for trying to grab Cyprus for Greece in 1974. Makarios was "aiding and betting" attempts to join Greece from 1960's or so, by building his private army against the will of the constitution. Between 1960 and 1974, I believe majority of the GC's would have been comfortable had it succeded in uniting with Greece. We can not only blame Makarios, because at the end of the day, he was chosen by the people, just like, we can blame the American people for voting in George Bush for the second time, despite his criminal activities against humanity in his first term of office.
Hi Kikapu,
I think you are almost certainly right that even leading upto 1974 the majority of GreekCypriots would have been comfortable with Enosis, so yes the desire for Enosis is certainly a failing of the GC community. But let's also remember that although this was the case this does not mean that those same GCs would have been comfortable with the extermination of the TC population as advocated by Sampson and the like and implied by some members on this forum. Also remember that Grivas was dead by 1974 and that Makarios certainly was against the coupists intentions at this time. It is subject to debate whether Makarios was still pursuing the dream of Enosis at this time or not but the fact that he did not side with the coupists and that a coup was required in the first place is a good indication that at this time his aim was certainly not immediate Enosis with Greece. It is also questionable whether most GCs would have wanted Enosis with Greece at the immediate time given the military dictatorship she was under at the time. Of course had this changed (as it did in 1974) I am sure many GCs would still have favoured Enosis although not necessarily insisted on it.
