Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-12-10
First Hand From Cyprus

FIRST mana from cyprus
In her recent letter to The
Star, Miss RoSemarie FanareS
seems to be laboring under the
fallacy that all Cypriots who
wish to bring British rule to
an end either are, or ought to
be, "terrorists." She says: "At
that time (1947-8) there ex-
listed a handful of terrorists-
then referred to as Commu-
nists-who wanted to run the
British out of Cyprus. This
handful has obviously multi
piled. bat whether or not they
are a majority is still un-
known"
Now. I submit that after the
1850 plebiscite. which was con-
Quoted under the aegis of the
Greek Orthodox Church. there
can be no doubt as to the true
wishes of the overwhelming
majority of the Greek Cypriots.
The truth of this contention
is further proved by the reluc-
lance displayed by the British
government to resort to a ref
erendum in order to reach a
political settlement. Had they
sincerely believed they had
even the slightest chance of
convincing the people of Cy-
prus to opt for continued Brit
ish rule, they would surely not
have missed such a splendid
opportunity of giving their
policies the sanction of pub
lie Endorsement.
AS to Miss Fanares' conten-
ton that there is no suppress
sion in Cyprus. I would like to
point out that freedom OF reli-
eion is about the only right the
CypriotS can still enjoy. All
other liberties were gradually
suppressed, some of them as
far back as 1882.
Thus. there is no freedom of
assembly and association, no
right of political opinion and
expression, no personal free
dom and no privacy of CORE
spondence. To top it all, the
right of habeas corpus was
abolished in July, 1855, thus
making it possible for the ad-
miniStration to arrest and in
definitely confine to prison
any person. without due proc
ess of law. The restrictions
recently imposed on education
and the declaration only a few
days ago of a state of emer-
gency complete the grim pic
ture of British colonial liber-
alism.
Speaking as a Cypriot who
has lived for 80 years on the
island. I feel sure that Miss
Fanares would not like living
under such conditions and
that she is grateful for the
freedom of speech, conscience
and belief she enjoys in this
country. and for her right.
under the Constitution, to elect
a Government of her own
choice. This is all the more
reason why she should not try
to convince others that the
Cypriots ought to be contented
with their condition of near
slavery.
John Constantinides.
I was born and reared in
Cyprus and have Just returned
from there. The object of my
visit was to observe the situa-
ton for myself and get first
hand and impartial informa-
ton. I am an American
citizen and I have deep affec-
ton for both the Greeks and
the British.
There is no question that
the situation in Cyprus is ugly
and that, with each day, it
deteriorates even further.
The union with-Greece move
ment which is supported by
four-fifths of the population
is nationalistic in its essence
and has nothing to do with
Communists. 1t is true that
the small but vocal Communist
Party on the island has sup
ported the Enosis movement
IN order to capitalize on the
wishes of the overwhelming
majority of the people and use
them to their own ends. This.
however. does not mean that
the movement is either Com
munist-inspired or Communist
led.
Miss Fanares repeats the
old and WORKOUT argument
that, technically, Cyprus has
never belonged to Greece. I
should think. however, that
such purely technical consider
ations cannot weigh in the bal
ance as long as the culture.
the language, the religion. the
tradition and the customs Of
the islanders are Greek and