Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-03-11
Choice of Evils

In banishing Greek Orthodox Arch
bishop Makarios from Cyprus, Prime
Minister Eden and his government pre-
sumably have done so only after the
most careful and soul-Searching delibera-
ton. They must have anticipated, for
one thing, most of the repercuSSionS that
have now enSued-the bitter criticism
being heaped on them at home and
abroad, the violent Cypriot reactions, the
mob demonstrations in Athens, the recall
of Greece'S Ambassador to London and
the dangerous new strains imposed not
only on the Balkan alliance but also on
British Turkish-Greek relations within
the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Potentially at least, some of these
developmentS-eSpec those affecting
NATO's position in the Eastern Mediter-
ranean-are grave in the extreme, and
the Kremlin can hardly fail to profit from
them Yet, despite this, the Eden gov
eminent apparently has been moved to
act as it has because of firm and COM
polling conviction that 1t could have
taken no other course in an acutely dif-
ficult situation offering nothing but
choice of evils. In Britain's official judy
ment, the lesser of the evils is Arch
bishop Makarios' deportation-a move
accompanied by charges that the church
man, political as well as spiritual
leader, has actively supported terrorism
and violence in Cyprus in an effort to
force the British to give up the island
forthwith and permit 1t to unite with
Greece.
Just a short time ago 1t seemed
that Britain, in negotiations with Arch
bishop Makarios, was close to persuading
him and Greece to accept compromise
agreement on Cypriot self-rule. But he
proved to be unyielding and declined
to speak out against terrorist acts, with
his Punishment resulting. The Greeks
have advanced persuasive arguments
arguments now tragically punctuated by
violence-in support of their contention
that Cyprus should become an integral
part Of their country. However, In fair
ness to the Eden government, 1t must
be added that an at least equally per-
suasive case has been presented by the
British. After all, they have been in
effective control of this crown colony
since 1873 and they must reckon with
several vital factors. These include ()
Turkeys concern for the minority Of
100000 Turks in the islands population
of 100000, (2) the fact that Britains
military position there serves as a de-
fensive bastion of great strategic impor-
lance to NATO, and (3) considering the
nature of Greeces politics-which could
lead one of these days to Communist
tinged government-the Atlantic COM
munity cannot risk the sort of union
that Athens has insisted upon.
The relative merits of these argu-
ments, Greek and British alike, can be
debated endlessly and with great force.
Similarly, the decision to deport Arch
bishop Makarios. lends itself to defense
or attack of an almost unlimited sort.
But the only thing certain about the
situation is that Mr.. Eden and his col
leagues-like the French with their trou-
bles in North Africa and like our own
Mr.. Dulles with some of the issues that
confront him-are dealing here with one
of those enormously complex and delicate
problems that seem to have become the
daily lot of the free world. Solomon him
self never had it so hard. There are no
easy or simple solutions, and sideline
critics should limit their fire accordingly.