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Cyprus and the 300 Soldiers of Leonidas
Cyprus Mail, Cyprus
July 23 2006
By Nicos Rolandis
A WAVE of merciless carnage, destruction and despair has again
reached our shores. It has inundated the Middle East and the Eastern
Mediterranean. July 1982 comes back to my mind, when Beirut was in
flames and I convened here in Cyprus a conference of the Non-Aligned
Movement to express solidarity to the Palestinians. The international
community was as frigid and nonchalant as it is today.
Solidarity is always welcome in circumstances such as the above.
Practical results however are almost non-existent. The flames which
burn the flesh and the soul cannot be put out by words and wishes. As
Pope Benedict said when he visited Auschwitz "In a place like this,
words fail. In the end there can only be a dreaded silence - a silence
which is itself a heartfelt cry to God: Why, Lord, did you remain
silent? How could you tolerate all this?"
The Middle East and Cyprus have followed parallel paths in the past.
We both have unresolved national problems, military confrontations,
occupied territories, human losses, refugees, missing persons. We also
have a number of other common traits: extreme nationalism, lack of
moderation, stubborn pursuit of the absolute and a tendency to overlook
the political balances in our area, in which might creates right.
If both in our case and in the case of the Middle East, the love for
our country was not going only through our hearts but through our
minds as well, we would have all ended up in a much better position.
The recent meeting of President Papadopoulos and Turkish Cypriot leader
Talat was a step in the right direction. It took place, however,
after a long and unwarranted delay. I hope it is not too late. For
the past three years the trains leading to a possible solution were
loaded only with dreams and hopes - nothing else. They left Cyprus
behind, in a misty atmosphere, with new settlers coming in, replete
with pain for properties lost in the occupied north. We now need
positive developments. If nothing happens, I fear that we shall move
into a new adventure with unpredictable consequences.
Former President of Greece Costis Stephanopoulos, a mature politician,
has warned about a possible armed conflict with Turkey if the
national issues remain unresolved. The appraisal of former Prime
Minister of Greece Costas Simitis is similar to the above. The two
distinguished Greek politicians know very well how inflammable our
area may become. They both lived through the incidents with the Imia
islands and the S300 missiles, which almost led to war. I was in
Geneva when the decision was taken not to import the missiles into
Cyprus. I had meetings with Greek Minister and Simitis "confident"
Alecos Papadopoulos at the residence of Archbishop Damaskinos of
Switzerland. I know that we got very close to war.
As I have written in the past, Cypriots never assessed correctly the
danger of military conflict. After the coup in 1974, many people
here excluded the possibility of invasion. They considered that
Turkey would not dare to move against Cyprus, because the latter
was a member of the United Nations, of the Council of Europe, of the
non-Aligned Movement, of the Commonwealth and furthermore Cyprus had
signed an Association Agreement with the European Communities. They
also relied on the Guarantees of Greece and the United Kingdom. Our
political demeanour however in the 1960s, the various warlords and
their followers and the coup d'etat which ensued, constituted an
explosive brinkmanship. We avoided the invasion in 1964 and in 1967;
we did not avoid it in 1974. In addition Makarios himself believed
that there wouldn't be a coup against him; but the coup took place.
We are now of the impression that, irrespective of our political
behavior, Europe will always avert threats against us. If this
was the case Greece would not face any danger in 1996 with the Imia
islands and in 1998 with the S300 missiles. The warnings of President
Stephanopoulos would not be valid either.
Greek politicians were much more prudent than their Cypriot peers in
this regard. They had made it clear since the 1960s that Greece could
not be drawn into armed conflict, whenever Cyprus decided unilaterally
to follow her own course. Georghios Papandreou, Constatinos Karamanlis,
Andreas Papandreou, George Rallis, Constantinos Mitsotakis and Costas
Simitis gave discreetly the above message to us. Andreas Papandreou
was particularly cautious. In April 1983, when we were in Athens on a
state visit, there were rumours about a probable military operation
by the Turks, as a result of the activities of Armenian fighters in
Cyprus. The Prime Minister considered the situation as very grave,
so he convened an urgent meeting. I set out here below the exact
contents of a note prepared by the then Director of my office (and
recently Minister) Alecos Shambos.
"On the 12/4/83, before lunch, a meeting was held at the residence
of Ambassador Mr Hadjimiltis; Messrs Papandreou, Kyprianou,
Haralambopoulos, Skoularikis, Drosoyiannis, Rolandis, Veniamin, D.
Michaelides and service personnel participated. The subject examined
was the security of Cyprus, especially in the light of Turkish threats
related to the Armenians. It was clear that the Prime Minister
wanted to ascertain to what extent Greece would be implicated in case
Cyprus was struck by a limited Turkish military operation (bombing
or occupation of the Melkonian School etc).
At no stage of the meeting Greece undertook a commitment to support
Cyprus militarily in case of military operation of any nature. It
became clear though, that there was an intention of military support
of a certain nature by Greece, without a clear definition of such a
support. It was decided that in case of a limited Turkish operation
our own reaction should also be limited and not extend beyond the
space which Turkey would strike. In this regard Papandreou mentioned
that Greece might send approximately 300 men for the support of Cyprus.
When we finished, the atmosphere was frigid. One of the Cypriot
participants whispered in my ear: "Nicos, does he mean he will send
to us the 300 fighters of Leonidas?" (Leonidas was a legendary king
of ancient Greece who fought the Persians with 300 men).
So, President Papadopoulos, watch your step. I do not think that you
have convinced either the government and certainly not the opposition
in Greece about your line of thought. Moreover you have not convinced
the Europeans and the Americans. So do not set the measure higher
than you can jump. If we have a serious military problem, Europe is not
going to attempt to save us, unless we convince her that we work in a
correct way to save ourselves. Thus far we have not convinced her. ??
NICOS A. ROLANDIS POLITICAL BUREAU
Cyprus Mail, Cyprus
July 23 2006
By Nicos Rolandis
A WAVE of merciless carnage, destruction and despair has again
reached our shores. It has inundated the Middle East and the Eastern
Mediterranean. July 1982 comes back to my mind, when Beirut was in
flames and I convened here in Cyprus a conference of the Non-Aligned
Movement to express solidarity to the Palestinians. The international
community was as frigid and nonchalant as it is today.
Solidarity is always welcome in circumstances such as the above.
Practical results however are almost non-existent. The flames which
burn the flesh and the soul cannot be put out by words and wishes. As
Pope Benedict said when he visited Auschwitz "In a place like this,
words fail. In the end there can only be a dreaded silence - a silence
which is itself a heartfelt cry to God: Why, Lord, did you remain
silent? How could you tolerate all this?"
The Middle East and Cyprus have followed parallel paths in the past.
We both have unresolved national problems, military confrontations,
occupied territories, human losses, refugees, missing persons. We also
have a number of other common traits: extreme nationalism, lack of
moderation, stubborn pursuit of the absolute and a tendency to overlook
the political balances in our area, in which might creates right.
If both in our case and in the case of the Middle East, the love for
our country was not going only through our hearts but through our
minds as well, we would have all ended up in a much better position.
The recent meeting of President Papadopoulos and Turkish Cypriot leader
Talat was a step in the right direction. It took place, however,
after a long and unwarranted delay. I hope it is not too late. For
the past three years the trains leading to a possible solution were
loaded only with dreams and hopes - nothing else. They left Cyprus
behind, in a misty atmosphere, with new settlers coming in, replete
with pain for properties lost in the occupied north. We now need
positive developments. If nothing happens, I fear that we shall move
into a new adventure with unpredictable consequences.
Former President of Greece Costis Stephanopoulos, a mature politician,
has warned about a possible armed conflict with Turkey if the
national issues remain unresolved. The appraisal of former Prime
Minister of Greece Costas Simitis is similar to the above. The two
distinguished Greek politicians know very well how inflammable our
area may become. They both lived through the incidents with the Imia
islands and the S300 missiles, which almost led to war. I was in
Geneva when the decision was taken not to import the missiles into
Cyprus. I had meetings with Greek Minister and Simitis "confident"
Alecos Papadopoulos at the residence of Archbishop Damaskinos of
Switzerland. I know that we got very close to war.
As I have written in the past, Cypriots never assessed correctly the
danger of military conflict. After the coup in 1974, many people
here excluded the possibility of invasion. They considered that
Turkey would not dare to move against Cyprus, because the latter
was a member of the United Nations, of the Council of Europe, of the
non-Aligned Movement, of the Commonwealth and furthermore Cyprus had
signed an Association Agreement with the European Communities. They
also relied on the Guarantees of Greece and the United Kingdom. Our
political demeanour however in the 1960s, the various warlords and
their followers and the coup d'etat which ensued, constituted an
explosive brinkmanship. We avoided the invasion in 1964 and in 1967;
we did not avoid it in 1974. In addition Makarios himself believed
that there wouldn't be a coup against him; but the coup took place.
We are now of the impression that, irrespective of our political
behavior, Europe will always avert threats against us. If this
was the case Greece would not face any danger in 1996 with the Imia
islands and in 1998 with the S300 missiles. The warnings of President
Stephanopoulos would not be valid either.
Greek politicians were much more prudent than their Cypriot peers in
this regard. They had made it clear since the 1960s that Greece could
not be drawn into armed conflict, whenever Cyprus decided unilaterally
to follow her own course. Georghios Papandreou, Constatinos Karamanlis,
Andreas Papandreou, George Rallis, Constantinos Mitsotakis and Costas
Simitis gave discreetly the above message to us. Andreas Papandreou
was particularly cautious. In April 1983, when we were in Athens on a
state visit, there were rumours about a probable military operation
by the Turks, as a result of the activities of Armenian fighters in
Cyprus. The Prime Minister considered the situation as very grave,
so he convened an urgent meeting. I set out here below the exact
contents of a note prepared by the then Director of my office (and
recently Minister) Alecos Shambos.
"On the 12/4/83, before lunch, a meeting was held at the residence
of Ambassador Mr Hadjimiltis; Messrs Papandreou, Kyprianou,
Haralambopoulos, Skoularikis, Drosoyiannis, Rolandis, Veniamin, D.
Michaelides and service personnel participated. The subject examined
was the security of Cyprus, especially in the light of Turkish threats
related to the Armenians. It was clear that the Prime Minister
wanted to ascertain to what extent Greece would be implicated in case
Cyprus was struck by a limited Turkish military operation (bombing
or occupation of the Melkonian School etc).
At no stage of the meeting Greece undertook a commitment to support
Cyprus militarily in case of military operation of any nature. It
became clear though, that there was an intention of military support
of a certain nature by Greece, without a clear definition of such a
support. It was decided that in case of a limited Turkish operation
our own reaction should also be limited and not extend beyond the
space which Turkey would strike. In this regard Papandreou mentioned
that Greece might send approximately 300 men for the support of Cyprus.
When we finished, the atmosphere was frigid. One of the Cypriot
participants whispered in my ear: "Nicos, does he mean he will send
to us the 300 fighters of Leonidas?" (Leonidas was a legendary king
of ancient Greece who fought the Persians with 300 men).
So, President Papadopoulos, watch your step. I do not think that you
have convinced either the government and certainly not the opposition
in Greece about your line of thought. Moreover you have not convinced
the Europeans and the Americans. So do not set the measure higher
than you can jump. If we have a serious military problem, Europe is not
going to attempt to save us, unless we convince her that we work in a
correct way to save ourselves. Thus far we have not convinced her. ??
NICOS A. ROLANDIS POLITICAL BUREAU