Selection: Michalis Katsigeras

CYPRUS ISSUE AT THE UN: New York, 27 – At yesterday’s long debate of a draft resolution on the Cyprus issue by the United Nations’ Political Committee, Greek Foreign Minister Evangelos Averoff accused Britain of trying to abort any substantial resolution so that it will have enough time to implement its own plan for the island. Underlining the fact that the Cyprus issue is a threat to security and peace in the Eastern Mediterranean, he rejected the British accusation of violence committed by the National Cypriot Fighters’ Organization (EOKA), saying that Britain preferred the way of force, while Cypriots preferred non-violent struggle. Hinting at a Turkish attempt to re-establish the Ottoman Empire, he rejected Ankara’s territorial claims, since Turkey had given up any rights on the island. He defended Cyprus’s demand for independence, which had first been raised by the Indian representative, and which the Cypriots now accepted. That proposal, said Averoff, was the last chance to resolve the Cyprus issue. In a strongly worded statement, the British delegate demanded that the Cypriots end the violence.