June 2,1956
EDEN-CYPRUS-OIL: London, 1 – British Prime Minister Anthony Eden spoke today with particular hatred against the «radio propaganda of the silliest character,» referring to transmissions from Athens to Cyprus. Mr Eden said it is «contrary to the entire spirit of NATO» for one of its members (Greece) to be inciting «terrorist acts» (Editor’s note: He means EOKA’s liberation struggle) in the territory of another, adding that the Cyprus problem does not constitute a colonial issue nor an issue between Great Britain and Greece alone but has international ramifications. He noted that the island is only 40 miles away from the Turkish coast and 500 miles away from Greece, of which it has never been a part. […] «Cyprus does hold an interest for NATO, but this is not the only consideration. The industrial life of our country and Western Europe today depends, and will continue to depend for many years yet, on Middle Eastern oil. If our sources of oil supply are ever put at risk, we shall be forced to defend them. The installations we need on Cyprus are part of this defense. We are therefore unable to accept any doubts concerning their availability. The loss of oil sources means unemployment and famine for Great Britain.»
