June 3, 1956
KARAMANLIS AGAINST EDEN: The Greek prime minister, Constantine Karamanlis, yesterday replied to the remarks of his British counterpart, Anthony Eden, the day before… «Mr Eden has revealed the true thoughts of the British government. To date, Great Britain has refused to grant self-determination to the Cypriot people – the only European people who are still subject to a colonial regime – arguing that strategic, special and more general reasons dictated the maintenance of British sovereignty on the island. Greece has long and repeatedly stated that it acknowledges British control on Cyprus which would fully guarantee its cited strategic interests… It is now, however, revealed that all that the British government has claimed all this time to impress and deceive democratic peoples were simply pretexts. Mr Eden has now crudely acknowledged the real reasons for his government’s refusal to grant self-determination, and they are primarily related to its economic interests in Middle Eastern oil… The peoples of the free world who still believe in freedom and justice now can, thanks to his admissions, better assess the low reasons for which his government is stubbornly refusing this right of the Cypriot people.»
