July 12, 1956
ANTHONY EDEN: London, 12 – British Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden’s announcement today in the House of Commons regarding British policy on the Cyprus issue, as expected, ruled out the principle of self-determination «due to international conditions.» CENTER-LEFT: An attempt to reform the Democratic Union (Ed. note: an alliance of parties in the 1956 elections) has been renewed over the past few days by the leader of the DKEL party, Mr Georgios Kartalis, who has raised the issue with the leaders of various opposition parties. He suggests a more substantial revival of the Democratic Union with a leader who would be known as its coordinator. (…) In order to facilitate the effort, the United Democratic Left will not be a part of the Democratic Union during the first stage of its operation. (…) So far the movement has met with serious obstacles. The leader of the FDE party, Mr Sophocles Venizelos, suggests the dissolution of the opposition parties, which would then merge into a single party, while the leader of the Liberals, Mr George Papandreou, rejects this idea, suggesting instead a simple collaboration between opposition parties.
