February 21, 1957
AVEROF ON CYPRUS: New York, 19 – During today’s reopening of the discussion of the Cyprus problem before the Political Committee of the General Assembly of the United Nations, the Greek foreign minister, Evangelos Averof, responded to remarks by Britain’s representative about his country’s provision of aid to Greece during World War II by saying that the Greek people sided with freedom and did not expect help from anyone… Further, Mr Averof described the British and Turkish representatives as «attorneys defending a case which they have lost both morally and judicially.» «They used as intelligently as they could all the possible stratagems to divert the attention of representatives from the substance of the issue,» he said. Mr Averof stressed that the representatives of both aforementioned nations had departed from the moderation to which he tried to adhere. The British claim that Greek weapons were imported into Cyprus through the diplomatic pouch sent to the consul general in Nicosia «is really beyond any imagination,» Averof said. «The British authorities have been able to present only one case, of a ship sailing from Greece which was caught near Cyprus smuggling in weapons.»
