December 11, 1957
EVANGELOS AVEROF: New York, UN, 9 – The United Nations Political Committee began its debate on the Cyprus issue today with an important statement by British Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Allan Noble. In a hypocritical speech full of inaccuracies, he referred to claims by Britain that London is ready to discuss any proposal acceptable to Greece and Turkey and that the Cyprus issue was an international issue. He also said that there were terrorist activities on the island. His most outrageous claim was that Britain was in favor of self-determination provided it applied to both the Greek and Turkish communities on the island. It was followed by a speech by Greek Foreign Minister Evangelos Averof, which was a merciless criticism of British policy in Cyprus. Averof convincingly argued that Noble’s claims were unfounded, stressing that Britain had never accepted the principle of self-determination nor had it ever taken into consideration last year’s resolution by the UN General Assembly. He also referred at length to the heroism of the National Cypriot Fighters’ Organization (EOKA) and the acts of torture committed by the British occupiers.
