November 29, 1958
CYPRUS ISSUE: During this week’s United Nations Political Committee discussion of a draft resolution on the Cyprus issue, the British representative, Allan Noble, rejected the Greek demand for independence for Cyprus, as well as a division of the island, but commented that Turkey was justified in asking for the latter. Noble requested the approval of the British proposal for a «continuation of talks aimed at a friendly resolution» of the problem after emphasizing that it was currently impossible to resolve the issue at the UN without this leading to division and perhaps even international conflict. During the afternoon the Cypriot delegate Fadil Zorlu made no reference whatsoever to division, but he did speak in favor of the British plan for Cyprus. The next day, the representative of Colombia suggested that UN observers should be sent to the island to review the political, economic and social situation and to offer their good services if the parties involved considered that this might be useful. Greek Foreign Minister Evangelos Averof agreed to the proposal, though with some amendments, as did the Turkish delegate.
