GREECE: I Am with You, Democracy Is with You

A telephone call last Tuesday to the Paris apartment of former Greek Premier Constantino Caramanlis signaled a historic turning point for Greece. It was from Greek President Phaedon Gizikis in Athens, begging Caramanlis, 67, to end eleven years of exile and "return home as soon as possible." A second call came from French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing, placing a French Mystere 20 jet at his disposal, since commercial service to the troubled country had been halted. Within hours the Greek elder statesman was airborne, on his way to Athens. By the time he landed, to a tumultuous welcome from his countrymen, he had been named Greece's new Premier, and a new hope for democracy had appeared in Greece.

It was a surprising denouement to a crisis that only hours earlier had threatened war between Greece and Turkey over the embattled island of Cyprus.

There were other welcome surprises during the week. The righting between invading Turks and Greek Cypriots that had engulfed the tiny Mediterranean is land in a bloodletting was halted in a shaky cease-fire enforced by United Na tions troops. The chance of war between Turkey and Greece — both NATO allies — diminished, though it remained a worrisome possibility. The Soviet Union resisted the temptation to make political capital from the Turkish-Greek confrontation, thus affirming the spirit of detente with the U.S. And the other NATO nations fully consulted among themselves and acted in concert to dampen the conflict—in sharp contrast to the discord and backbiting during the energy crisis last winter. In short, the week demonstrated that the Western allies are still capable of drawing together and speaking with a unified voice.

The most startling turnabout, however, was the unexpected decision by the junta that had repressively ruled Greece since April 1967 to return the country to a civilian government. Though there had been rumbles of discontent in the military ever since the reckless Cyprus coup and especially after Greece's humiliating inability to oppose Turkey's invasion of Cyprus, experts expected nothing more than the replacement of one general by another. Or, they feared, younger ultranationalist officers bent on war against Turkey and unification of Cyprus and Greece might attempt a coup and make Greece even more militant and authoritarian. Instead, there was a mass exodus of almost the entire military cadre from the government.

Shaken and Unsure. The change came without warning. After a weekend of fighting on Cyprus, President Gizikis, a lieutenant general, called an emergency meeting last Tuesday of eight of his country's most illustrious civilian leaders and four of the highest-ranking military men. His voice cracking with emotion, he told the men, who included four ex-Premiers and four ex-Cabinet members, that Greece was without a government.