Cyprus: Deceptive Peace

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His Beatitude's Head. What the Turks fear is precisely what Greece threatens: to rip Cyprus from the troubled treaty that gives the 18% Turkish minority a veto over the majority Greek Cypriots and set it on the path toward enosis, or merger with Greece. No one is a blunter advocate of this course than wizened, fierce-mustached George Grivas, 66, the ascetic little soldier (5 ft. 4 in.) who led Cyprus' EOKA revolt against Britain in 1959 and spent five years in Greek exile. Dissatisfied with the policies of Makarios, whom he considers dishonest, not very clever, and a dupe of the Communists, Grivas talked Greece's leadership into letting him return to Cyprus last month. Virtually unannounced, he arrived and instantly won the loyalty of the Greek Cypriot irregulars—to the considerable chagrin of Makarios, who wants to get rid of Turkish influence in Cyprus but is reluctant to make his little land a mere Greek province through enosis.

Grivas dangles over His Beatitude's head a document allegedly signed by the prelate in 1954, swearing to fight for enosis until death. If Makarios has changed his mind, Grivas has not. And yet, for a while at least, Grivas turned out to be a considerable influence for order. From the moment of his arrival, the bristling little fighter talked not only enosis but peace and fair play for the Turks, which, as an undisputed Greek-Cypriot hero, he felt strong enough to do. He also finally brought the Greek Cypriot "national guard," composed of anywhere from 15,000 to 40,000 men, under control, curbing the whims of impetuous lower commanders. A few days after his return, a U.N. official complained to Grivas that Greek Cypriot irregulars were firing nightly at Canadian outposts. "It won't happen again," snapped Grivas, and so far it has not.

Exit the Foreigners. But how long could this semblance of order last? Tension mounted once again and trigger fingers were itching—this time at Temblos, a village not far from Kyrenia, where Greeks last week moved some of their heavy artillery around the mountains to threaten Turkish fighters who had moved in with guns and men. In a cloud on the heights far above, St. Hilarion's castle was occupied by Turkish irregulars with shotguns and pistols, defying the Greeks to attempt an attack.

At week's end, perhaps prompted by the threat of Denmark and Sweden to send their 1,800 U.N. peace-keeping troops home, the U.N.'s Secretary-General U Thant dispatched hot notes to Turkey and Greece, demanding that at the very least the new surreptitious troop buildup be stopped. Grivas himself made it clear that his peace talk and his desire to keep order could only go so far, that he would fight unless he could get enosis. Visiting a hospital in Nicosia, Grivas patted an expectant mother's bulging belly and said: "You will give forth a soldier for freedom."