Cyprus Terrorists Reply To New Constitution

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28158, 22 December 1956, Page 11

Cyprus Terrorists Reply To New Constitution

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright)

(Rec. 11 p.m.) LONDON, December 21. The terrorists of Cyprus gave their reply last night to Britain’s proposals for a new island constitution, according to the “News Chronicle” today. They threatened more violence. Eoka leaflets demanded the dismissal of Sir John Harding, negotiations with Archbishop Makarios and full selfdetermination for Cyprus.

The leaflets said that if these demands were not met, the struggle against the British would be intensified. A 24-hour general strike from dawn today has been called for in leaflets distributed in Cyprus by the banned organisation Peka. Peka is believed to be the policy-making wing of Eoka.

The Cyprus Government last night named six prominent Cypriot Greeks whom the Governor is prepared to send to Seychelle Islands for consultations with Archbishop Makarios, the exiled Cypriot leader. They include three elected Cypriot Mayors, two former members of the Executive Council and Nicos Krandidiotis, the Ethnarchy’s secretary-general. Opposition to new Radcliffe constitutional proposals for Cyprus erupted today with a student demonstration at Famagusta and the call for an islandwide strike tomorrow.

Police opened fire to disperse a demonstration and a youth was wounded. Twenty-three young demonstrators were arrested.

The Cyprus Turkish community’s leader. Dr. Kutchuk, is flying 'to Ankara 1 today for 10 days’ consultation on the proposals with the Turkish Government. He has declared his personal disapproval of the Radcliffe terms, which have also been unfavourably received by Greek and Cypriot-Greek opinion. Cypriot representatives at the United Nations today denounced tjie latest British proposals for a new Cyprus constitution. Mr Spyros A. Kyprianou, a representative ot the Ethnarchy of Cyprus, labelled the proposals “an insult to the intelligence of the United Nations, to the intelligence of the British public, and to the intelligence of the people of Cyprus themselves.” Dr. Savvas Loizidis, a member of the Greek delegation to the United Nations General Assembly and councillor of the Ethnarchy, declared that there was no doubt that Cypriots would not accept the proposed “colonial” constitution.

Dr. Loizidis said that Cypriot patriots would continue their resistance to British rule, "and the tortures of the Cypriot people under the inhuman depressive emergency measures of General Harding’s forces will have no end.”