Makarios and his dilemma

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33775, 22 February 1975, Page 10

Makarios and his dilemma

Makarios: Pragmatism v. Idealism. By Dr P. N. Vanezis. AbelardSchuman. 191 pp. N.Z. price $6.10.

The coup which dislodged Archbishop Makarios temporarily from the Presidency of Cyprus was engineered by Greek officers. But it failed to unite Cyprus with Greece. It was ironic that the coup attempt should have been against Makarios, who no less determinedly, though with a great deal more subtelty, and mostly with a great deal more legality, had long attempted to have Cyprus declared part Of Greece. But Makarios failed to bring about enosis and took what he could: an independent State. Then, for years, he was the bitter enemy of George Grivas, who tried to bring about enosis through violence. This central dilemma in Makarios is the main theme of Dr Vanezis’s book and provides its subtitle.

The book is the second of a trilogy about Makarios by Dr Vanezis, the first having the sub-title, “Faith and Power,” and the third being written, having the sub-title, “Life and Leadership.” Dr Vanezis is a Greek Cypriot himself and an admirer of Makarios. His committal to the Greek Cypriot case

and to enosis is evident throughout his book. To say that is not to deny the book’s value, for it gives enormous insight into the problems of Cyprus. But. for a favourable interpretation of Turkish relations with the island and a sympathetic treatment of Turkish Cypriots the reader might do better to look elsewhere.' Among the book’s most useful achievements is a frontal attack on the interpretation of Makarios by the international news agencies which tend to treat him as a scheming priest. Lord Caradon, who as Sir Hugh Foot became the last Governor of the island when it was under British administration, also challenges the press interpretations of the Archbishop in his foreword. - In brief, Dr Vanezis sees one part of the island’s problems stemming from the previleged position of the Turks attained during the Ottoman Empire, and not resolved by the later British administration, partly because the British preferred to deal with the strong Turks and were not used to dealing with the Greeks. “Makarios” was written before the coup but almost every page throws light on the events of Cyprus as recorded continually by the news * services.