CYPRUS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24630, 11 June 1941, Page 6

CYPRUS

ISLE OF CONTENTION HISTORY OF^STRffE: WHAT. COMES NEXT) \ Geography has played hardly with Cyprus, the largest island in the Mediterranean after Sicily, for if' position has blessed it with climate (except during the torrid midsummer, June/ July, August) if has assured Cyprus; and the Cypriots, through the centuries, of ."ihvasion and attempted invasion, arid oi intrigue and disputing ariiong the nations who have valued r the. island for its strategic, worth in war arid commerce. There have been long[intervals between these bursts of strife, forced upon the Cypriots (states the Evening Post) and one such peaceful interval seems now to be reaching an. end, for the threat of air warfare, fiercer than any of the attacks from the sea during the centuries is over the island, 7jo miles from the coast of Syria'. Other approximate air distances are (to nearest points) 45 miles tto .neutial Turkish Asia Minor, 170 ; miles .to' British Haifa, 270 miles to Italian Rhode*, in the Dodecanese, arid 300, miles!'to Alexandria. ;.'.;; v...-'V"-' .lV;.;li*:■.'£/-. ,X People Mostly Greek '■■ Cyprus (3584 square miles) is very slightly greater in area than Crete, and has a mixed population of ab0ut.360,000, three-fifths of them speaking Greek. They are a different people indeed frofn the Cretes, cheerful and lovable, but never, : for long past, an energetic or progressive people. They have so lorig withstood the impact of the policies of ; greater peoples that they are far more interested in the words than in the acts of politics. : Nevertheless the first- of all British.overseas colonies to. send a military contingent to 'France in 1939 was ■ Cyprus Muleteer Corps. - "' '■■■■"■ ""■' :'■''- ■ / .." The warring over Cyprus .for its strategical importance goes back to the struggles between Constahtine and Islam, and :• beyond. • For 380 Cyprus was the easternmost bastion pi Western Christianity and a, thorn in the side of Islam, ever after the capture of Constantinople itself. The publics of Genoa and Venice fought over and occupied Cyprus, uritil Turkey seized and held the island for 300 years.

~m :„ , Britain Steps In ... f- In 1877, when Russia threatened to ;roll down upon all Turkey, Britain 'could not indifferently, see the threat Of Russian squadrons at Constantinople and Turkish ports to Suez, and Disraeli led in the advice to. Victoria that "Cyprus/.was the gateway of Western Asia." His advocacy -succeeded: Cyprus was leased * rom Turkey, l and ■ Famagusta, in broad Famagusta Bay, at the eastern end of the island, became a naval base lot Britain, It is not a great base, for the island has poor harbours... Cyprus was annexed by Britain When war broke out with Turkey in, 1914; :> ,>y The rise of Italian sea.arid air power during the Fascist, regime again revealed the-importance of Cyprus, for from the, sea base at Leros and the air bases in the Dodecanese Italy planned t'o menace trade routes' through .the Aegean,, to theCßlack Sea. to Syria, Palestine, and the oil lines, arid to the Suez; canal. Had Cyprus possessed harbours or had-time; been sufficient, this island would "likely enough have become Britain's main eastern Mediterranean naval base, rather than threatened Malta or more distant Alexandria; Neither Famagusta. ■ » at the eastern end, nor Limassol.-iri-a lesser bay on the could be transformed from roadstead to major base in fewer than many years. ." ~ ■ xo , The Central Plain -

; Cyprus, then, cannot in this war be a; naval strong point, but it fnav. and. Undoubtedly 'will if Germany gets a. throttling grip on, the -French air bases, of Syria.-be fought the vital sir battles of the Mediterranean and the Near East campaigns. Crete was lost because Germany, had. a vast preponderance "of aircraft and a great advantage in aerodromes - within operating distance. .\v '■■ Cyprus has one great central and almost treeless plain, capable of rapid transformation into - aerodrome area* from which defensive,;-aircraft could operate in any number that can be made available. This is "the MesaOria, or Messaria. running east and west for a clear 60 miles, and varying from 10 to 20 miles wide. It is the groundwork of one of the great airfields of the world and far greater than any other in the eastern Mediterranean. U Lesser level areas are- round the long coastline, and there are possibilities at Limassol. and Famagusta. but it will be from the central plain of the Mesaoria that British aircraft will rise against an attempted repetition of the air invasion tactics of Crete.- ;?■•■.'■-•;'-:■