STAFF NOTES: WESTERN EUROPE CANADA INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 05458953
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 28, 2022
• Document Release Date: August 30, 2018
• Case Number: F-2016-01647
• Publication Date: March 10, 1975

pproved for Release: 2018/08/22 C05458953
Western Europe
Europe
Canada
International Organizations
OCI-1 04 8-7 5
March 1 0 , 1975
118
(b)(3)
Approved for Release: 2018/08/22 C05458953
Approved for Release: 2018/08/22 C05458953
Greek Cypriot Unity Broken
The tenuous truce between pro and anti-Makarios
factions within the Greek Cypriot community appears
to have been broken as a result of the attempted assassi-
nation of a high government official on March 9 and
an explosion last week at the Limassol offices of
the Church of Cyprus. President Makarios will now
be under growing pressure from his supporters to
purge the remaining rightist extremists in the gov-
ernment and to move against the remnants of the
EOKA-B terrorist organization which may have been
responsible for the latest acts of violence.
Relations between pro and anti-Makarios sup-
porters began to deteriorate late last month follow-
ing the Greek government's discovery of a plot against
it by supporters of the former junta. Pro-Makarios
groups in Cyprus charged that the conspiracy was also
aimed at the overthrow of the Makarios government and
cal1ed for a purge of junta collaborators from the
bureaucracy and the national guard, as well as the
apprehension of terrorists still at large.
Makarios had previously adopted a conciliatory
line toward the far right in an effort to secure a
common front in the face of the Turkish threat.
This appears to have been a tactical move and he
doubtless was only biding his time before moving
against those who have sought his overthrow. The
latest acts of violence, coupled with pressure
from his supporters, will probably persuade him
to take some punitive measures against the far right,
despite the persistence of the Turkish threat.
This could spark renewed clashes between govern-
ment forces and the well armed, hard-core remnants
of EOKA-B which are particularly strong in the
Limassol area. The terrorists, however, do not ap-
pear to have the means or the popular support to
mount a successful challenge to the government at
this time. (Secret No Foreign Dissem/No Dissem
Abroad/Background Use Only/Controlled Dissem)
March 10, 1975
-10 -
Approved for Release: 2018/08/22 C05458953