Μακαριος Δρουσιώτης

“I made that clear to British and American officials who came here that, if they, whoever that might be, are looking in Christofias, Secretary General of AKEL and House President, to be a new Talat who will overthrow Papadopoulos as they did over there with Mr. Denktash, they can forget about it.” AKEL leader and acting head of state Demetris Christofias told so Phileleftheros, generating chatting in our political coffee shop, morning and evening radio and TV shows.

 

Despite the endless conversations on the matter, things are still completely obscure: Does Mr. Christofias imply that British and American diplomats suggested him to play leading role, attempting to undermine the position of President Tassos Papadopoulos? If they did, the situation is rather serious. If they did not, then Mr. Christofias lacks earnest. However, although we do not know whom Mr. Christofias meets and what he discusses with them, we doubt that such a proposal was ever made to the House President, for the following basic reasons:

 

* The Americans are ruthless when their financial, geographical and political affairs are touched. However, in the case of Mr. Papadopoulos, they lack motivation, because they seem to get along fine. The USA wanted a solution to facilitate the accession of Turkey to the EU. Mr. Papadopoulos gave them a negotiation date, so they do not care about solving the problem, which sooner or later will be solved. The latest the problem is settled, the better for Turkey.

 

*Even if USA wanted to overthrow Mr. Papadopoulos, they would never go directly to Mr. Chrsitofias to ask his cooperation. Recalling the US diplomatic strategy back in the 60’s and the 70’s, when the Americans were trying to get rid of Makarios, no direct and personal proposition was ever made to anyone.

 

So, the House President cannot open his mouth and say such words, ignoring the consequences. Since he made his statement, he has to make clear: Who and under what circumstances has asked him to assume such role? And if such a proposal was made to him, what were his deals with the Americans and the British that led them to open up to him so much?

 

My personal opinion is that Mr. Christofias has no answers to give; neither does he want to aid the public dialogue. He just drops a hint, creates an impression and reproduces a Stalin-type propaganda, strictly for internal use. In the particular case, he incites the anti-American feelings of AKEL voters and urges them to defend the “hunted” from the Americans Mr. Papadopoulos. Meanwhile, he tries to disdain Talat, as man of the British and the Americans in Cyprus.

 

As time goes by, it becomes clearer what Mr. Papadopoulos has told Kikis Kazamias, that he had done nothing regarding the Cyprus problem without AKEL leadership knowing about it. The policy line of Mr. Papadopoulos was obviously more supportive for Mr. Denktash. After the secret dinners in Strakka, about which Mr. Christofias has made no comments so far, now he expresses his preference to Rauf Denktash, who was “knocked off’ by the bad Americans. So, yesterday the headlines of the extremist Turkish Cypriot daily Volkan newspaper, linked with the "Grey Wolves" ultra-nationalist organization, were the statements of Christofias: “Talat, the man of imperialism”!

Makarios Drousiotis - Politis

13/10/2004