The danger in Cyprus is now very great. However good the Government’s new plan may be, there is virtually no chance that it will satisfy both sides and so prevent another bloody outbreak of violence in the island. Indeed, it cannot satisfy the Turkish minority which, inspired and directed by the Turkish Government, is determined to prevent any settlement which does not give them partition at once. It is true that, in so behaving, the Turks are merely imitating the Greeks, who have tried to get Enosis by means of terrorism. But there is an officially calculated brutality about present Turkish policy which nothing can justify.
The British Government should make two things clear to the world. First, Britain cannot and must not leave Cyprus until some settlement has been reached which will protect the lives of the Cypriots. One Palestine story is enough. Secondly, Britain no longer has any reason or desire to retain permanent sovereignty over the island. If a base is really needed, it should be a Nato base and not a British one.
Everything possible should now be done to internationalise this dispute. The United States should be asked to restrain Turkey, and if need be the Government should not hesitate to go to the United Nations. It is not only Cyprus which is at stake but peace in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Key quote
“My honour is 15 years too late. They always are for the arts. Nobody gets anything until they are in their seventies.” Dame Maggie Teyte on her inclusion in the Queen’s birthday honours list
Talking point
The Wolverhampton licensing magistrate will have to decide whether to renew the licence of a new luxury ballroom which is openly operating a colour bar as a matter of policy.
Observer news story
