Cyprus—1966!

MR. STAPELLS:

The Commonwealth is, no doubt, a modern political paradox. How, for instance, can a Queen be the head of a republic? How can she speak with two opposing voices?

But the pragmatic solutions of the Commonwealth to the passing of an empire have been unique in world historyeven President de Gaulle filched the concept for his French Union.

Probably the most strange addition to the Commonwealth is Cyprus. On public holidays, citizens may fly the Cypriot, Greek and Turkish flags but their Constitution makes no reference to any Commonwealth symbol or to the Crown.

As in all well-ordered Commonwealth countries, there was proper emphasis on due process of law in the independence Constitution of 1960. Our guest today, Mr. Justice Wilson, had the unusual experience of being an essential part of that Constitution. In 1962, he was granted a leave of absence from the Ontario Supreme Court, where he has served since 1945, to accept the appointment as President of the High Court of Justice for Cyprus, and, as the neutral non-Cypriot member of that Court. And for five months he did double duty as Acting President of the Constitutional Court after the resignation of Dr. Forsthoff, its first neutral President.

Mr. Justice Wilson's powers of observation, sharpened from his early days as a reporter for the Toronto Star, a distinguished career on the Bench and a sense of geography gained through his fellowship in the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, all ensure for us a perceptive picture of Cyprus.

There is a Cypriot proverb which says

"If the stone falls on the egg, alas for the eggIf the egg falls on the stone-alas for the egg."

I invite you to ponder on the wisdom of this proverb.

But before you do, allow me to present The Honourable Mr. Justice John L. Wilson, member of the Supreme Court of Ontario, who will tell us his Cyprus story.

MR. JUSTICE WILSON:

I must say that I am not accustomed to address large gatherings such as this. I feel more nervous now than I did one afternoon on my way home from court in Nicosia. Leaving the city by my usual route I came upon a road block which had been erected during the day-road blocks then were apt to appear suddenly almost anywhere. In charge of this one was a burly uniformed Turkish Cypriot policeman armed with a home made machine gun which had no safety catch. I had come to a stop when he had made it plain that I would not be permitted to proceed. On the other hand I had informed him that I should be allowed to do so because there were supposed to be no restrictions as to where I could go. Then, as he turned his gun on me he looked as though he would shoot, I thought discretion was the better part of valor. So, I turned my car around, after warning him he would hear more about this incident, and drove back to the Turkish Cypriot headquarters where I informed them in plain language I wanted no more experiences of that kind-and there were none. Before I come to the topic of this address "Cyprus 1966" there is some preliminary information for those who have not visited the island. It lies in the eastern end of the Medi terranean Sea, 60 Miles west of Syria, 40 miles south of Turkey and about 600 miles south east of Athens. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean, Sardinia and Sicily being larger. It is 140 miles long, 60 miles wide at its widest point, roughly isosceles triangular in shape with the apex pointing northeasterly. Along the southwesterly half of the southerly side runs the Troodos range of mountains, Mount Troodos being 6,400 feet above sea level. In February and March there is good skiing upon its slopes. Along most of the northwesterly side there is the Kyrenia range reaching a height of approximately 2,300 feet above sea level. It is penetrated by two passes in one of which the Kyrenia Pass there was much shooting during the early months of the present inter communal troubles. Between the two mountain ranges lies the fertile Messaroria Plain. In the centre is Nicosia, the capital.

The population is between 500,000 and 600,000. 1/3 rural. The Greek Cypriots to whom I shall refer for convenience as "the Greeks" comprise about 78% of the inha bitants, the Turkish Cypriots, to whom I shall refer as "Turks" 17%, miscellaneous, which includes the British and others 5%. The number of inhabitants has varied greatly over the centuries from perhaps over a million at the time of St. Paul and Barnabas landed at Salamis, to;' 80,000 in 1878 when the British took over the government by arrangement with Turkey. In 1925 Cyprus became a Crown Colony. On August 10, 1960 it became an independent member of the British Commonwealth for 5 years. During the summer of 1965 the House of Representatives passed an act to continue the membership. .

Inhabited since the days of Neolithic Man, there are great gaps in its known history. It has been ruled by Phoenicians, Egyptians, Romans, Lusignans, Venetians and Turks. The last named ruled it for over 400 years prior to 1878. It has never been ruled by Greece. When the Hellenic people migrated down through what we now know as the Greek Islands, the migration continued into Cyprus. Notwithstanding many infusions into the population by its various rulers, the Hellenic influence has persisted to the present. None of the foreign rulers really tried to eradicate it. The Turks who are there today are the remains of a larger Turkish population to be found during the long Turkish rule. There is a large literate element and, speaking generally, a standard of living much higher than that to be found in Greece or Turkey.

Before 1955 there had been abortive sporadic demonstrations against the British, and unsuccessful efforts by the Colonial Office in London to give Cyprus a measure of self government. In 1955 fighting got under way. Archbishop Makarios, the autonomous head of the Greek Orthodox Church in Cyprus was its leader, and General Grivas, a Cypriot, who was a general in the Greek army, was its fighting head. Sometime after independence General Grivas fell into disfavour in Greece, where he lived, but in the late spring 1964 he secretly returned to Cyprus and has been there ever since. Since late in that year he has commanded the Cypriot Greek army, now called the National Guard. .

Government. The written constitution was brought into existence by a four power treaty, known as the London Agreement, signed by Great Britain, Turkey, Greece and Cyprus. It provided that certain articles (paragraphs) could not be changed without the consent of all signatories and others that could be changed by Cyprus alone. Basically it recognized that Greeks comprised 78% of the population and the Turks, 17%. The government was composed of a Greek President, a Turkish Vice-president; a House of Representatives whose President was a Greek and Vicepresident a Turk. The Cabinet was chosen by the President and Vice-President from outside the House of Representatives.

The constitution in some respects was impractical and resulted in, first, friction between the Greeks and Turks in the government. Later, by the end of -1963, the Turkish vice-president, cabinet members and members. of the House of Representatives were no longer attending their offices. Shooting between the two communities broke out on or about December 20, 1963 and the Turks have not returned to their offices since. The Greeks will only let them return on terms set by them. The Turks say they will only return if the constitution as it stood at independence is recognized and observed. The Greeks no longer recognize the Turkish vice-president and three Turkish cabinet ministers as holding office. They have also denounced certain parts of the constitution as not being in force.

On September 1, 1966 publicity was given in Cyprus to an article published in London in the new Commonwealth journal. This was based on an interview with Archbishop Makarios and quoted him as saying "I would like both Greeks and Turks in Cyprus to sit round a table in a spirit of goodwill and without outside interferences and try to find a peaceful and democratic solution, and find the way to live, as they have for so many years in the past, in peaceful co-operation," The following day a spokesman for the Turks replied that on several occasions Dr. Kuchuk, the Vicepresident, had asked for talks between "Greek and Turkish Cypriots in authority to discuss matters within the framework of the constitution" but met with the Greek response that the Greeks were not prepared for discussions on this basis.

One real difficulty is that the Greeks have a hearty dislike for the leader of the Turks, who is now virtually exiled with his family in Ankara, in Turkey. On the Turks' side there is a distrust of the Archbishop. Both leaders are able and clever men. The real problem in Cyprus, in my opinion, is the fear that the Turks have for the safety of their lives and property in the future. Whether rightly or wrongly they believe they would be persecuted as to person and property if Cyprus were to join Greece. This is based upon what they contend is to be learned from the history of the treatment of Turks from Turkey by the Greeks in what are now parts of Greece, the Greek Islands, and by what has occurred in Cyprus since independence, particularly since the shooting began in December 1963 to date. There are still almost daily incidents in some of which people are killed but these are only infrequently reported in our Canadian newspapers. If they were the the importance of the contributions of Canada and other countries to the United Nations Peace Force in Cyprus by men and money would be better understood. They are not only making possible some time in the future real peace in the island but they are preventing what could easily become another world war. For example: On September 19, 1966, four weeks ago tomorrow, a Turk, while cycling home in the little mixed village of Arsos in the central plain in Cyprus with an almost equal number of Greeks and Turks living there, was shot and killed. "The whole village rushed to arms and there was an eye-ball to eye-ball confrontation. In this atmosphere it was almost inevitable that shooting would break out, and it did on the Sunday. As a result, a Greek was killed, and two others wounded. Further killing was only averted by the very quick and decisive action of the troops of the United Nations Peace Force, who went into the village and took over complete control.

"It is of very little consequence that the murderers of that unfortunate Turk on the Friday, were criminal lunatics. The really terrible thing about the whole affair is the consequences that, but for the prompt action of UNFICYP, would have flowed from that killing.

"A member of one community is killed, and but for the intervention of a third party, the whole village would have been one holocaust. This is Cyprus.

"This time it was a Turk who was killed first. Next time it could be a Greek. However sad and terrible the murder of any human being may be, this is not the point at issue, it is the frightful consequences that inevitably follow from such actions when they are committed in Cyprus that is so terrifying." Special news bulletin of September 21, 1966, No. 918, issued by the Turkish communal chamber, Nicosia.

Almost daily the United Nations representatives or armed forces are called upon for help. Time does not permit me to give you details of many other incidents. Nearly always each side blames the other for causing them. At the political level little or no progress has been made in Cyprus itself toward solving the political difficulties. Currently and for sometime now talks have been going on between representatives of the governments of Greece and Turkey to bring about a peaceful solution in Cyprus. At first it appeared Archbishop Makarios was suspicious of and opposed to them. But he appears to have had a change of heart. On September 5, 1966 in Athens he is reported to have said "The talks are a necessary process since it was conducted within the framework of the spirit of the U.N."- (Cyprus:, Mail, September 6, 1966). Now his attitude seems to have changed. The Turkish Foreign Minister is reported in the special news bulletin first referred to as saying that a final agreement can be reached by the end of the year, if goodwill is shown by all the parties concerned. However, until a really peaceful settlement is reached the United Nations forces must be maintained in Cyprus. It has been reduced in numbers, and in time may be entirely withdrawn or a smaller number than at present may be required until peace is restored. As of August 18, 1966 the following is the composition of its personnel:

Canada 992
Denmark 643
Finland 607
Ireland 517
Sweden 656
Britain 1083

In addition there are 173 civilian police (40 Australians, 34 Austrians, 40 Danish, 29 New Zealanders, 39 Swedish). There are also 52 members of the Australian hospital unit staff and 51 civilian staff. (Cyprus Mail, August 18, 1966.)

You may be interested to learn that when shooting broke out in December 1963 the Greeks were unanimous in inviting the British troops from the two large British bases, retained as British Sovereign Territory, to come in to stop the intercommunal strife. General Young and his troops performed a valuable work in responding promptly and efficiently to the call. However, they were in Cyprus to fulfil Britain's commitments in the Middle East and elsewhere and had to return to their bases as soon as replacements could be brought out from England. Unfortunately among the latter were units which had been in Cyprus during the struggle for independence. Their return caused hatreds, which everyone in Cyprus had thought were buried and forgotten, to flare again in all their original fury, fanned by the Greek Cypriot press. In less than two weeks there were demands that the British get out. Such is the mercurial temperament in the island. It was at this stage there arose the call for an international peace force. Recognizing the danger to world peace, and I can say it was real because I was in Cyprus at the time, Mr. Paul Martin, our Minister for External Affairs, who is held in high regard in the island, telephoned to a number of capitals of countries and thus the U.N. force was created. Eighteen hours after Mr. Martin announced Canada's participation the advance troops arrived under command of Colonel Amy now a Brigadier. Within a week or ten days our full commitment of 1,100 officers and men were there. The whole movement went off as planned, without a hitch, and is a great tribute to our Armed Forces. Although many facilities were made available by the British, our troops arrived completely equipped to be self-contained even to water for cooking their first meal. Since then our troops are rotated every six months. They have, almost without exception, made valuable contributions to keeping peace. General MacDonald was so well liked that when General Thimaya of India, who was much esteemed as the U.N. Commander, died, the Cypriots were very keen to have him (General MacDonald) named successor. The Royal 22nd Regiment (the famous Van Doos) who had seen service in the Congo were our first troops.

So much for the historical and political aspects of Cyprus. In spite of what I have said life in many ways in Greek areas today seems normal and indeed prosperous. There is a central bank, created two or three years ago. The currency is called a pound divided into 1,000 parts called mills. The pound is on a par with the English pound and is in the sterling area. Not only have the bank's reserves been maintained in the face of political troubles, they have been increased and, as of March 1966 they were large enough that consideration was being given to reducing them. I advised they be kept and added to because they may well be required in certain events in the future. There is no restriction on withdrawal of funds. After a short pause following the outbreak of troubles in December 1963 funds again started flowing back to the island. The main banks in the island are Barclays, The Chartered Bank, The Ottoman Bank and The Bank of Cyprus. There are, I believe, one or two smaller institutions. Foreign investment is invited provided Cypriots are allowed to participate.

In an address to the English-speaking Union in Toronto last season Dr. (Mr.) Escott Reid listed the mistakes- that newly formed governments make. His knowledge was based on two years' experience with the world bank before he retired from Canada's diplomatic service. None were made by Cyprus. As of last March I thought perhaps it had made one in operating its National Air Line. At that time it was losing money. In the year 1965 it made a profit and declared a dividend of 12%. In 1966 it expanded its operations to a number of neighbouring countries. The main air service is provided by contract with British European Airways which with Olympic Airways of Athens provides the long distance services to Europe. In my opinion this contract precludes landings by the various European and American airlines such as Swiss Air, Lufthansa, Air France, Pan American and Transworld. If Cyprus, which is unspoiled touristically, is to obtain its fair share of the world's tourist trade its airport at Nicosia must be available to more air lines. At present they fly overhead to Beirut in Lebanon, Cairo in Egypt, and Tel Aviv in Israel so it would be convenient for them to put down in Cyprus. At present the airfield will not accommodate the largest international aircraft but it is being enlarged and a new terminal building is under construction.

The tourist business is growing again. It suffered a sharp setback in 1964 following the outbreak of the inter communal troubles. In 1965 it turned up again. In 1966 for the first 6 months there were 20,000 (19,692) compared with about 13,000 (12,926) in the same period in 1965, an increase of 52%. The main countries of origin were U.K. 6,767, Greece 2,683, U.S.A. 2,056, Israel 1,344, Lebanon 996. A special drive is being made to get the British to come this winter. There are no restrictions on travel to Cyprus because it is in the sterling area. Efforts by Mr. Arouzos, the Minister of Commerce and Industry, to increase tourist traffic have often been frustrated by outbreaks of violence in isolated areas. Last March he had just brought in a large group of travel agents from the Scandinavian countries and had convinced them of the desirability of vacations in Cyprus when, just outside Famagusta, there was a flare up in which both sides were apparently at fault. That put an end to that promotion. Incidentally tourists to Cyprus are in no physical danger. Now is a good time to go before the island becomes' too popular. I see Canadian Pacific Airlines is advertising in Cyprus that flights to Canada are convenient via Rome. The reverse is equally true. Eastbound connections are made in Rome for Athens and from there it is one hour and 25 minutes to Nicosia. I have always travelled to London, for various reasons, and then to Athens and Nicosia.

Cyprus is following a long range plan to develop tourism. It was drafted by a French consulting firm a few years ago. Until now there has been a shortage of accommodation which would satisfy the North American tourist. However, the Ledra Palace in Nicosia has long provided it. In April of this year it took over the management of the Mirramare Hotel at Limassol on the south coast. It is new and provides excellent quiet rooms on the shore of the Mediterranean just east of the city proper. As of February 1, 1967, the new Hilton Hotel in Nicosia, built by the government and operated the well known Hilton, I presume, international, will take bookings. At Famagusta on the south coast, where sunny sandy beaches abound, is the newly erected Grecian Hotel, considered to be very fine. Archbishop Makarios is pleased with it and my wife confirms his good opinion. I did not have time to see it.

Excellent main highways are being extended. They make for easy motoring. Lesser roads are not all surfaced. They are winding and driving is slow but there are many interesting places to be found if you travel along them. The people, Greek and Turk and others, are very kind to visitors especially those from Canada. In the country you will often be offered refreshment in the form of Turkish coffee or some other beverages as well as some light food. Etiquette demands you accept it and it is well worth while to do so. Cypriots are grand hosts. Self drive cars or cars with a chauffeur may be rented by the day or for longer periods. There are police road blocks but these are courteous although their number at times can be a nuisance to visitors. I hope visitors will be increasingly free from these delays. -Such, however, are not confined to Cyprus in the Middle East.

Since independence electricity has been supplied to much of the island. Had it not been for the intercommunal troubles the objective of supplying it everywhere in the island would probably have been reached. It is unnecessary to tell you what a boon this is to the people. It has created a great demand for household electric appliances many of which come from England. Cypriots are great people to buy on price. In the shops one will often see poorly made products from certain European countries. However, there is also quality merchandise. Since the United States has had to push sales of its products to protect its dollar, American consumer products are found in the shops. Canada, which has not been much interested in trade with Cyprus, as well as other countries of the Commonwealth, enjoys a substantial preferential tariff treatment. One result of this is that General Motors' cars made in Canada come from Oshawa.

The telephone system is modelled on that of England and the equipment comes from that country. After independence a very successful Greek business man was chosen to head the "CITA" the state-owned telephone and cable system. He moved too energetically to instal the direct dialing system everywhere and as a result he and the government parted company. Then for about 3 years it was under control of one of the ministers. Recently, however, there has been another change to an energetic, capable, relatively young Greek business man. I hope he will be successful. If he is the internal telephone system should be good.

In the Greek sectors of Nicosia, Famagusta and Limassol, the shops are well stocked with a wide range of merchandise which, under the law, must carry price labels. On most days the casual visitor would not know there are political troubles in the island. In Turkish sectors of the same cities there is not the same prosperity. Contrary to what you might think, however, there are literally thousands, if not most of the ordinary citizens who still retain their friendships, often life long, with members of the opposite community and wish longingly that the political troubles were over. However democracy in Cyprus, as in many other parts of the world, does not mean the same thing as it does in Canada. A Greek Cypriot who had been a communist in Cyprus, came to Montreal a little while ago. He wrote back to his friends in Cyprus, who told me the story last March, that he was no longer a communist. He had never known what real freedom was until he came to Canada. This implies no criticism from me as to Cyprus. The leaders there are groping for objectives that are perhaps not too clearly defined. They make mistakes, sometimes big ones, as we do here. They have a different background from ours but they strive for freedom and a better life. Perhaps our form of democracy may not suit them. If so the alternative is not yet visible. While much of the population is literate, more and different education-particularly technical school training is necessary. It takes time to educate parents that without technical training, instead of a purely classical education, which has included a compulsory course, for Greeks, in ancient Greek, their children under modern conditions will be unable to earn a living. New schools for Turks and Greeks have been built and technical training is coming in more and more. Mr. Tassos Papadopoulos, Minister of Labour and a young man relatively, has been working forcefully and energetically to change the thinking in this respect.

Education is carried to the end of the secondary school level. There is great need for a university. Up to the time I left at the end of May 1964 all efforts to organize one had failed. However, I was informed during my visit this year that it is expected there will be one within the next five years. If so it will be provided through Armenians living in Cyprus who have connections abroad. Armenians have found a refuge in Cyprus from persecutions in other countries. They are clever business men.

Cyprus has its share of first class people, business and professional, as fine as one will find anywhere.

As for business statistics, the trend in the domestic products declined 8.6% in 1964 due to the troubles, but financial and monetary stability prevailed. Soon the economy began to recover again resulting in an increase for 1965, the latest figures available-by 24%. Cypriots are very good at copying products from other countries. This is reducing dependence upon some manufactured imports. 80 new manufacturing establishments were set up during the first five years of independence, that is since August 1960.

Mineral exports represent 40% of the island's total exports. The life of the known ore reserves of the Cyprus Mines Corporation mining copper is not expected to be a long one. There are good reserves of asbestos, however, and the government is encouraging intensive mineral exploration. Shipping to and from the island is maintained by British, Greek and other firms. American Export Lines and Zim Lines advertise shipments to and from Canada. Trans-shipments of freight are made in the British Isles, one of the European ports, including Genoa, or at Athens or Haifa.

There has been much new building in Nicosia, Limassol and Famagusta since the trouble broke out-stores, houses, apartments, a shopping centre, hotels and highways. Indeed in Nicosia where some of the worst fighting occurred construction was suspended for not more than three weeks after shooting broke out in December 1963.

Many other topics would be of interest to you but time does not allow me to deal with them, for example, agriculture and agricultural products, the fresh water situation and the law courts. In spite of the political differences Greeks market the grain and other agricultural products grown by Turks.

International trade, the latest monthly figures I have exports and imports ($15,000,000) are for May 19, 1966. But they are typical. Exports were almost $10,000,000 (£.3,361,008), an increase of about 10% over the corresponding month for 1965. They consisted of potatoes, carrots, iron pyrites, asbestos and wine.

The importance of Great Britain to Cyprus was stated by the chairman of the Hellenic Mining Company Group, controlled by the government, on August 12, 1966 in these words: "The only relatively profitable market which has remained open to Cyprus wine industry is that of the U.K. mainly thanks to links of Cyprus with the Commonwealth.

All other good markets have been lost on account of the high protective tariffs and walls by European Common Market Countries, some of which remain open at a loss to us.

Therefore it is not an exaggeration to say that in the event that our exports to the U.K. were to be reduced for any reason, that would be a serious blow to the Cyprus wine industry."

He was reporting upon the operations for 1965 for Keo Wines. The group includes three companies engaged in different fiields of activity. They employ 2400 persons. (Cyprus Mail, August 13, 1966.)

As you will have noticed imports far exceeded exports in value for May 1965. The yearly deficit (about $75,000,000, I think) is made up as a result of expenditures by Great Britain for maintenance of the large bases there, and to a lesser, but important extent, by expenditures made by the United Nations' troops, as well as by tourist money spent in the island. Nevertheless the strength of the Cyprus pound is due to very capable management of the country's financial affairs.

These are the highlights of Cyprus 1966. My wife and I went there in the spring of 1962 complete strangers. No Canadian had previously undertaken the task I was called upon to perform, so we had much to learn from a civilization much older than that of North America. My work was interesting, my colleagues capable, and I received co-operation everywhere that counted. We came to love the country and the many friends we made. When we returned for a short visit in March 1966 we were overwhelmed by the kindness of Greek, Turk and British alike. As my wife said, "It was just like coming home." our stay ended all too soon because my duties on the Supreme Court of Ontario demanded my return. I hope that at sometime all of you will visit Cyprus and have a most happy vacation there. In that island as in many other parts of the world, the maple leaf is a badge of honour. Wear a little maple leaf pin on your lapel and it will bring out the "welcome mat" wherever you go. When you do travel I know you will do your part to maintain and enhance its reputation, which means Canada.

Thanks of this meeting were expressed by Mr. Graham M. Gore.