Word: greeks
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...fortnight ago, when E.O.K.A., the Greek Cypriot underground, offered to call off its campaign of terrorism (TIME, Aug. 27), the troubled island of Cyprus began to sense a degree of peace. British Governor Sir John Harding conceded that the E.O.K.A. truce offer might well represent "a chance for a fresh start" on Cyprus. And it might have, had the British risen to the occasion...
...terms on which Britain would abandon her "get tough" policy in the island: "Let the murderers make the first move if there is to be a stopping of violence." Unexpectedly, E.O.K.A. did just that. In leaflets scattered throughout Cyprus, "Dighenis the Leader'' of E.O.K.A. (presumably former Greek Army Colonel George Grivas) ordered "from today suspension of operations by all forces under my authority," in return for a military truce...
Pieces of Paper. E.O.K.A.'s offer caught both friends and foes by surprise. In Athens the Greek government, long at loggerheads with Britain over Cyprus, promptly drew up a communiqué praising E.O.K.A.'s "noble decision," then in a rush of doubt held it up for 24 hours on the ground that the leaflets might not be authentic. The British government's first reaction was equally cautious. "You must remember," said a British spokesman, "that this is only one man's offer, and it came from pieces of paper scattered in the street...
...described as giving the British a chance to save face. In London it was seen as vindication of Harding's stern policy of military repression of terrorism. E.O.K.A., said the British, had been sobered both by its losses of men and material and by the fact that the Greek Cypriot populace, which once gave E.O.K.A. almost unanimous approval, has been increasingly distressed by bombings, riots and curfews. (In the past few weeks several Greek Cypriots, including an ex-member of the E.O.K.A., have made anti-E.O.K.A. broadcasts over Cyprus Radio...
...intentions. "A chance for a fresh start," Sir John Harding called it. Before the fresh start could be made, however, the sincerity of E.O.K.A.'s truce proposal had to await a week or two's test. The next step would be for the British to recall Greek Cypriot Leader Archbishop Makarios from his lonely Seychelles Islands exile...