IF CYPRUS is ever to be reunited under a federal constitution, one
aspect that will have to be decided is what ‘national’ holidays it
will observe at the federal, and which ones at the component state
level. Clearly, the federal holidays will have to be ones agreed to
by both of the major communities. I may be wrong, but something
tells me that you will be hard pressed to find many Turkish Cypriots
who will agree to celebrate April 1, the beginning of the EOKA
campaign, as a national holiday of the United Republic. No such
provision was made in the Annan plan, and one cannot imagine any
solution that recognises an April 1 holiday.
For Greek Cypriots, however, perhaps the more important question is
how we, as a community, should look upon the EOKA campaign and
whether we should celebrate the anti-British struggle as our
national resurrection, and as a campaign for freedom and
self-determination. This is a difficult and delicate question, and
one where it is easy to give offence and touch on some very
sensitive feelings even after 50 years. The recent agreement in the
House of Representatives by the two largest Greek Cypriot political
parties to look into the killing of left-wing AKEL supporters by
EOKA is a good beginning. Perhaps some day we can also start to
examine objectively the killing of other civilians, including
Turkish Cypriots, as part perhaps of a truth and reconciliation
commission.
The issue is of more that historical interest because today more
than ever in the recent past, our societies in almost every region
of the world are confronted with acts of terrorism in pursuit of
political objectives, sometimes secular but increasingly frequently
with religious dimensions. Clearly EOKA had both, and the Church of
Cyprus was without a doubt the sponsor of the campaign, which could
not have got off the ground without the moral and financial backing
of the Church.
One thing we must be clear about. No one should doubt the idealism
and bravery of the young Greek Cypriots who answered the call of
EOKA, and who in many cases sacrificed their lives for a struggle
they believed sincerely and with passion was right and just. We must
remember them and hold them dear in our hearts, but we must also
look at their struggle objectively and with clear-sighted analysis
of its significance and necessity, including both its ends and
means.
The only objective of EOKA clearly was political union of Cyprus
with Greece or enosis. While in a broad sense we can characterise
the campaign as an anti-colonial struggle, and one for freedom and
self-determination. It clearly was not seen as that either by the
Turkish Cypriots or those on the political spectrum who could not
support its right-wing ideology. We should not forget that
Grivas-Dighenis, the EOKA leader, had previously led the extreme
right-wing organisation known by the Greek letter X (Chi), which
terrorised the communists and their sympathisers at the end of the
Nazi occupation, and which helped spark the Greek Civil War.
No one can doubt that the leadership of EOKA would have preferred
union with Greece, even under the military rule that took over in
1967, over a democratic and independent Cyprus with the two major
communities living in harmony as intended under the 1960
constitution. So clearly the years have discredited the goal of EOKA,
but were its means justified to secure independence or to lift the
colonial yoke?
Of course, this is a question that can never be answered with
complete certainty. I suppose in theory it is possible to assert
that without EOKA Cyprus would still be a British colony, but just
making the assertion shows how ludicrous a proposition it is. The
sad truth is that in all probability had the Greek Cypriots accepted
any of the British offers for limited self-government made after the
Second World War, Cyprus would have achieved complete independence
faster and with fewer fetters than resulted after EOKA secured
Turkey’s seat at the negotiating table in 1955.
If we were truthful with ourselves, we would admit that for all
their bravery and idealism, the EOKA fighters were engaged in a
struggle for a goal that was strategically misguided and
unachievable, using methods, including terrorising civilians, that
were extreme and unnecessary and in many ways counter-productive to
achieving the realistic goal of an independent and democratic
bi-communal republic.
We need to find a way to honour their youthful idealism and courage
and remember their sacrifices without alienating out Turkish Cypriot
fellows citizens, and without sacrificing our intelligence to a
veneer of lies.
This article is taken from Cyprus Mail newspaper
(04.04.2005)
