By Giorgos Koumoulis
The recent utopian suggestion of Nicos Anastasiades to reinstate the Constitution of 1960 brings to mind the equally, if not more, utopian suggestion for a return to the 1948 Conference, which was an unprecedented, a golden opportunity, which the papadocracy of the time ignored with monumental contempt for the time because it finally chose the disastrous armed struggle for Cyprus. The deep state took care diligently not to discuss this aspect of history and so very few Cypriots know the details of the Conference while in the textbooks it is hardly mentioned at all. It is obvious that the pillars of the establishment cultivate oblivion, having in mind the dictum of Orestes in euripides’ so-named tragedy:
[penci_ads id=”penci_ads_1″]
A good-luck goddess for the unhappy”
In very broad lines, the English proposed the establishment of a Parliament that would have 26 members – 18 Greek Cypriots, 4 Turkish Cypriots and 4 appointed by the Governor. The Turkish Cypriot MPs would make up 18% (4/22) of all the elected MPs (which was exactly the percentage of the Turkish Cypriot population!) and did not provide for either separate majorities or vetoes! The Turkish Cypriots, who approved the offered Constitution without any hesitation (!), were simply recognized as a minority (and not a community). Of course, it was a Constitution with limited self-government since the executive power would be maintained by the English governor. But for those who were aware of the new political culture after the Second World War it was obvious that the solution offered by a left-wing party (the Old Labour Party) was an independence in its embryonic form. And they were absolutely right since after 1961 no UK colony remained a colony against its will. In other words, the proposals of 1948 had the potential in a short time to transform the Constitution into the measures of a fully independent state as was the case with Malta, Bahrain, Qatar and dozens of other former British colonies. Unfortunately for us, our political leadership, the Ethnarchy, rejected them out of hand because its aim was not achievable independence but an unattainable Union. From that year on, the countdown of the destruction of Cyprus began.
To understand the irrelevance, not to say ridiculousness, of this statement, we should mention the accelerated decolonisation after the Second World War, when the Ethnarchy in Cyprus did not take a bribe. This war dealt a severe blow to the colonial powers, depriving them of their former prestige. The Netherlands, Belgium and France were defeated and occupied. The UK has been severely exhausted. The peoples under colonial rule, often used to fill the ranks of the allied armies in time of war, were determined to break the ties they had mainly with Europe, which was now destroyed and stripped of its resources. The Charter of the United Nations reaffirmed ‘respect for the principle of equal rights and the self-determination of peoples’. The American President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the British Prime Minister, Churchill, signed the Atlantic Charter in 1941 and therefore pledged to respect the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they will live and wish to restore sovereign rights and self-government to those who have been forcibly deprived of them. It was therefore only a matter of time before all the colonies took their independence without rebellions and wars.
[penci_ads id=”penci_ads_1″]
In view of the decolonisation that was taking place after the Second World War, Hopkinson’s statement was blatantly misplaced and untimely and caused the fury not only of the opposition but also of Churchill himself. On the occasion of this statement, the Prime Minister himself replied that there is “never” in politics (something that first-year students of political science are taught) except in generalities and at the same time made sure to stop Hopkinson who was “kicked to the Lords” (See Lord Winster article, “Backward in Cyprus”, Baltimore Sun,02/07/1956). The only people who took this idiotic line seriously are two categories of Cypriots: one consists of completely unhistorical, while the other category includes those who are looking for an alibi for the beginning of the disastrous armed struggle of 1955 since they know very well that the preparations for armed action began long before 1954.
Inevitably, therefore, a struggle for the union began, which eventually led to the uprooting of 165,000 people in 1974. It was a heavy price to pay for all of us. Nothing good came out of this struggle. Unless, of course, we did the fight to create heroes. But, as Bertol Brecht points out, “Woe to the country in need of heroes.”
*Economist, social scientist
*Opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of CypriumNews.
