The Return of the Archbishop

The Greek press hailed him as "the Olympic champion of glory," "the most brilliant symbol of the Greek race's eternal adamantine virtue," "the beating heart of

Hellenism." Tall, swart-bearded Archbishop Makarios himself likened his return to Athens in Easter week after a 13-month exile to "Christ's return to Jerusalem." A surging throng, which included the Greek Foreign Minister, senior military officers, and politicians of every hue, was on hand at Athens airport. As his plane touched down and Makarios emerged, smiling glassily (he had been airsick on the flight from Kenya), the crowd roared. Women shrieked and wailed, struggled to kiss his hands and black robe.

In a white Cadillac convertible Makarios slowly made his way into the heart of Athens. People hung out of windows and balconies, perched on rooftops and jammed the sidewalks. Some threw flowers and shouted with joy; others wept. Everywhere there were scrawled signs: "Enosis" "Down with the British," "Long Live EOKA."

Whether in conscious or unconscious irony, Makarios had chosen to put up at Athens' fanciest hotel, now because of anti-British sentiment officially called the "Petit Palais," but still known to all Athenians by its original name--"Grande Bretagne." By the time he got there, some 50,000 people had packed themselves into the square before the hotel. Speaking to the crowd from the hotel balcony, Makarios promptly made it clear that his months of exile in the Seychelles Islands had made him no readier 19 accept Britain's offer of limited self-government for Cyprus, no less insistent on enosis, i.e., union of Cyprus and Greece. He defiantly eulogized Cyprus' EOKA fighters for their "sacred sacrifice on the altar of freedom," proclaimed "our irrevocable decision to throw off the yoke of slavery." Cried he: "The arguments of the British government for holding on to the island cannot be put above self-determination. Neither can Middle East oil or the so-called defense of the free world from the soil of Cyprus . . . We do not want trusteeship nor to be ruled by others; we want self-determination, and we will fight for it."

Registered Terrorist. If Makarios was prepared to be intractable, so were the Turks. "Responsibility for all Makarios' words and actions rests fully upon the shoulders of the Greek government," declared Turkish Premier Adnan Menderes last week. "Greece may crown him, she may worship him. But to us Makarios is a'notorious terrorist and will remain so."*

Representatives on the Run. For the British government, which had hoped that the release of Makarios--even though he is still exiled from Cyprus--would persuade the Greek Cypriots to moderate their demands, all this was vastly disappointing. Speaking for the Macmillan government in the House of Lords, the Earl of Perth explained that the British government intended to invite "representatives of all communities, including the Greek and Turkish Cypriots," to London to discuss "the internal problems" of Cyprus. Somewhat unhappily his lordship added: "If certain potential representatives go on making the sort of statements they have been making, it seems to me that the meetings will have to take place in at least two rooms, with the representatives of Her Majesty's government running between one lot and the other."

In Athens crowds gathered all week long outside Makarios' hotel to stare and cheer. Old men on donkeyback, women on foot came from distant villages to offer him flowers and prayers. Makarios lunched with Greece's King Paul. Premier Constantine Karamanlis, who had not met him at the airport in deference to Turkey's protests, called on him in his suite. Among other visitors: his sister and the sister of EOKA Leader Dighenis, who live together in Athens. Watching the scenes of adulation, observers conceded that Archbishop Makarios right now could overturn the Karamanlis government itself, if it crossed him. Lean, tanned and steely sure of himself, the archbishop showed no signs of such a wish, but last week all Greek politicians were uneasily trying to guess just what Makarios' plans were. Sighed one: "No one knows but the Almighty, and there's no one between the Almighty and Makarios."

*Also under fire from Turkey was New York's Governor Averell Harriman, who lost no time in inviting Makarios to visit New York--an act which the University of Istanbul Students Union termed "disgusting." The population of New York State includes an estimated 297,000 people of Greek ancestry v. 36,000 of Turkish ancestry.

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