The Bones of Makarios crackle

The anniversary of Attila II coincides with a critical period for the Middle East and the South East Mediterranean due to the eleven-month war in the Gaza Strip. Due to its strategic position, Cyprus is at the center of developments amid geopolitical risks. As evidenced by Seyed Hassan Nasrallah’s warning to Nicosia, the Christodoulidis government follows a unilateral pro-Israeli policy at the expense of the Palestinians, the Arab world and the Islamic world in general.

The pro-Israeli and pro-American policy of the Christodoulides government is diametrically opposed to the timeless political legacy and geopolitical doctrine of Archbishop Makarios’ Non-Aligned Cyprus. With tiny Cyprus lacking deterrent capability, Makarios balanced for 14 years as President of Cyprus between the USA and the USSR, Palestinians and Israelis, the Greek Junta and democracy as well as the vision between Union and Independence. This attitude of Makarios was reflected in the accession of Cyprus to the Non-Aligned Movement.

Makarios’ policy was realistic and successful, bringing the Americans to a standstill who sought partition at the expense of the Union (Enosis) and the integrity of Cyprus, so that Greece would not gain geopolitical superiority vis-à-vis Israel. Cyprus and Makarios were betrayed by the motherland with the dictatorial coup of the Ioannidis-Sampson and were wounded by the democratic governments of Konstantinos Karamanlis who promoted the independence of Cyprus at the expense of the vision of the Union with Greece.

Today Nicosia’s pro-American and pro-Israeli policy is anti-Makarios, as Cyprus abandons the role of a shrewd neutral for the prospect of a frivolous alliance with the Americans, the moral perpetrators of the Cypriot tragedy.

What, then, is the rationale behind the foreign policy of the Christodoulides government? Does the Cypriot president forget that the victim can never trust the abuser? Does he forget that the geographical position of Cyprus and its interests do not change but are completely identified with those of Hellenism? Even if the motherland follows a patronizing pro-American policy, Cyprus must remain neutral and non-aligned. This is evidenced by the legacy of Makarios, and President Christodoulides must follow this by canceling the unilateral overt policy of Nicosia for fourteen years. The collaboration between victim and perpetrator is unrealistic and unholy with disastrous results for Cyprus.