Taking stock of the Cyprus of yesteryear

THE WAY THINGS ARE

Colette NiReamonn Ioannidou

A man whose father was British told me things were better under British rule than now, which came to mind when I found a little booklet among old papers called ‘Colonial Annual Reports, Cyprus 1948’. Inside the back cover were listed the Crown’s many Colonies and Protectorates, from Aden to Zanzibar. In 1947, ‘the Consultative Assembly, convened to frame proposals for constitutional reform,’ foundered… in the words of His Excellency the Governor, Lord Winster, “upon the rock of a demand for the transfer of a vastly greater degree of authority than I could possibly regard as advisable in the interests of the people of Cyprus.”

The reform was to include a central legislature in which representative Cypriots would be directly associated with the conduct of affairs of their island. Winster made it clear, the talks were not off the table “if, at any time, responsible and fully representative political leaders came forward or there was a genuine manifestation of public opinion, then steps would be taken…” to look things over again. The issue, Winster continued, had been to some extent obscured by manifestations in favour of Enosis or self-government.

In the report it said world economic conditions were turning against Cyprus, more supply than demand, and the long expected trade recession was at hand “…so traders and producers must be prepared to accept sacrifices.” Raw mineral exports were greater than those of post-war years. Pyrites, Asbestos, Chrome iron ore, Gypsum and Umber were listed. The value of minerals exported in 1948 set a new record amounting to 2,327,548 pounds. A seismic survey during the year revealed the presence of oil was impossible and the search was abandoned.

The tourist trade got a mention and the Government was “doing all it can to attract tourists but much must depend on the efforts of private enterprise.” Essential goods formed a greater proportion of imports than in ’46 and ’47 and the rush to import inessentials came to an end. But – “there are few villages where the benefits of membership of a credit society are not available.” Shades of things to come.

Piped supplies of water were laid in 29 villages, a fraction, it states, of what could have been achieved had essential materials been available. In the twelve months only 538 tons of pipes were received; 3,500 were still on order. On Turkish Affairs a committee was appointed to examine and make recommendations to the Government on matters of concern to the Turkish community.

In relation to Jewish camps on Cyprus it said that when the Palestine mandate ended in May there were some 24,000 of the 53,000 illegal immigrants previously received there. And, His Majesty’s Government felt themselves bound, due to terms of the Security Council’s truce resolutions, “to retain in the camps men of military age.” However, in the first few weeks of 1949, all Jews were released, and the camps closed. The ‘illegals’ went on to settle in Palestine (whose partition had been proposed in a UN plan, in November 1947). Israel was created as a safe haven for European Jews who had suffered so hideously during the Holocaust. Over time, many indigenous Palestinians were gradually squeezed to make way for new Jewish arrivals, and settlement continues to provoke strife there to the present day.

Ireland’s Catholic rebellion defeated by Oliver Cromwell (mid-1600s) and the settlement of English and Scots after the uprooting of enormous numbers of indigenous Irish, still uneasily reverberates centuries later. Once settlers are literally dug in and protected by well-armed governments, illegal land grabs or not, it’s done and all the resolutions on tables don’t make any difference, talk is cheap.

There are lessons to be studied by Cyprus given the current implanting of Turkish settlers in the north of Cyprus. On the up side, that old report says: “Cyprus is a healthy country” noticeably free from infectious disease such as cholera, plague and epidemic typhus. “Malaria, formerly widespread, is now rare.” And it must have been nice to know that “well equipped venereal disease clinics and prophylactic centres function in all main towns.” The Crown did not know that before long reports on Cyprus would be much different in content.