HC Deb 07 November 1955 vol 545 cc1452-3
5. Major Wall

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what modification there has been since the recent talks on Eastern Mediterranean problems in the seditious tone of broadcasts from Athens Radio.

Mr. Turton

There has been no significant alteration in the tone of the Athens Radio broadcasts to Cyprus since the tripartite conference on the Eastern Mediterranean and Cyprus, which was held in London at the beginning of September. I am circulating in the OFFICIAL REPORT extracts from recent monitoring reports of Athens Radio commentaries which illustrate the objectionable nature of these broadcasts.

Major Wall

Can my right hon. Friend say whether any attempt has been made to jam these broadcasts?

Mr. Turton

That is another question.

Following are the extracts from recent commentaries by Athens Radio Broadcast to Cyprus:

  1. (a) "This is the great oath of the Cypriots. Cyprus will become a holocaust.… We thought of the horrible and abominable S.S. Battalions as the darker spots in the history of the twentieth century. But in the year 1955 the whole world has been informed that the ghosts of Adolf Hitler's S.S. Battalions … have materialised in Cyprus.…" (Commentary on 6th October.)
  2. (b) "… The Tripartite Conference which was organised by Macmillan and Zorlu to prepare the ground for the barbarities of Istanbul and Izmir, and for the despatch of the C.I.G.S.…" (Commentary on 15th October.)
  3. (c) "Eden has proved to be the most relentless enemy of liberty." (Commentary on 13th October.)
  4. (d) "Field Marshal Harding has already unleashed his terror campaign in Cyprus.…" (Commentary on 22nd October.)
  5. (e) "Despite the fact that the Greeks have not taken Armies to fight in the mountains like the Greeks of 1821, there is a peculiar peaceful revolution in Cyprus at the present time. 1453 This revolution has all the characteristics of the Greek Revolution of 1821 … naturally, the oppressors cannot fully grasp the scope and the depth of this revolutionary fever because it does not take the form of the Revolution of 1821 but close observation would show them that this is so … the Greeks of Cyprus are united by the common national cause. They have all taken the oath of the Greeks of 1821—'liberty or death' … Kolokotronis [hero of the wars in the 1820s] saw the danger of the Revolution and immediately struck down those who paid homage to the oppressors. He executed the various traitors and issued his famous dictum: 'fire and sword to the traitor'… If this immortal old man from the Morea were living today, he would be proud of the superb national spirit of the Cypriots." (Commentary on 1st November.)

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