350. Editorial Note
In January 1970 the United States Government became aware of credible evidence of a plot directed against the life of Cypriot President Makarios by former Interior Minister Polykarpos Georkadjis. Information on the reported plot was passed to Archbishop Makarios on January 15 at Nairobi while the Cypriot President was making a stopover during an African tour. Cypriot officials increased security precautions and, following his return to Nicosia, Makarios ordered an investigation. He subsequently thanked Ambassador David Popper for passing on the information. According to a March 17 memorandum prepared in the Office of Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, Directorate of Operations, of the Central Intelligence Agency, “The decision to warn Makarios was based on the fact that whatever one may think of him his continued survival is vital to the stability of Cyprus and this is in the interests of U.S. foreign policy.” The memorandum added that the decision was also motivated by a belief that if Makarios had independently discovered the plot, he would have suspected U.S. involvement since Georkadjis had close contacts with U.S. officials during his long service as Interior Minister. (Central Intelligence Agency, Records of the Office of the Deputy Director of Operations, Job 79–01440, Near Eastern Division)
In a subsequent interview, Makarios confirmed that he had been warned by U.S. officials of a plot: “We were about to have lunch. I was late in arriving and someone in the American Embassy insisted that he had an urgent message. We were in a hurry and I was not very pleased at the interruption, but I agreed to hear him. The message was this: ‘According to reliable sources, when you go back to Cyprus there are plans for your assassination at the airport in Nicosia.’ This was the first time I had heard of an attempt being made on my life. I smiled and said ‘Thank you very much, but I don’t think it is probable.ʼ Actually, I didnʼt think the airport would be a suitable place for an assassination. But the American said, ‘Be careful.’” (Lawrence Stern, The Wrong Horse, pages 86–87)
Additional documentation on the attempted assassination plot against Makarios is in the Central Intelligence Agency, Records of the Directorate of Operations, [file name not declassified]; National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 592, Country Files—Middle East, Cyprus, Vol. I Jan 1969–June 30 1974; and ibid., Box 1235, Saunders Subject Files, Greece, 10/1/69–12/31/69.