360. Memorandum of Conversation1
PARTICIPANTS
- President Nixon
- Archbishop Makarios, President of Cyprus
- Henry A. Kissinger, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs
The President opened the conversation by giving background on his offices in the White House and Executive Office Building. He then turned to substance.
The President said, “We follow your development with great sympathy. We understand your foreign policy of technical neutrality.” Archbishop Makarios replied “Because of our geography and our peculiar conditions we follow a non-aligned policy but by history and tradition and conviction we belong to the West. We are not like other non-aligned countries that are really pro-east. At the Belgrade conference of non-aligned countries we defended the Western point of view so much that I was afraid we would lose our non-aligned status.”
The President said he hoped that the Middle East would not explode. He appreciated Cyprus being made available as a staging place during the evacuation of the airline hijacking hostages from Jordan.2 Archbishop Makarios responded that Cyprus was always available for any peaceful purpose in the area. He added that while, of course, he was strongly for peace in the Middle East it was important to understand the Israeli point of view. Israel felt extremely threatened.
The President then said, “We are working very hard to get the ceasefire extended and eventually to get talks started,” and asked for the Archbishopʼs advice. Makarios said, “I donʼt give advice to the President of the United States. However, peace in the Middle East will take time. First, some Arab countries disagree with the initiative for domestic reasons; these are usually countries far away. Second, the U.S. proposal provides a good and fair basis for a settlement. However, in your desire for a settlement you may have been too pro-Arab and therefore may have emboldened them too much. The crisis would be more easily settled if the two super-powers would agree.” The President [Page 884] added: “Still the moral influence of small countries is important. We are grateful for your support of the decent principles in the West.”
Makarios commented, “Some people feel we are moving left. Of course, Communists exploit every problem but we will not become like Cuba, partly because Cypriots are a deeply religious people.” The President said, “The tragedy in the world is the flight from religion. You canʼt fight Communism with materialism.”
Makarios said, “People who are for Communists are not necessarily the pro-Communists. They donʼt know what Communism is. For example, I had banned atheists from the voting rolls and a Communist had protested to me that he was not an atheist. Most Cypriots think it means improving life, but the main thing to remember is that Communists support me because I am popular; I donʼt support them to become popular; I have never appointed a left-wing person to any significant post. They support me because they canʼt do otherwise and I accept their support because it is a good way of keeping them under control. The simple people of Cyprus have more confidence in me than in anybody. I donʼt rely on the army or on the police force; my strength is my goodness. I am Archbishop for life, and the fact that I donʼt particularly want to continue as President makes me stronger.”
Makarios commented that the U.S. Ambassador to his country “is an excellent person.” The President said, “I want very close relations.” In response to Makariosʼ remark that Cyprus was one of the smallest countries in the world, the President said, “But it has a wise leader.”
Makarios then spoke about his plans to visit Japan and about his education at Boston University where he had had to interrupt his studies to return to Cyprus for the independence struggle. He noted that “They brought me back, even thought I didnʼt have the degree, to get an honorary degree.”
- Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 592, Country Files—Middle East, Cyprus, Vol. I Jan 1969–June 30, 1974. Secret; Nodis. No drafting information appears on the memorandum. The meeting took place in the Oval Office.↩
- See footnote 3, Document 358.↩