A generation after the Greek colonels staged a coup on Cyprus in July 1974, dramatically ousting its Greek-Cypriot leader Archbishop Makarios, and Turkey retaliated by invading and seizing a third of the island, the historic Mediterranean island remains split in two. As divided as Berlin before the Wall came down, Cyprus is still bristling with troops and espionage bases and remains permanently policed by the United Nations.
Henry Kissinger claimed he could do nothing to stop this adventure because of the Watergate crisis. But The Cyprus Conspiracy provides crucial evidence that this was no failure of American foreign policy but the realization of a longstanding plan. Brendan O’Malley and Ian Craig reveal for the first time the explosive strategic reasons why the island was divided, saving its top-secret defence and spying facilities from communist take-over or British defence spending cuts. Cyprus had become invaluable to Washington, monitoring both Central Asia for Soviet nuclear missile technology and the Middle East for potential military threats.
The international cast of characters in this tale of intrigue and double-dealing includes Anthony Eden, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger, Harold Wilson and James Callaghan, as well as EOKA’s George Grivas and the current leaders of the two halves of this uniquely divided island, Glafkos Clerides and Rauf Denktash. Featuring a personal interview with Henry Kissinger conducted for this book in the spring of 1999, The Cyprus Conspiracy makes a crucial contribution to our understanding of great power politics and the role of intelligence gathering in producing one of the world’s most intractable international conflicts.
Henry Kissinger claimed he could do nothing to stop this adventure because of the Watergate crisis. But The Cyprus Conspiracy provides crucial evidence that this was no failure of American foreign policy but the realization of a longstanding plan. Brendan O’Malley and Ian Craig reveal for the first time the explosive strategic reasons why the island was divided, saving its top-secret defence and spying facilities from communist take-over or British defence spending cuts. Cyprus had become invaluable to Washington, monitoring both Central Asia for Soviet nuclear missile technology and the Middle East for potential military threats.
The international cast of characters in this tale of intrigue and double-dealing includes Anthony Eden, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger, Harold Wilson and James Callaghan, as well as EOKA’s George Grivas and the current leaders of the two halves of this uniquely divided island, Glafkos Clerides and Rauf Denktash. Featuring a personal interview with Henry Kissinger conducted for this book in the spring of 1999, The Cyprus Conspiracy makes a crucial contribution to our understanding of great power politics and the role of intelligence gathering in producing one of the world’s most intractable international conflicts.
