Cyprus Bitter Lemons of Cyprus by Lawrence Durrell 1957 271pg 7/8/22

This is written in a novel form of the writers life on the Island during a period of turmoil

Bitter Lemons of Cyprus by Lawrence Durrell  1957  271pg  7/8/22

Venice and Genoa fought over Cyprus when trade to India was done through the East, when the Western route was opened to India, Egypt, Syria, Cyprus (the Levant) were forgotten till the opening of the Suez canal.

He speaks Greek but says that any "educated" person speaks to him in English to show they are middle class and not peasants.

He lives with a teacher and looks for a home to buy,  not far from Nicosia and is told to go to a Turkish merchant for a house, he is offered a house in Bellapaux , Kyrenia made of straw and mud when they enter find a heifer in one room and another full of grain, they find out that a water pipe will reach there in a short while.  He buys the house for 200 pounds plus the 65 pound mortgage on it. Now they get a Greek builder to renovate. 

He meets the Muhtar of Bellapaux, whose home is part of the church. He also meets a whole lots of the people in the region and his nearest neighbor's. In renovation they cannot give him a quote as the cost of building materials depends on availability, especially imported products. Labour  is only available seasonally when workers are not picking olives or carobs, pressing olive oil operating the farms.  

Athens radio is broadcasting "Enosis"  that is that all Greek speaking places should be part of Greece. There is a danger that a few Greeks with bombs or outsiders like Cretans might start a crises. Greece wants to bring the UNO into the issue but it is not a moral matter. Officially Enosis does not exist for the British administration. At this stage Enosis was whipped up by a few fanatical  clergy but it had no public support.

33BC The Eastern Roman Empire was a misnomer, Constantine move the Roman capital to Byzantium and founded a spiritual Empire , with complete unification of church and state.

1260 the long persecution of the Orthodox church under the dictatorship of Venice culminated in the bulla Cypria and the Latin Archbishop and the clergy was forced to take a oath to the Holy Sea.

1575 The Ottoman Empire took over 

1670 The orthodox Church the Ethnark became leader of the Greek church and population.

1804 an uprising against the archbishop was quelled 

1821 The Ottomans executed the Cyprus Archbishop, Bishops and church leaders, as a result of the uprising in Greece. 

Durrell taught English as the Nicosia gymnasium, and could know the nationalist feeling of the older students. 

No fight against the British who they loved ' Enosis contains anti British barbs.'

1821Lord Byron died in the Greek Independence war England greatest poet was a symbol of liberty, and they recited Byron with tears in their eyes. How could Cypriots want Enosis with conscription to the Greek Army and crippling taxes, bankruptcy and  poor administration. Greeks in the Commonwealth enjoyed the best of both worlds.

He was appointed to head Public Information office. The Nationalist press and Athens radio say that Cyprus under Atilla the Hun with the British plucking out Hellenism and perpetual enslavement of the Greeks. A lot of fire and brimstone came from the pulpit but a lot came from politicians on the make even though they loved England. Like the mayor of Nicosia who was proud of his  OBE. There was now talk of a constitution an admission that not all was well.. At this stage the island was quiet despite strikes and demonstration the press was free and nobody was in jail for a political offence.

The press went on strike. The Lusigans were here for 300 years and the Venetians for 82. The Ottomans 300 and the British 72.

1920s Potterism about arrogance, snobbery and egotism. It was normal for a certain class of society to have the right to express their views for the benefit for the paying public.

Cyprus considered Greece so for advanced compared to their capital Athens was Europe. Nicosia did not compare to advanced cities nearby like Beirut and Alexandria.

The British had neglected enormously, like the Police Force had remained unchanged since 1878. The phone system was so out of date even hotels did not have phones and the police could not communicate.

1751 The victorious Turks entered the city after less than a 12 month siege, Famagusta has Othello's tower.

Turkish feelings both on the island and abroad had now been aroused and communal disorders with medieval religious hatred might easily be aroused. 

They Cypriot government were now marionettes jumping to the tune of London and Athens.  Antony Eden and in London  Alexandros Papagos the Greek PM raised the Cyprus question in the UN.  The headmaster of the Nicosia  gymnasium was beaten up by 6th grade students for not showing sufficient patriotism.

A caique (sail fishing boat) of ammunition had set off for Cyprus to land near Paphos.

Their was a camel trail loaded with grain. Carobs are an important crop in Cyprus.

Middle class Greeks realized that Enosis would do great economic harm.

The Youth Organization of EOKA, youths  took an oath to sacrifice them selves for Enosis. There was evidence Cypriots had received paramilitary training abroad - Greece. The population were sympathetic to the trouble makers.

Cyprus in geography and politics was part of the backbone of the British Empire to be defended at all costs. The Greek government accepted an invitation to London with out preconditions  the communists and Makarios, had preconditions. The Tripartite conference was rumored to be a trap and put Papagos on a white line. and it was destabilizing the Greek government. Any moderation was considered unpatriotic. Nicosia was wagging Athens and Greek, Turkish Alliance were under a thundercloud with things not linked to Cyprus, it also meant that Greece's relationship to the Moslem and Arab world, Middle Eastern affairs were now being challenged.

Detention Laws were  introduced in Cyprus and then Athens radio accused the British of "fascism or even genocide"

They Cyprus question. He was sent to see a prison camp at Kokkinotrimithia  sent to check the conditions where he found 2 of his students. One was a weak scholar inside for throwing a bomb but there were intellectuals amongst the prisoners. They were complaining that they could not sit for Matric exam.

"If we had been Russians or Germans the problem would have been solved in half an hour by a series of mass deportations or murders"

6000 civil servants now began to feel the squeeze, not obeying the terrorist demands might be death.  The failed conference cut a frail cord , Cyprus was a political orphan. To restore public order force was met by force, but with the arrival of soldier the spirit of resistance spread, igniting sleepy villages. There were lulls in violence on full moon nights. The new governor reopened talks with the Ethnark. 

Curfews with bloody incidences so that tourism flickered out, and Durrell decided to leave, he did not want to give the Greek press the chance to say he left because of policy decisions.

Cyprus had become a weak spot in the NATO Alliance, Britain was not fighting Greece but the Greek spirit.

Karaolis a young was going to be hanged for killing people, in a way Cyprus was not mourning Karaolis but England. This day was a general strike.

Nicosia government house stands on the site of Coeur de Lion's first camp was outside the unwalled  city.

Durrell's friend who he was worried that his son had  joined EOKA    instead his son had won a scholarship and was going to England. Durrell leaves Cyprus.  

 Time Line and other historical material on Cyprus

 526 BC conquered by Persians 

333BC conquered by Alexander the Great and became part of Ptolemaic Egypt.

58BC  under Rome 

4 th Century Under the Greek speaking Byzantine Empire

1191 Richard 1 Coeur de Lion conquered Cyprus

1571 Cyprus became a province of the Ottoman Empire, by defeating the Venetians.

1869 Suez Canal opened.

1878 Treaty of San Stefano

1878Congress of Berlin

1878 Russo Turkish war  Cyprus now under the British but by the Cyprus convention

1914 Britain annexed Cyprus unilaterally.

1925 Cyprus became a Crown Colony on the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire.

1931 Greek Nationalist Movement formed EREK riots put down by British.

1950 Greek Orthodox Church organized referendum of enosis

1955 to 1959 George Grivas  EOKA liberation struggle 

1960 Republic of Cyprus given independence by the British.

1964 UNO peace keepers

1974  Turkish Invasion

1983 North Cyprus unilaterally declared independence.

2004 Joined the EU

The Cyprus Problem what everyone needs to know by James Ker -Lindsay 2011 (Free sample)11/67/22

This had the potential to ignite a confrontation between to NATO allies Turkey and Greece. 6 UN Secretaries Generals have devoted time to this and it has been called a  'diplomats graveyard'

TRNC Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is only recognized by Turkey. 18% of the population. A large number of Turkish settlers have arrived since 1974 from mainland Turkey.  30 to 40 thousand Turkish troops are based on the island.

Nicosia decides Athens follows

Under the Ottomans Christians were more heavily taxed.

Brief History of Cyprus: Story of a divided island. by Tommy Clark

Turkish north is about 35% of the land. Republic of Cyprus 60% and 5% is the UN controlled buffer.

Since 1984 the economy is based on Tourism and financial services and offshore tax havens for Russia  and Israel.

In the Roman period copper was mined here giving it the name Cyprus.

Britain maintains military bases and used them in campaigns against Syria, Afghanistan , Iraq. 1956 used as a base during the Suez Crises.

The Roman Western Empire was Latin speaking and became the Catholic Church the Roman Eastern Empire or Byzantine was a Greek speaking and had the Orthodox Church.  Richard ! conquered Cyprus but needed money for his crusades and send it to the Knights Templar.

Under the Ottomans Christians had more freedom than they had in Europe.

The British and Cyprus : An outpost of the Empire to sovereign bases 1878 -1974 by Mark Simmons 2015

1974 The author flew a RAF Nimrod from Luqu airbase Malta to Cyprus. The Kolossi Castle an original castle  built in 1210 possibly built by the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, (Hospitaliers ) this order still has its headquarters in Valetta Malta.

Mainland Greek plot by the Military Junta in Athens to bring about 'Enosis 'the union of Cyprus and Greece. This resulted in the Turkish invasion thus the Greeks had scored a home goal.

There were atrocities' on both sides In the mixed village of Tokhi an EOKA -B gang murdered all the Turkish men over 16 about 300.  EOKA -B also killed more Greek opponents than Turks. About 2000 Greeks disappeared in Turkish hands

1953  EOKA formed by Archbishop Makarios and George Grivas with the sole aim of  a union with Greece by force.  

The whole f the Middle East was Christian before the Turks.

Sultan Abdul Hamid II ceded Cyprus to British control. Britain was prepared to support Turkey as a buffer against Russian designs on India

1189 Richard 1 crowned King of England

1878 Young Lieutenant of the Engineers Herbert Kitchener was sent to survey the island.

1879Major General Sir Robert Biddulph the High Commissioner  pushed for the survey to be completed. Publish in 1885.

1899 Sir Rider Haggard visited  He published a book A Winter Pilgrimage in Italy Palestine and Cyprus.

1898 Sir Ronald Ross identified malaria carrying mosquito as the cause of Camp fever. It would take til 1948 that the marshes were drained and Cyprus was declared malaria free.

1843 The British consular agent reported Famagusta  was a town of squalor with a population of 500 Turks, with in a few years of British arrival the harbor was dredged and it was restored to ocean going traffic. Famagusta is the setting of Othollo.

1914 When WW1 began there was no certainty what side Turkey would join. The young Turks played the powers off against each other and finally joined Germany when Britain withheld 2 battleship under construction in Britain , Germany replaced them.

The Greek Revolution :1821 and the making of modern Europe. by Mark Mazower 2021  

The port of Ermoupolis was born when the ottoman irregulars crushed a Greek uprising at Chios island. Survivors fled bringing mercantile skills..

  Mid 19C one third of Greece's shipping was based there. Cables laid by Submarine Telegraph Company linked  Ermoupolis

to Athens Chios and Constantinople. In this period you had the revolutions first the USA the France, South America and Haiti. Nationalism - nation would not be governed by foreigners.

1820 the population of the Ottoman Empire was about 24 million the Greeks were possibly 3 million. Many Greeks felt it was foolish fighting the might of the Turks. Guidebooks and maps of Greece were totally out of date.      

Ove the years  commerce and the Orthodox church had extended the Greek language far beyond Greece 'Citoyen Grec' stretched from the Danuban islands and Black Sea ie the Balkans. The uprising was not launched with specific territorial demands.

1797Rhingas Velestinlis called for all to fight for freedom under the sign of the cross against the Ottomans. The sultan represented the principles of tyranny and antichrist. It was thought that the Tsar or European powers would intervene.