CYPRUS

For Britain, Cyprus was a Mediterranean stronghold it had not the slightest intention of relinquishing. Indeed, upgrading its strategic role as soon as British garrisons in the Canal Zone were judged insufficiently secure, the High Command in the Middle East was transferred to the island in 1954. A year later, the colonial secretary... told the Commons that possessions like Cyprus could never expect self-determination. Nor, since London refused to allow any legislative assembly in which the four-fifths of the population in favour of Enosis would enjoy a majority, was there any question even of self-government.

Perry Anderson in The Divisions of Cyprus

All the quotes on this page are taken from Perry Anderson's excellent article. Britain's behaviour towards the island, as described and documented here, provides some stunning examples of the underhand methods employed by this Great Nation in order to hold onto its ill-gotten colonial gains. Provocation, double-dealing, reckless disregard for anyone except ourselves, and tacit (or otherwise) support for ethnic cleansing were all employed behind a wall of upstanding British values, well-dressed, well-spoken, morally concerned. Gordon Brown can be proud.