Abstract:

Makarios, the president of the 1960 Republic of Cyprus, had incorporated his country into the Non-Aligned Movement and developed good relations with the East Camp, and particularly the USSR. In addition to these, he had problems with NATO Allies Greece and Turkey and took support from the communist party of Cyprus. Naturally, the US administrations had been discontent with these developments. In July 1974, Greece under junta rule, organized a coup in Cyprus and overthrew Makarios. While many European countries condemned the coup; USA gave a soft response, refrained from cutting its military aid to Greece, was reluctant to reinstate Makarios and refused to use force to stop the coup or subsequent Turkish intervention. These developments created arguments, which defended that the United States supported the coup and Turkey’s military intervention, in order to put Cyprus under NATO influence. However, this study defends that there is not enough evidence to support these arguments. The priorities of the USA on Cyprus between 1960-1974 were,  ensuring the island’s stability so that it won’t; cause a clash between Turkey and Greece, weaken the NATO cooperation in the Eastern Mediterranean, seek alliance with Soviets and create an opportunity for USSR to be involved in the problem. Within the framework of these priorities, Makarios did not pose a serious threat to the US.

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