More than three decades after his death on August 3 1977, President Makarios is still the only figure from Cyprus’ turbulent modern history whose name remains familiar well beyond the island’s shores. Little wonder. Charismatic, shrewd and imposing in appearance, he was one of those leaders from the developing world who rattled Britain in the twilight years of its once unassailable Empire.
The priest-politician pitted his considerable wits against the colonial power which was determined to hold on to Cyprus as a vital strategic base following the humiliating loss of Suez. Makarios prevailed against the British, chipping another chunk off the shrinking Empire — but at a cost.
For while Makarios was instrumental in shrugging off colonial rule, he had to accept the compromise of independence instead of the Greek Cypriots’ goal of union with Greece.
Makarios was vilified by much of the British press during Cyprus’ struggle for self-determination in the 1950s, but passions had cooled sufficiently by the time of his death in 1977, allowing for a more measured assessment of his historical role. An obituary in The Times paid tribute to him as “a statesman too big for his small island” and described him as “a familiar and respected figure of the councils of the United Nations, the Commonwealth and of the Third World”.
Unsurprisingly, given his towering political stature and the adulation he commanded – 250,000 Greek Cypriot mourners filed past his coffin 31 years ago– it has taken longer for Makarios’ record to be reassessed in Cyprus. Perhaps because of the on-going national problem, Cypriots have been generally reluctant to probe into certain aspects of the past or chip away at the reputation of leaders long hailed as heroes.
But in recent years, Makarios is no longer untouchable: attitudes are changing, commentators and historians are taking a more sober, dispassionate look at his legacy. Many people are ready to acknowledge that while he was perhaps the best leader for his times, he was not without fault. In one breath someone may recall his charisma – while also suggesting he had an authoritarian streak.
The moving of the Makarios’ 10-metre high bronze statue from its current home in the grounds of the Archbishopric, to be replaced by a smaller life-size statue which is far less imposing, is a powerful physical image in the continuous process of the de-mythification of the Ethnarch.
However not everyone agrees that this is necessarily a bad thing.
“It is high time for the de-mythification of Makarios. In my opinion this process has still not been completed, but it is about time. His achievements are not only overrated but through the years his name has been associated with certain interest groups and there have been ulterior motives behind his adulation,” President Emeritus of the University of Nicosia and experienced newspaper columnist Sofronis Sofroniou said.
Makarios is a very popular figure abroad, for example in India and in Kenya there are streets named after him and in Seychelles, where he spent a year in exile, he is well-known and is regarded very highly. However, in his homeland, Makarios remains a very divisive figure.
Many still regard him a national hero, considering him infallible. At one stage there was even discussion of him being canonised in the Orthodox Church of Cyprus. Others criticise him for abandoning the goal of enosis in favour of independence and for making a number of mistakes during his rule that contributed to the Turkish military invasion of Cyprus.
Andromachi Sophocleous, a 20-year-old politics student in Britan, said that the reason for the change in Makarios’ status was down to a less intense political atmosphere among the younger generation.
“The political problems in Cyprus are not as intense as they were maybe 30 years ago. Society has passed the phase where leaders were regarded as heroes or traitors. Also when you think about it, the fact that he was a cleric does not help in that respect. Not many young people nowadays are prepared to afford hero status to an Archbishop,” she said.
Growing up in a family atmosphere with contrasting opinions of the Ethnarch, what was her own view of the former Archbishop?
“It was very strange because when I was young I used to hear from my father of what a great leader Makarios was. But my mother’s side of the family had an entirely opposing viewpoint, believing viewing him as more of a dictator. It is therefore hard to pass judgement,” she said.
According to Demetris Assos, a Phd candidate at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies working on the political career of Archbishop Makarios, Cyprus’ first president was nothing short of an “exceptional leader in all respects”.
However, Assos believes that his current plight is down to a general lack of interest by the public with politics at large.
“The de-mythification of Makarios is logical. At the time he became so popular was when people were looking for a great leader. In many other countries it is the same. You can say it is a post-colonial phenomenon. Nowadays, there is a general disillusionment with politics and a breakdown of traditional society, especially in Cyprus,” he said.
Once Makarios realised that enosis was not to be, he focussed instead on achieving a robust independence. The Ethnarch moved towards the moderate centre of Cypriot politics and pursued a policy of non-alignment, becoming a high-profile member of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), an international organisation of states considering themselves not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc.
Journalist Union President Andreas Kannaouros, who has worked in the media for decades, both during and after the Makarios era, believes that Makarios’ international achievements cannot be disputed.
“If you look at what he did at the time with NAM and how he was regarded abroad, his international accomplishments are second to none. He was the first President of the Republic of Cyprus, he was the Ethnarch and he was the first person to take Cyprus from the fanatical, at the time, path of enosis to a belief in an independent Cyprus. This cannot be taken away from him,” he told the Sunday Mail.
Kannaouros said that it was wrong to talk about the de-mythification of Makarios.
“People should not be talking about the de-mythification of Makarios as such, as he was not a myth, he was real,” he added.
“As every person and every leader in the world, he had his good points and his bad points. He was exceptional in some respects but definitely not flawless. Some will criticise him for not listening to other points of view, but maybe it was his over-powering personality that made others reluctant to argue against him. If the extremisms of the time and the divide are over, then it is a good thing.”