Presentation from the fun new series "Cocktails With the CIA" on Deb Della Piana's YouTube Channel. While this material is presented in a tongue and cheek manner, all of the information presented is well researched and factually accurate.

1. Cocktails With the CIA
A Production of #BecomeUngovernable
Episode 4: Think Greek

2. The 1974 Cyprus Catastrophe

3. The 1974 Cyprus Catastrophe
Kissinger described Archbishop Makarios III, President of Cyprus,Kissinger described Archbishop Makarios III, President of Cyprus,
as “the proximate cause of most of Cyprus's tensions.”as “the proximate cause of most of Cyprus's tensions.”
Kissinger referred to Makarios as the “Castro of the Mediterranean”Kissinger referred to Makarios as the “Castro of the Mediterranean”

4. The 1974 Cyprus Catastrophe
● President Makarios the Democratically-elected leader of a virtually unarmed nation
● Not only the President, but the Spiritual Leader of the Greek Orthodox Church
● His leadership, and Cyprus independence, was challenged by a military dictatorship
in Athens and a highly militarized government in Turkey
● Several attempts made on his life: 1970 attack on his helicopter linked to CIA and
Greek Colonels junta in Athens; Kissinger was Nixon's National Security Adviser
● If Kissinger labeled Makarios the problem, did he know about a plan to remove
him from power?
● Kissinger himself noted that Greek dictator Dimitrios Ioannides, head of the secret
police, was determined to mount a coup in Cyprus and bring it under Athens' control

5. The 1974 Cyprus Catastrophe
● Kissinger: “Years of Renewal” that he was too distracted by
Watergate and implosion of Nixon presidency to pay attention to the
dynamics between Greece, Turkey and Cyprus
● Proximity to the Middle East well recognized by U.S. Government
● U.S. eager to install its allies from Turkey and Athens on the
island so it could use Cyprus as staging ground for espionage
on Middle East and Soviet Union
● Nixon's fall from grace bestowed great powers upon Henry Kissinger
● First and only secretary of state to hold chairmanship of elite and
secretive Forty Committee, which considered and approved covert
actions by the CIA

6. The 1974 Cyprus Catastrophe
● Kissinger insisted he saw no signs that the coup was imminent.
● He had been contacted and was asked to intervene by Senator William Fulbright,
Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who was told of the impending
coup by a dissident Greek journalist.
● Intel was available to Kissinger around the clock both in his diplomatic and his
intelligence capacities.
● Junta chose Nicos Sampson to be its “proxy” president
● Recipient of financial support from the CIA,
● Received funding for his fanatical Nicosia newspaper Makhi (Combat)
from a pro-junta CIA proxy in Athens.
● The U.S. Became the first and only government to extend de facto recognition to
the junta.

7. The 1974 Cyprus Catastrophe
“I had always taken it for granted that the next intercommunal
crisis in Cyprus would provoke Turkish intervention.”
-Henry Kissinger

8. The 1974 Turkish Invasion
●
Kissinger vetoed at least one British action to prevent the Turkish invasion of
Cyprus
●
Using covert CIA channels and short-circuiting the Democratic process, Kissinger
became an accomplice in an assassination gone awry, which led to
●
The deaths of thousands (+5,000) of civilians by the Turkish army
● The violent uprooting of over 200,000 refugees (sound familiar?)
●
The torture and mistreatment of detainees
●
The execution of prisoners
●
Systematic acts of rape, torture and looting
● A large number of “disappeared” soldiers and civilians
●
Both prisoners of war and civilians are still “missing,” including a dozen
holders of U.S. passports

9. The CIA Files
Three declassified documents show that the U.S. and NATO planned the assassination
of President Makarios in May and June of 1974:
May 1974
“You will proceed to the final cure of the Archbishop Makarios. The final cure is a
Decision of the National Security Council/PRM-42. Follow the special directions”
June 1974
“Clean the table of our ambassador in Cyprus, the cleaning is a decision of the
National Security Council/PM-36
Follow the program directly
Kissinger”

10. The CIA Files
July 1974
“The Assistant Undersecretary of State Sisco's visit to the
Alliance showed support for the
decision of the American government to finish the Cyprus problem.”
“We agreed with Mr. Sisco for supporting the Turkish army during
the landing, as well as in the violent expulsion of Makarios.”

11. Light Toilet Reading