Makarios III.

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Archbishop Makarios III. 1962

Archbishop Makarios III. (Born August 13, 1913 in Pano Panagia, Cyprus ; † August 3, 1977 in Nicosia ; actually Μιχαήλ Χριστόδουλος Μουσκός Michail Christodoulos Mouskos ) was a Greek Cypriot clergyman and politician . He was President of the Republic of Cyprus and Archbishop of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus .

First years in Cyprus

Makarios was accepted as a novice in 1926 at the age of 13 in the Kykkos monastery - the largest and most famous in Cyprus . From 1933 to 1936 he was a scholarship holder of the Panzyprian high school in Nicosia. After finishing school he worked as a teacher in the Kykkos monastery. In 1937 he became secretary of the monastic council in Nicosia and began studying theology in Athens a year later . In the same year he was ordained a deacon. He gave up his previous name and from then on bore the name Makarios (the Blessed, the Praised). Greece's entry into World War II in October 1940 initially interrupted his studies. Makarios experienced the German occupation of Athens in 1941, but was not involved in resistance groups against the occupiers. In the summer of 1942 he completed his theology studies. He worked as a priest in a parish in the port city of Piraeus . In 1944 he began to study law. A scholarship from the World Council of Churches enabled him to study in Boston with a focus on the sociology of religion (1946–1948).

1948 to 1959

As a result of the replacement and the rebuilding of the Cypriot Church, Makarios was elected Bishop of Kition in his absence in April 1948 . For the first time in its history the Church of Cyprus elected a student to be its bishop. Up to that point everything had been pointing to a university career. Makarios hesitated to accept the choice. He sought the advice of the Archbishop of North and South America and later Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople , Athinagoras , who convinced him to accept the election and return to Cyprus. He was ordained bishop of Kition on June 13, 1948. Makarios began a comprehensive modernization of the administration of his diocese, which had remained vacant for 17 years, and helped to rebuild the church administration. With the establishment of the Ethnarchy Council - the political executive body of the church - in July 1948, Makarios was given an area of ​​activity in which he could train and articulate his tactical and political concepts. A four-member executive office was elected from the council and was chaired by Makarios. The task of the office consisted of the coordination and organization of political activities under the motto “ Enosis and only Enosis” (Enosis: political affiliation of the then British Cyprus to Greece). For this purpose, a magazine called "Greek Cyprus" was published.

As chairman of the executive office, Makarios played a key role in holding a referendum from January 15-22, 1950, which expressed the will of the Greeks in Cyprus to enosis. On October 20, 1950, at the age of 37, he was elected Archbishop of Cyprus , making him the youngest archbishop in the history of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus . In his dual role as archbishop and ethnarch (political representative of the Greek Cypriots), Makarios developed a targeted activity in Cyprus itself, in motherland Greece and at international level, above all at the United Nations and, since the Bandung Conference in 1955, also within the non-aligned movement States . A secret organization for the enosis was founded in Athens in 1953 with the active participation of Makarios. After the London Cyprus Conference in 1955 and the beginning of the EOKA struggle (EOKA: National Organization of Cypriot Fighters), armed fighting in Cyprus led to Makarios' exile to the Seychelles for a little over a year (March 1956 to April 1957). After his release and return, Makarios led political activities against British rule together with Georgios Grivas (to whom the EOKA was militarily subordinate). Almost 600 people died in the fighting.

From 1958 Makarios saw the ultimate goal of the struggle in the complete independence of Cyprus, while Greece began to negotiate a solution with Turkey in the UN . At the London Cyprus Conference in 1959 , Makarios finally signed the Cyprus Agreement as a representative of the Greek ethnic group , which ended British rule. In December 1959 he was elected the first President of Cyprus by a large majority (66.85 percent).

1960 to 1977

Visit of the President of Cyprus, Archbishop Makarios III., To the Federal Republic of Germany and West Berlin. Visit to Munich, left Hans Ehard

His attempt to revise the constitution in 13 points in November 1963 divided the two ethnic groups and subsequently led to clashes similar to civil war. As a result, the spatial separation of the Turkish Cypriots in the north of the island began. His participation in the movement of the non-aligned states brought him a high international reputation and at the same time - among other things because of the uncompromising demand for the right of self-determination of the peoples - domestic political advantages in the militant political climate in Cyprus. Further military conflicts between 1964 and 1967 hardened the fronts. Negotiations between Greece and Turkey , especially the threatening attitude of NATO member Turkey, forced Makarios to give in. He proclaimed a policy of feasibility that finally secured him re-election as President of Cyprus in 1968 with 95.7 percent of the Greek vote.

In an internal church dispute, three bishops demanded his removal. Makarios called in 1973 a "major synod" and had the three apostate bishops deposed ( Bishop of Kyrenia Kyprianos , Bishop of Kition Anthimos and Bishop of Paphos Genadios ).

With the establishment of the Greek military dictatorship (from 1967 to 1974) Makarios became an advocate of liberal democracy in Cyprus. He was a thorn in the side of the dictatorship until his overthrow, as he always opposed the dictatorship export from Athens to Nicosia . His moral standing as an 'ethnarch', as the head of state of Cyprus, was high, but his position in power politics was rather weak due to the complex ties between Cyprus and Greece, the Greek army , the former colonial power Great Britain and Turkey. In 1971 the former ally Georgios Grivas , who had returned to Cyprus, began the systematic persecution of Makarios' supporters by the organization EOKA-B . At the end of June 1974, EOKA-B began killing the Makarios supporters.

In a famous letter of July 2, 1974 to the then Greek head of state Gizikis , Makarios demanded the withdrawal of the Greek officers from Cyprus and criticized the Athens military dictatorship. Dictator Dimitrios Ioannidis retaliated by initiating a coup; the planned assassination of Makarios after the takeover of the Cypriot National Guard on July 15, 1974 failed. Makarios managed to escape to Paphos , from where he was able to accuse the criminal Athenian regime of the coup in a message to the Cypriots. This coup led to the intervention of Turkey, which was entitled to this right under the guarantee treaty of 1960; On July 20th, Operation Atilla began the landing of Turkish troops on Cyprus.

After the return of Konstantin Karamanlis and the restoration of Greek democracy, Makarios returned to the island as the legal head of state on December 7, 1974; this stood in analogy to a doctrine that the Greek parliament approved (the putsch is not able to abolish the old legal system, even if the conspirators have prevailed politically). At that time, however, Cyprus was divided into two parts - Turkey occupied 37 percent of the island's total area in a second attack on the island that was not legitimized under international law. The problem of 170,000 homeless Greek Cypriot refugees from the now Turkish Northern Cyprus arose.

On his return from almost five months of exile, Makarios was enthusiastically received by 150,000 people, a third of the Greek population. At the mass rally that followed, he spoke out in favor of talks with the Turkish Cypriots and against legal prosecution of his political opponents. Rather, the Greek Cypriots should surrender their weapons and be united. In the speech, however, he refused to recognize the separation of the island into two parts and accused Turkey of illegally occupying the occupied part.

Tomb of Makarios

On February 12, 1977, the ethnic group leader of the Cypriot Turks , Rauf Denktaş , and Makarios agreed guidelines for future intermunicipal negotiations, which should be decisive for the settlement of the Cyprus conflict. Makarios died on August 3 of the same year. After no public land for a memorial could be found, the Church of Cyprus erected a monumental sculpture of Makarios in front of its seat, but this has now been removed and taken to the Trodos Mountains, not far from his grave.

The judicial investigation into the coup against Makarios was put aside in 1974/1975. Turkey could have used the results of an investigation carried out for its propaganda purposes; and it was not clear whether the detailed exposure of the Ioannidis plan would not disrupt relations with the USA - numerous historians suspect that Ioannidis had discussed his coup plan with CIA agents. It was not until the Papandreou government that the Greek parliament decided on February 21, 1986 to form a commission of inquiry consisting of 30 members.

See also

literature

  • Archbishop Makarios III. , in: Internationales Biographisches Archiv 45/1977 of October 31, 1977, in the Munzinger Archive ( beginning of article freely accessible)
  • Procopias N. Vanezis: Makarios. Life and Leadership . Abelard-Schuman, London 1979, ISBN 0-200-72636-6 .
  • John Reddaway: Burdened with Cyprus. The British Connection . Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London 1986, ISBN 0-297-79120-6 .

Web links

Commons : Makarios III.  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. http://www.bpb.de/politik/problem-aktuell/188336/teilung-zyperns-15-07-2014
  2. ↑ in detail in: Das Jahr im Bild 1975 (looking back to 1974). Carlsen, Hamburg 1975, p. 15
predecessor Office successor
Makarios II Archbishop of Cyprus
1950–1956; 1957-1977
Chrysostom I.