The President of Cyprus, Archbishop Makarios III, was overthrown in a coup d’état carried out by the Cypriot National Guard on orders of General Dimitrios Ioannidis, leader of the military junta ruling Greece. President Makarios, who was able to escape before the destruction of the presidential palace in Nicosia, was replaced by Nikos Sampson, an Enosis activist who supported the annexation of the Greek and Turkish island by Greece. Sampson would be forced to resign eight days later after the Turkish invasion of Cyprus and the collapse of the Greek regime. The rebels named Nikos Giorgiades Sampson as the new President. He is a 38-year-old Greek-Cypriot newspaper publisher who had been an assassin.
The countdown to the division of Cyprus began when in 1967 a military dictatorship seized power in Greece. Relations between this regime and the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Makarios III, were tense. Using the slogan “Alexander has entered the hospital,” the head of Greek military forces in Cyprus, Brigadier M. Georgitsis, announced to the leadership of the Greek junta, in the morning of July 15, 1974, the start of the coup against President Makarios.
Diplomats in Athens expressed fears that the coup in Cyprus might bring Greece and Turkey to the point of war, the kind of war that the members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization barely averted 10 years ago. They fear that Athens is somehow involved in the coup and that Cypriot independence is at stake.
Reacting to the news of the coup in Cyprus, Turkey’s Premier, Bulent Ecevit, interrupted a speech in Afyon, the province in which opium poppy cultivation was resumed, to declare that “interference with our brethren’s rights in Cyprus and any fait accompli cannot be accepted.” He informed a crowd of about 5,000 poppy farmers about the “murder of Makarios.”
Early this morning, Makarios returned to the Presidential Palace in Nicosia from his holiday home in Troodos, where he had spent the weekend. At the time of the coup, Makarios was welcoming a group of Greek children from Egypt. As shooting became heavy and the Presidential Palace was attacked by the National Guard, Makarios protected the children and then escaped from an unguarded passage on the west side of the Presidential Palace. He fled to Kykkos Monastery and then to Paphos. While the state radio announced his death, Makarios addressed the people from a local radio station in Paphos, saying: “Greek Cypriot people! The voice you hear is familiar. You know who is speaking to you. I am Makarios. I am the one you chose to be your leader. I am not dead. I am alive. And I am with you, a competitor and the junta coup failed. I was its target and, as long as I live, the junta will not pass through Cyprus. The junta has decided to destroy Cyprus. To divide it. But it will not succeed. The island resisted it in every possible way. Do not be afraid. Join all the legitimate forces of the state. The junta must not and will not pass. Now the struggle is for everything.”
Makarios boarded a British military plane the next day and flew via Malta to London, where he met with British Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, and Foreign Secretary, James Callahan, the following day, 17 July.
The United States has called for support for Cyprus’ independence and called on all states to do the same, with Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, rejecting a proposal to support the ousted Makarios regime.
Using the coup as a pretext, Turkey invaded Cyprus five days later. In a two-phase invasion in July and August, despite calls from the UN Security Council [Resolution 353 (1974)] and the speedy restoration of constitutional order on the island, Turkey occupied 36.2% of the territory of the Republic of Cyprus and forcibly displaced about 200,000 Greek Cypriots from their homes.
Apparently overruling a conciliatory gesture made last Friday by Israel’s Information Minister, Aharon Yariv, Premier Yitzhak Rabin said he saw “no possibility whatsoever” of talks between Israel and Palestine Liberation Organization, and said that the key to peace in the Middle East lay in negotiations with the Arab states. “I see no reason why Israel should negotiate with any organization that is its worst enemy and has as its aim the destruction of the state of Israel,” he said in reply to a question at a luncheon here of the foreign press association. Premier Rabin appears to be among the hard‐liners in the Cabinet on the Palestinians. He acknowledges their existence as a people and takes note of their claims against Israel, but, as, he said today, he regards the problem as a “secondary issue” in the Middle East dispute.
President Anwar el‐Sadat said today he was confident that he would be able to bring about a meeting within the next few weeks between King Hussein of Jordan and Yasser Arafat, the head of the Palestine Liberation Organization. The meeting is to be attended by Syrian President Hafez al-Assad and Mr. Sadat. The meeting, if held, will mark the first time that the King and the Palestinian leader will come face to face since the fighting in 1970, when the Jordanian Army suppressed the Palestinian commandos. Informed sources said later that Mr. Arafat, giving in to the urgent wishes of Egypt and Syria, had already expressed willingness to attend the meeting.
Northern Ireland police said gunmen believed to be members of an Irish Republican Army punishment squad kidnaped and shot two Roman Catholic youths in the knees in Londonderry and Belfast. A 17-year-old youth with wounds in both knees was taken by a friend to a Belfast hospital. Police in Londonderry found the other youth in a dumping ground. Both were abducted at gunpoint from their homes, police said.
The Czechoslovak Federal Assembly unanimously ratified a treaty normalizing relations with West Germany after 19 years of negotiations between the two countries. The treaty was ratified by the West German parliament last month despite efforts by opposition parties to block it. The treaty will become formal with the exchange of letters of ratification in both capitals.
Eight teenage math wizards from the United States finished second to the Soviet Union in the first appearance by a U.S. team in an international mathematics olympiad. All members of the team won prizes, including a 15-year-old who was the youngest among the 140 youths from 18 countries who competed in the olympiad in East Berlin. The team coach, Samuel L. Greitzer, said, “For us to beat Hungary is astounding. For the past few years, it’s been between them, the East Germans and the Russians. We just can’t believe it yet.”
Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, 81, suffers at times from senility, Time magazine reported, adding that when Vice President Ford visited Spain recently the generalissimo “was in such bad shape that it was difficult to arrange a protocol visit.” Time also said that “Spanish television had to cancel a film that was to have shown the dictator fishing. It was a bad day, and Franco had to be propped up by two aides.”
India’s smallpox epidemic has spread from Bihar and the number of cases has reached more than 130,000. Although health officials maintain that the epidemic is ebbing, they are worried that the viral disease will persist here and in neighboring Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The four nations and Ethiopia account for all reported cases. “It’s a vast country with lot of movement,” Karan Singh, the Health Minister, said of India in an interview. “People from Bihar travel to different states. We have reports of smallpox in other states, in Uttar Pradesh, in West Bengal, mainly the result of people from Bihar.”
A corrected United Nations report showed today that the Soviet Union and the United States had stepped up their military rivalry in the Indian Ocean, that Britain’s presence there had declined, and that no evidence had been found of Chinese bases or of the deployment of Chinese naval units there. The earlier version, by three, outside consultants, brought protests from all of the big powers and some of the smaller powers mentioned as having provided bases on their territories. Almost all complained that the report, made public May 10, was inaccurate and that, instead of factual data, it resorted to interpretation based on hearsay. Dropped from the revised report was a warning that if the British island of Diego Garcia was turned into an American air and naval base, the Russians could be expected to search for similar facilities and this would trigger a new arms race.
South Vietnam said that more than 600 Vietnamese were killed or wounded as the Việt Cộng tried to sabotage Sunday’s municipal and provincial elections. The Việt Cộng retorted that the government’s accusations were only “to cover up their very serious violations of the ceasefire” and repeated their claim that the election was a violation of the Paris peace agreement.
A South Korean military court sentenced two Japanese-Masaki Tachikawa, 28, and Yoshiharu Hayakawa, 37-to 20 years in prison on charges of aiding students in the attempted overthrow of the government. Former South Korean President Po Sun Yun was summoned to appear for trial on charges of involvement in the same plot. The Japanese were tried along with 53 Koreans of whom 14 were sentenced to death and the others to prison for from 15 years to life.
A youth armed with a knife and saying he had a bomb hijacked a Japanese airliner last night in an attempt to free a left‐wing terrorist. The youth was captured early today after 75 passengers escaped while the plane was parked at the airport in Nagoya. The hijacker was seized by policemen who stormed the cockpit of the Japan Air Lines plane where he was holding several crew members. He had earlier demanded that he be allowed to go to North Korea with the terrorist. The Nagoya police said the passengers had fled by sliding down a chute attached to the plane by policemen after stewardess opened one of the rear doors. The hijacker, who seized the DC‐8 airliner on a 300‐mile Osaka‐to‐Tokyo flight, had threatened to kill his captives “three by three” unless his demands were met. The plane was flown here after a four‐hour stopover in Tokyo where it was surrounded by 500 policemen while the hijacker argued with officials.
The United States and Japan signed a five-year agreement on cooperation in non-nuclear energy research and development. A separate agreement covers nuclear cooperation for peaceful purposes. The new accord will include cooperation in the areas of solar energy and geothermal resources and electrical transmission using microwaves. The pact was signed in Washington by Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger and Japanese Ambassador Takeshi Yasukawa.
A former Interior Minister who paved the way for elections last year that ultimately led to the return of Juan Domingo Perón was shot to death today by unidentified assassins. The slaying of the former Minister, Arturo Mor Roig, occurred in San Justo, about 10 miles south of the Argentine capital. Mr. Mor Roig’s death is the latest terrorist act to break the relative tranquility brought on by mourning over the death of General Perón, who died July 1. Last week, Leandro Salato, a leading official in the Ministry of Social Welfare, was shot and seriously wounded by unidentified assailants. Mr. Salato is a close associate of José Lopez Rega, the controversial right‐wing personal Secretary and Social Welfare Minister of President Isabel Martinez de Perón, the general’s widow.
Charles Colson reportedly told the House Judiciary Committee today that President Nixon had called him as late as last March 4 in search of information about the payment of $75,000 to one of the Watergate burglars. Mr. Colson, who had been indicted three days before the call, also reportedly testified that he was told last year that President Nixon had approved “the operation” by the “plumbers” unit that led to the burglary of the office of Dr. Daniel Ellsberg’s former psychiatrist. Today was the first time that Mr. Colson, who was President Nixon’s special counsel and a key political operative, had testified under oath about the broad range of allegations that the House Judiciary Committee is considering in its impeachment inquiry. The President has based his defense against impeachment on the proposition that he did not authorize or sanction the payment to Mr. Hunt and that the money was not intended to buy Mr. Hunt’s silence.
Senator J. W. Fulbright suggested today that opponents of détente with the Soviet Union were hoping to unseat Secretary of State Kissinger as the result of the Foreign Relations Committee’s investigation into his role in the wiretapping of 17 Government officials and newsmen from 1969 to 1971. Speaking to newsmen after a closed hearing into Mr. Kissinger’s activities, Mr. Fulbright said that nothing significant had developed so far to call into serious question Mr. Kissinger’s testimony before the committee last fall when it approved his nomination as Secretary of State. Addressing a throng of newsmen and cameramen in the hallway outside the committee room, Mr. Fulbright said the issue was “a tempest in a teapot,” and he asked why there was so much interest by the news media. “It could be part of an effort to unseat Dr. Kissinger,” he answered himself. “I wonder if they’re getting at détente by getting at Dr. Kissinger?” Asked by newsmen whom “they” referred to, Mr. Fulbright, the Arkansas Democrat who is chairman of the committee, said members of the Senate and the Pentagon. Asked if he included Defense Secretary James R. Schlesinger in that category, he said yes.
The Internal Revenue Service, as part of its audit of President Nixon’s tax returns, employed independent appraisers who valued his pre-presidential papers at less than half the $576,000 claimed by Mr. Nixon’s own appraiser. This is shown in the full I.R.S. report on the audit of Mr. Nixon’s income taxes. The House Judiciary Committee has copies of it and is debating whether to make it public.
Christine Chubbuck, a 29-year-old TV news announcer for WXLT-TV Channel 40 in Sarasota, Florida, became the first person ever to commit suicide on live television, shooting herself after her delivery of the local news on the talk show “Suncoast Digest.” At 9:38, Ms. Chubbuck, upset over a recent change in the talk show’s format to emphasize crime news, told viewers “In keeping with Channel 40’s policy of bringing you the latest in blood and guns in living color, you are going to see another first — attempted suicide.” She then pointed a .38 caliber pistol to her right ear and fired the gun as thousands of viewers watched.
Edgar B. Speer, chairman of the United States Steel Corporation, the nation’s largest steel producer, said yesterday that his company did not intend to raise steel prices significantly on any major steel products for the rest of the year. Mr. Speer was one of a group of leading business executives and economists who met privately with President Nixon last week to discuss the economy. He said he had not been asked by the White House for a commitment to maintain stable prices, adding that he had made no such pledge. U.S. Steel has raised its prices an average of 23 per cent since price controls were lifted on April 30, Mr. Speer said. Many of these increases have not yet been passed along to consumers. U.S. Steel’s profits have surged since the beginning of the year.
A 15-day strike by Baltimore sanitation men, jail guards and most other municipal employees ended with a wage settlement exceeding the 6 percent ceiling the city had insisted was its limit. However, many policemen refused to return to work without an unqualified amnesty for their illegal four-day strike. But many other policemen were going back to work.
Governor Byrne’s New Jersey income tax bill won its first legislative test by the narrowest possible margin when the State Assembly passed it by a vote of 41 to 38. The bill appeared to be heading for defeat, but at the last minute its supporters combed the crowded Assembly chamber for affirmative votes. The necessary majority of 41 in the 80-member chamber was obtained only after some members were paged to record their vote.
Representatives rejected moves to broaden the functions of Church World Service from helping the needy to seeking changes in oppressive social systems. At a special meeting in New York City, directors of the large interdenominational agency “reaffirmed its historic ministry without making any changes of policy.” The agency is the major overseas relief arm of the nation’s Protestant and Orthodox churches, carrying on projects around the globe to aid the homeless, sick and hungry. Wide concern had emerged in the churches about a policy dispute over whether it also should work for “systematic change” in areas of injustice.
Senator Edward J. Gurney (R-Florida), indicted last week by a federal grand jury on charges of bribery and conspiracy, said he was reassessing his reelection chances to decide if he should withdraw his candidacy. “I am currently receiving personal and political input from my supporters and friends throughout the state,” he said. Gurney’s statement was in response to growing pressure from Florida’s Republican leaders who have called publicly for him to withdraw his candidacy. The senator, 60, was indicted with six others on charges growing out of his fund-raising activities.
Women seeking mortgage loans face blatant discrimination which exceeds the more subtle problems encountered by minorities, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights contended. After a year-long study of mortgage lenders in Hartford, Connecticut, the commission concluded that virtually no woman could get the same loan consideration as a man. Women’s reception, the commission said, “varied depending on whether they are married, unmarried, widowed, separated or divorced.” It said lenders tended to think women were unstable if they were in child-bearing years and that divorced women were risks because of their economic situation and because “society frowns on divorce.”
Louis A. Sisler, a lobbyist for the National Rifle Association, has died of gunshot wounds inflicted by persons who claimed to be looking for a young rapist, Washington D.C. police said. They gave this account. Sisler, 48, answered the door of his father-in-law’s home late Saturday. We’re looking for the guy who raped our sister,” one member of the group of six persons told Sisler. “I’m sorry, you must have the wrong house,” Sisler replied. When he tried to close the door, the assailants fired several shots. The youth the assailants accused of rape was a 13-year-old boy doing gardening work at the house. Police arrested Mary Harris, 55, and Alphonso Stoddard, 27, and were seeking four other persons.
The military’s $400 million annual reenlistment bonus plan, which the Pentagon says is essential for maintaining an all-volunteer force, has done little over the last four years to retain servicemen whose skills are in short supply, the General Accounting Office has charged. Instead, a study found, job satisfaction and educational opportunities ranked higher than the bonus as an incentive for most first-term reenlistments. Only 13% of the critical-skill personnel listed the bonus as a primary reason for staying on.
An expert panel on nitrites and nitrates advised the Department of Agriculture yesterday to restrict and in some cases ban these additives. The preliminary recommendations are expected to be presented in final form at the panel’s next meeting in September. They grew out of concern that these chemical additives may be converted into cancer-causing compounds once they enter the human digestive tract. Animal studies have demonstrated this possibility. In addition, traces of these cancerous compounds have been found in some foods to which nitrates or nitrites were added.
Former New York City Mayor John Lindsay has been cast as a United States Senator, a key part, in a motion picture named “Rosebud” that is being filmed in France by Otto Preminger, the producer-director.
Wayne Garland of the Baltimore Orioles pitched a dream game for eight innings against the Oakland A’s but wound up in a nightmare last night. Three outs away from becoming one of the most unknown no-hit pitchers in baseball, Garland faltered. He gave up his first hit, a single, to Dick Green leading off the ninth. The 15,510 fans in Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium moaned. Some got up to leave. They felt the 23‐year‐old Garland, leading, 4–1, at the time (the A’s had scored an unearned run in the second), would at least win the game. A one‐hitter maybe. They were wrong.
One out later, Enos Cabell, a defensive specialist inserted at first base an inning earlier, made an error on a grounder hit by Bill North. Garland, in only his third major‐league start, was suddenly unnerved. He gave up a single to Bert Campaneris, and then a two‐run double to Sal Bando. And suddenly he was gone. Manager Earl Weaver replaced Garland with Grant Jackson. All Garland had left from a near no‐hitter was a slim 4‐3 lead, And even that didn’t last long. Reggie Jackson drilled the reliever’s first pitch for a double, tying the score. An intentional pass to Joe Rudi loaded the bases, and a pinch‐hitter, Tim Hosley, greeted Bob Reynolds, the third pitcher of the inning, with a sacrifice fly that scored another run. Reynolds then threw a wild pitch that brought in the A’s fifth run of an inning they entered without a hit. Thus, Garland ended up as the losing pitcher in a 6‐4 decision.
The Chicago White Sox edged the Detroit Tigers, 3–2. A homer in the ninth by Ken Henderson won for Chicago and dealt Detroit its seventh loss in eight games. The White Sox starter, Bart Johnson, trying for his third straight victory since his recall from the minors, lasted into the eighth when the Tigers scored twice to tie it, 2–2. Rich Gossage, a reliever, got the victory.
The Cincinnati Reds shut out the St. Louis Cardinals, 3–0. Clay Kirby allowed at least one baserunner in seven of the nine innings he pitched, but still emerged with his seventh victory as St. Louis failed to score. A homer by Joe Morgan, a double by Ken Griffey and a single by Cesar Geronimo drove in the Cincinnati runs.
Dock Ellis scattered eight hits, won his first game in a month and ended Houston’s victory streak at six games, as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat Houston, 3–1. A double by Bob Watson in the first inning accounted for the Astros’ run. Then Pittsburgh scored twice in the fourth on five singles, with Manny Sanguillen and Frank Taveras driving in the runs. Taveras scored the final run in the seventh on an infield error by Tommy Helms.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 786.61 (-0.62, -0.08%).
Born:
Denis Berezovsky, former Ukrainian Navy commander who defected to Russia one day after being appointed the Ukrainian Navy’s commander-in-chief; in Kharkiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union.
Bill Muckalt, Canadian NHL right wing (Vancouver Canucks, New York Islanders, Ottawa Senators, Minnesota North Stars), in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada.
Tony Gaiter, NFL wide receiver (New England Patriots, San Diego Chargers), in Miami, Florida.
Chris Taylor, Australian comedian, (“The Chaser”), in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Janice Bremner, Canadian synchronized swimmer (Olympic silver medal, 1996), in Burlington, Ontario, Canada.
Died:
Arturo Mor Roig, 59, Argentine politician who served as President of Argentina’s Chamber of Deputies from 1963 to 1966, and later as Minister of the Interior from 1971 to 1973, was assassinated by Montoneros terrorists. Mor Roig was eating lunch in a restaurant in the Buenos Aires suburb of San Justo when he was shot to death.
Christine Chubbock, 29, American TV newscaster (WXLT-TV, Sarasota, Florida), commits suicide during live broadcast by shooting herself on live television.
Erik Charell (pen name for Erich Karl Löwenberg), 80, German theatre and film producer known for Der Kongreß tanzt.
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