CYPRUS
SIR,—In The Spectator of December 3rd I see that your Special Corre- spondent advocates returning Cyprus to Greek sovereignty. He has forgotten that Cyprus has never been owned by Greece, at least not since the time of Darius. On the contrary, it is our first British Colony, having been conquered by Richard Coeur de Lion, whose marriage took place there. He did not retain it long, however, and for 300 years it was owned by a French dynasty, the Lusignans. From them it passed to the Venetian Republic, and was conquered by Turkey in the sixteenth cen- tury. We acquired a lease of the island in 1878 and took it over absolutely after the defeat of Turkey in the last war. The strategic position of Cyprus on our Empire route makes it an important asset to
Previous page
