A Spectator's Notebook
I HAVE EVERY SYMPATHY With what the new Governor of Cyprus is try- ing to achieve out there; but is he going the right way about it? In theory a tour through the island, to show himself to the people, sounds a sensible idea; but Cyprus is not Nigeria, and ,I cannot blame a friend of mine out there who says he had an uneasy feeling, every time the Governor stopped to mingle with the natives, that he was going to distribute beads. Besides, the Greek Cypriots had already made it clear that they were not going to have any public contact with him; it might have been better, in the circumstances, if he had stayed in Nicosia and, through intermediaries, worked through all the private contacts that are available—and there are many. There is a danger, I feel, that he may be over-simplifying the Cyprus issue, thinking it can be settled by good will. It cannot; the good- will must of course be there, but the strands are now so ravelled that the arrival of a new Gover- nor, no matter how able and likeable and liberal, solves nothing. In fact, it may even exacerbate relations between Greeks and Turks—as indeed it has done, already.
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