In June 1958, British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan told the House of Commons: “Considering the differences between the governments of Greece and Turkey, and also between the two communities of Cyprus, considering also the catastrophic consequences, if any continuation of violence, the British Government is obliged, as a sovereign power, to be responsible for the governance of the island and the well-being of its inhabitants, to take a clear and firm initiative to end the current stalemate. Consequently, the British Government is announcing a new policy which is a test of cooperation both between the communities of the island and between the governments of England, Greece and Turkey.”

This policy went down in history as the Macmillan plan. In accordance with this, the UK will retain sovereign bases in Cyprus and at the same time the joint sovereignty of Greece, Turkey and the UK will be established with a British governor and two separate houses of representatives for the two communities. On the June 20 front page, under the headline “Rejected as an unacceptable travesty of the Constitution”, Kathimerini lays out a plan, which was ultimately rejected by Makarios and the Greek government, which “will remain a supporter of the Cypriot people and use all political means for the success of the struggle for their liberation”.

The following day, Kathimerini will publish an article by Savvas Loizidis, Counselor of the National Archdiocese, in which he argues that “the building of the Cyprus question on such a solid moral and legal foundation, on which the hopes and desires of the Cypriot people have been founded for generations, is being undermined by the new English design.” And he continues: “An attempt is being made to finally bury the Cyprus question with a plan that unites all English malice for Cyprus. Seemingly generous, he essentially stifles the rights and despises the will of the Cypriot people. […] However, of course, such calculations are misplaced and irrelevant, because no subterfuge is possible anymore to keep any form of colonialism alive. One day, sooner or later, they themselves will be forced to leave.”