for taking the struggle forward in Cyprus.
it was the October 1973 Middle East war and the ensuing oil crisis that forced US imperialism to step up its direct intervention in the dECa its immediate reaction was to mount a massive offensive to gain the ground it had lost in the Middle East since the 1967 war and to try to pacify' this potentially explosive One sign of this was the moves to establish close links with Egypt. $ 250 million of US aid was offered for the reconstruction of cities around the Suez Canal. The Canal itself was re-opened recently thanks to massive economic and technical aid from the US. Egypt has lifted restrictions on foreign investment, and a programme to provide Egypt with nuclear reactors will be completed by the 1980s.
Developments
All these developments have opened the way for long term ties as Egypt becomes increasingly dependent on US investment 'aid' and technical assistance. A similar relationship is also being opened up in Syria, while US imperialism's already close ties with Saudi Arabia and Iran have been further strengthened.
Nor has US rapprochement with the Arabs meant the ditching of Israel - the other strong arm of imperialism in the area. If anything, Israel is more dependent on US arms and aid since the October war.
However, impressive as all these successes of US imperialism may appear, they must not be allowed to obscure the fact that the situation in the Middle East is still essentially very precarious indeed. The possibility of a new war is not that remote, and the assent of the Palestinian It is now almost a year since the military coup in Cyprus, which in rapid succession sparked off the Turkish invasion of the island and the fall of the Greek junta in Athens. On the eve of the anniversary of these events, wich is likely to be marked by big demonstrations in the area, we look below at recent developments in the light of imperialist strategy for the Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean. In future issues of Rea Weekly we also hope to look at the role of the Soviet Union and the Communist Party in this arena, and at the revolutionary alternative It is in this light that the necessity for an imperialist "solution' to the Cyprus problem acquired so much importance The strategic importance of Cyprus in the area as a staging post has been well understood by imperialism since the late 19th Century, when the island became a British COLORY. Under British rule a systemby the Americans, owing to the pressure of the masses on Makarios to maintain a policy ul non-alignment, and the presence of a numerically strong if reformist Communist Party. and the critical situation in the Middie East this uncertainty became intolerable.
in the Middle East would become even more problematic in the event of the creation of a new Cuba in the Mediterranean.
The Sampson coup on 15 July 1974, engineered by the Greek junta together with the CIA, was mainly directed against the Greek Cypriot working class organisations, but it provided the pretext for the Turket for basic goods.
itical expression.
With the economic crisis The consolidation and defence of the imperialist gains made Courts in a desperate kish invasion of the island. Events since then have proved a grave setback for the Cypriot people The Turkish Cypriot population have become completely dependent on Turkey because of the chronic weakness of the native capitalists and the lack of any independent working class organisation. There is large scale unemployment and home. poverty, aggravated by speculative hoarding and a rampant black marThe resentment against the repressive Denktash clique has yet to find any channeis of polStalemate Prolongation of the present stalemate is also having catastrophic consequences for the Greek Cypriot capitalists, who have seen at least half their economic resources lost or destroyed by the invasion. On top of of this is the burden of the vast ref ugee problem. The political impasse only emphasises the depth of the crisis. Makarios, the figurehead supposedly "above classes, can only resort to platitudes about United Nations resolutions and International attempt to rally the masses around him while at the same time dampening down their growing militancy.
Greece, despite its supposed withdrawal from the military wing of the NATO, has refused to internationalise the Cyprus issue and is trying today.
TA to find a solution within the fold of NATO. Turkey, meanwhile, is willing to sit back and wait, knowing that that it is of greater military and strat egic importance to US imperialism. The critical situation in Cyprus also provides it with the excuse to maintain emergency measures and suppress working class struggles at Thus US imperialism appears to have stabilised the situation at least temporarily in this area. On a world scale, however, it is clearly in retreat - particularly after the crushing blows it has suffered in Indochina. It is also becoming increasingly clear to the working people of Cyprus that that they will have to rely on their own organisations rather than the capitalist armies, police, special police etc., which far from defending them from imperialism have objecuvery collaborated with le Cannon fodder Never again must the Cypriot workers be smashed, jailed and tortured by local reaction and then cynically sent virtually unarmed to become cannon fodder for imperial-