Politicians and prelates lead Greek Cypriot celebration

YESTERDAY was cold and crisp a fine end of winter's day to celebrate the 176th year of Greece's independence. The Greek ambassador and Greek Cypriot prelates and politicians began with a Te Deum, with the Archbishop of the Autocephalos Orthodox Church presiding. Byzantium ascendant.

Thereafter they moved, bearded archbishop in caftan and suit-and-tie civilians, to a reviewing stand set up on Lord Byron Avenue, in front of the Greek embassy to watch the annual parade honouring the Greek motherland.

While Greek Cypriot schoolchildren, scouts and trades unionists bearing Greek flags and the white standard of Cyprus marched to a tuneless band, at Salonica on the mainland, Greece paraded its latest military hardware.

For Nicosia the occasion was an ethno-cultural celebration, for Athens a means to show its adversary Turkey that Greece could defend its position in the contested Aegean and elsewhere. For both, the occasion embodies Hellenism resurgent.

As their children marched by, Greek Cypriots pondered their Hellenistic heritage, recalling that the first Greeks who settled here in the 13th century B.C. were soldiers who had fought at Troy. Thereafter Cyprus was ruled by Alexander the Great, the Byzantine Empire, Crusaders and Ottoman Turks - whom the Greeks fought for independence. A few Greek Cypriots - proudly claim forbears who took part in the war for Greek independence.

Yesterday was open house to everyone and anyone in the Greek ambassador's residence in Nicosia. Guests spilled from the reception rooms into the garden, perfumed by orange blossom, where they greeted one another with the traditional "Chronia Pola", "Happy New Year", which Greeks use on every occasion.

Shaking hands with the President, Mr Glafkos Clerides, were elderly men who had fought for Greece against the Nazis during the second World War. A few still managed to fit into their thick woollen uniforms embellished with insignia of rank and decorations.

But their medals, hanging on faded silk strands, could not compete with the rows of ribbons and bright medallions worn by high-ranking officers currently serving in the Greek army on secondment with the 10,000-strong Cyprus National Guard. These officers personify Athens's commitment to defend the republic if Turkey's 35,000 troops, stationed in northern Cyprus, should move forward.

Making the rounds but saying little were the UN diplomats, Mr Gustave Feissal, and his political aide, Mr Peter Schmitz, who have been conducting biweekly consultations with Mr Clerides and the Turkish Cypriot leader, Mr Rauf Denktash. The diplomats' aim is to bring the two den face to face to begin negotiations on a political settlement before mid-1997 and achieve some progress before Cyprus is due to begin European Union accession talks.