"Don't forget to tell old Papa-what's-his-name what I told you - you hear?"

President Lyndon B. Johnson 63-69

"Then listen to me Mr Ambassador. Fuck your parliament and your constitution. America is an elephant, Cyprus is a flea, Greece is a flea. If these two feckless fleas continue itching the elephant they may get whacked by the elephant’s trunk, whacked good… We pay a lot of good American dollars to the Greeks Mr Ambassador. If your Prime Minister gives me talk about democracy, parliament and the constitution, he, his parliament and his constitution may not last very long.

Don't forget to tell old Papa-what's-his-name what I told you - you hear?"

President Johnson to Greek Ambassador, Alexander Matsas, following Ambassador Matsas's refusal to agree to the US Acheson plan for the partition and 'double enosis' of Cyprus, June 1964

"Hostage to history: Cyprus from the Ottomans to Kissinger" by Christopher Hitchens.

The old Papa President Johnson refers to is the first President of the Cyprus Republic, Archbishop Makarios.

The military junta, known simply as the Junta in Greece (Χούντα στην Ελλάδα), was imposed on 21 April 1967 when army officers, led by Colonel George Papadopoulos, Brigadier Stylianos Pattakos and Colonel Nikolaos Makarezos seized power in a coup d’état. Prophecy?

Democracy in Greece was restored on July 23rd 1974, three days after Turkey's invasion of Cyprus, with the latter paying a heavy price in the process and since. Prophecy?

This is the story of two feckless fleas itching the elephant and getting whacked by the elephant’s trunk, whacked good!