Page 134 - Mastermind: The Truth of the British Deep State Revealed

Abdul Hamid II's Gift to Britain: Cyprus

A British officer, Captain J. M. Kinneir wrote about the importance of
Cyprus for Britain after he paid a visit to the island in 1814:

The possession of Cyprus would give to England a preponderating influence

in the Mediterranean, and place at her disposal the future destinies of the Lev-
ant. Egypt and Syria would soon become her tributaries, and she would ac-

quire an overawing position in respect to Asia Minor, by which the Porte
might at all times be kept in check, and the encroachments of Russia, in this
quarter, retarded if not prevented. It would increase her commerce in a very

considerable degree; give her the distribution of the rich wines, silks and oth-
er produce of that fine island; the rice and sugar of Egypt, and the cotton, opi-

um and tobacco of Anatolia. 50

Former British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli voiced similar thoughts

and said Cyprus was "the Key of Western Asia" and continued saying that
51
any state that wished to control the Middle East should have controlled
Cyprus.

The British deep state has always wanted Cyprus, an island with a sig-
nificant strategic position, and waited for the decline era of the Ottoman Em-

pire to take action. It was sure that Abdul Hamid II, a sultan that it kept un-
der pressure, would give in to its demands. So when the right time came, it

put its devious gradual plans into action.

On May 10, 1878, Lord Salisbury, British Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs, instructed Ambassador Austen Henry Layard in Istanbul to start the

process for Cyprus. Layard, in response, met Grand Vizier Mehmed Rushdi
Pasha on May 23 and assured him that Britain would ignore the Treaty of San

Stefano and a new treaty would be prepared in favor of Turkish interests
where British would prevent any new Russian attempts to invade any places

other than Kars, Ardahan and Batum. However, there was a catch: British
wanted to be in charge of Cyprus' administration. Ambassador Layard met
52
Abdul Hamid II on May 25 and claimed that the Treaty of San Stefano was
against the interests of the Ottoman Empire, that Britain wanted to help the

Porte but had to send supplies to the Navy from Malta and London, for which

Mastermind: The Truth of the British Deep State Revealed