[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 405 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 405

   Expressing the strong support of the House of Representatives for 
 implementation of the July 8, 2006, United Nations-brokered agreement 
  between President of the Republic of Cyprus Tassos Papadopoulos and 
 Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat relating to the reunification 
                               of Cyprus.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 15, 2007

 Mr. Bilirakis (for himself, Mrs. Maloney of New York, Mr. Space, and 
Mr. Sarbanes) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
                    the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Expressing the strong support of the House of Representatives for 
 implementation of the July 8, 2006, United Nations-brokered agreement 
  between President of the Republic of Cyprus Tassos Papadopoulos and 
 Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat relating to the reunification 
                               of Cyprus.

Whereas, in recognition that any future efforts for a solution of the Cyprus 
        problem need to be carefully prepared, President of the Republic of 
        Cyprus Tassos Papadopoulos and former United Nations Secretary-General 
        Kofi Annan met on February 28, 2006, in Paris, and reiterated that, 
        ``the resumption of the negotiating process within the framework of the 
        Secretary General's Good Offices must be timely and based on careful 
        preparation'';
Whereas on July 8, 2006, President Papadopoulos and Turkish Cypriot leader 
        Mehmet Ali Talat, agreed, under the auspices of the United Nations Under 
        Secretary-General Ibrahim Gambari, to a set of principles to begin a 
        process of bi-communal discussions;
Whereas the set of principles agreed to are--

    (1) commitment to the unification of Cyprus based on a bi-zonal, bi-
communal federation and political equality, as set out in the relevant 
United Nations Security Council resolutions;

    (2) recognition of the fact that the status quo is unacceptable and 
that its prolongation would have negative consequences for the Turkish and 
Greek Cypriots;

    (3) commitment to the proposition that a comprehensive settlement is 
both desirable and possible, and should not be further delayed;

    (4) agreement to begin a process immediately, involving bi-communal 
discussion of issues that affect the day to day life of the people and 
concurrently those that concern substantive issues, both of which will 
contribute to a comprehensive settlement; and

    (5) commitment to ensure that the ``right atmosphere'' prevails for 
this process to be successful; in that connection, confidence-building 
measures are essential, both in terms of improving the atmosphere and 
improving the life of all Turkish and Greek Cypriots; and also in that 
connection, an end must be put to the so-called ``blame game'';

Whereas, according to the agreement, technical committees and working groups 
        would be set up to examine and discuss issues that affect day-to-day 
        life of the people of Cyprus and concurrently those that concern 
        substantive issues, thus contributing to a comprehensive settlement of 
        the Cyprus problem;
Whereas in a statement issued on March 20, 2007, President Papadopoulos 
        reiterated his call to Mr. Talat to implement the July 8, 2006, 
        agreement on the basis of United Nations Under Secretary-General 
        Gambari's subsequent suggestions outlining the implementation process;
Whereas on March 27, 2007, the United Nations Security Council in a statement on 
        Cyprus indicated that, ``the members of the Security Council urge both 
        communities to work with the United Nations to implement the 8 July 2006 
        agreement, in particular through the immediate creation of bi-communal 
        working groups and technical committees in order to prepare the ground 
        for full-fledged negotiations leading to a comprehensive and durable 
        settlement'';
Whereas the United States has long supported fostering the reunification of 
        Cyprus within a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation, and within a process 
        that is led by the United Nations, thereby consistent with the intended 
        aim of the July 8, 2006, agreement, and as set out in the relevant 
        United Nations Security Council resolutions;
Whereas several meetings have been held between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot 
        members of the coordination committee, consulting on the implementation 
        of the July 8, 2006, agreement, but no technical committees or working 
        groups have been set up as expected; and
Whereas, although the Government of the Republic of Cyprus committed itself to 
        the immediate implementation of the July 8, 2006, agreement, recent 
        statements made by the Turkish Cypriot leadership indicate an 
        unwillingness to proceed with the agreement: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved,  That the House of Representatives--
            (1) expresses its support for the immediate implementation 
        of the July 8, 2006, agreement as the way forward to prepare 
        for new comprehensive negotiations leading to the reunification 
        of Cyprus within a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation as set out 
        in the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions; 
        and
            (2) calls upon the United States Government to fully 
        support the immediate implementation of the July 8, 2006, 
        agreement in its entirety and without deviation from that 
        process.
                                 <all>