[House Document 106-247]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
106th Congress, 2d Session - - - - - - - - - - - House Document 106-247
PERIODIC REPORT ON THE CYPRUS QUESTION
__________
COMMUNICATION
from
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
transmitting
PROGRESS TOWARD A NEGOTIATED SETTLEMENT OF THE CYPRUS QUESTION COVERING
THE PERIOD FEBRUARY 1-MARCH 31, 2000, PURSUANT TO 22 U.S.C. 2373(c)
May 23, 2000.--Referred to the Committee on International Relations and
ordered to be printed
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
79-011 WASHINGTON : 2000
The White House,
Washington, DC, May 18, 2000.
Hon. J. Dennis Hastert,
Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Speaker: In accordance with Public Law 95-384 (22
U.S.C. 2373(c)), I submit to you this report on progress toward
a negotiated settlement of the Cyprus question covering the
period February 1-March 31, 2000. The previous submission
covered events during December 1999 and January 2000.
As noted in my last submission, the United Nations has held
two sessions of proximity talks, December 3-14, 1999, in New
York and January 31-February 8 in Geneva. The next session of
talks was scheduled to begin on May 23 in New York. This
session will likely be postponed several weeks to allow
President Clerides time to recover from surgery on May 5.
The United States, under the guidance of my Special
Presidential Emissary Alfred H. Moses and Special Cyprus
Coordinator Thomas G. Weston, has been actively engaged in
supporting the United Nations effort to bring about a
comprehensive Cyprus settlement. Ambassador Moses and his team
were present during the Geneva talks and afterwards traveled to
Cyprus in March to prepare for the next sessions of talks.
Sincerely,
William J. Clinton.
President's Bimonthly Report on Cyprus, February-March 2000
As reported in the previous Bimonthly Report, United
Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan resumed proximity talks on
Cyprus in Geneva on January 31. UNSYG Annan and Special Advisor
Alvaro de Soto continued the discussions with the leaders of
the two communities that began in New York in December. Special
Emissary Moses, Special Coordinator Weston and U.S. Ambassasor
to Cyprus Bandler were also in Geneva and held consultations
with Mr. de Soto as well as separate meetings with both sides.
On February 8, Mr. de Soto reported that following a total of
14 meetings with both parties, the process is on track and was
scheduled to resume on May 23 in New York. Resumption will
likely be postponed for several weeks to allow President
Clerides time to recover from surgery on May 5.
Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas
Pickering traveled to Greece on February 2. He met with Prime
Minister Simitis, Foreign Minister Papandreou and Defense
Minister Tsohatzopoulos. Under Secretary Pickering applauded
Greek and Turkish efforts to forge stronger ties and hoped they
could open a way to a negotiated settlement on Cyprus.
U.S. Ambassador to Cyprus Donald Bandler traveled to the
Karpas region in northern Cyprus on February 23 to meet with
representatives of the Greek Cypriot population and discuss
their living conditions.
On February 25, Ambassador Bandler met with Cypriot
President Clerides to follow up on the Geneva proximity talks.
The next day Ambassasor Bandler met with Foreign Minister
Kasoulides.
Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright testified before
the Senate Appropriations Committee on March 2. During the
question and answer session, Senator Mikulski asked Secretary
Albright about the prospects for a Cyprus settlement. The
Secretary assured Senator Mikulski that the Administration was
working hard to facilitate a comprehensive Cyprus settlement.
Ambassador Bandler met with Turkish Cypriot leader Denktash
on March 2 and discussed the February UN-sponsored talks.
Special Coordinator for Cyprus Thomas Weston traveled to
Berlin to meet with German Cyprus Coordinator zu Rantzau and
Foreign Office Southern Europe Director Pauls on March 2. Mr.
Weston then attended the March 3 bi-annual EU-Troika meeting in
Brussels and met with the EU Presidency Representative on
Cyprus Mathias and EU Commission Southern Europe Director van
der Linden. He held separate meetings with EU Commission
Director General Landaburu, EU Commission Cyprus Negotiator
Maurer, Belgian MFA Director General de Ruyt, Turkish
Ambassador to NATO Oymen, Turkish Ambassador to the EU Akyol
and Greek Ambassador to the EU Tsilas. Mr. Weston then joined
Ambassador Alfred Moses in Cyprus on March 7.
UN Secretary-General Special Advisor on Cyprus Alvaro de
Soto traveled to Cyprus March 1-7 for meetings with Messers.
Clerides and Denktash. He then traveled to Ankara and Athens
for meetings with Turkish Foreign Minister Cem and Greek
Foreign Minister Papandreou.
Special Presidential Emissary Alfred Moses and Special
Cyprus Coordinator Weston visited Cyprus from March 7-10.
Ambassador Moses met with Mr. de Soto prior to Mr. de Soto's
departure from Cyprus on March 7. Ambassador Moses and Mr.
Weston, accompanied by Ambassador Bandler met separately with
Messrs. Clerides and Denktash to help prepare for the third
session of UN-sponsored Cyprus talks. They encouraged both
parties to remain flexible and make further progress in moving
toward a comprehensive settlement. During their visit,
Ambassador Moses and Mr. Weston also met with other prominent
Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, visited Varosha and
Famagusta, and traveled to the Karpas region to meet with Greek
Cypriots living there.
Ambassador Bandler met with Messrs. Clerides and Kasoulides
on March 27 to exchange views on the current UN process.